EVENT SCHEDULE
Sunday - Two-man, Runs 1 and 2, 11:15 a.m. - 1:55 p.m. ET
Monday - Two-man, Runs 3 and 4, 9:30 a.m. - 12 Noon ET
Tuesday - Women (two-man), Runs 1 and 2, 10:15 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET
Wednesday - Women (two-man), Runs 3 and 4, 11:15 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. ET
Saturday - Four-man, Runs 1 and 2, 11:30 a.m. - 2:05 p.m. ET
Feb. 23 - Four-man, Runs 3 and 4, 4:30 a.m. - 7:05 a.m. ET
TV SCHEDULE
Sunday - 7-11 p.m. ET, NBC
Monday - 1-2 a.m. ET (Late Night), NBC
Tuesday - 12 Noon - 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN (also 8-11:30 p.m. ET on NBC)
Wednesday - 8-11:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Saturday - 8-11 p.m. ET, NBC
Feb. 23 - 4-7 a.m. ET, LIVE on NBCSN (also 2-6 p.m. ET on NBC)
U.S. OUTLOOK
After snapping a 62-year gold medal drought for the U.S. in the four-man at Vancouver, Steven Holcomb now looks to end another drought at Sochi in the two-man, where the Americans have not won a medal since 1952. Holcomb rattled off seven straight wins to open this year’s World Cup and four of those were in the two-man, so he definitely stands a shot. But everyone’s wanting to see what Holcomb and his teammates can do in “Night Train 2,” the updated version of the four-man sled that won the day four years ago.
On the women’s side, driver Elana Meyers - who served as Erin Pac’s brakewoman in their Vancouver bronze run - appears to have the best chance of taking the gold with Lauryn Williams, who could become the second Olympian ever to win a gold in both Summer and Winter Games. But we’ll have to see if the team can recover from sustaining damage to their sled in a training incident earlier on Saturday. Another brakewoman, Lolo Jones, has also grabbed headlines leading up to these Games; she’ll be in the third U.S. sled with Jazmine Fenlator. Jamie Greubel and Aja Evans are in the No. 2 sled.
INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK
Three-time bronze medalist Beat Hefti of Switzerland gets to drive for the first time at an Olympics and could be a factor considering he won the Sochi test event in two-man last February. He’ll likely get competition from Aleksandr Zubkov of Russia, who enjoys home-ice advantage and knowledge, and Lyndon Rush of Canada, the reigning two-man world champ. But they’ll all have to contend with the Germans, who have won the last three two-man golds and had a 12-year Olympic win streak going in four-man until Holcomb and Team USA stopped it in 2010.
Team Canada’s duo of Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse are back to defend their Olympic women’s title. They believe they’ve come into their own since their Vancouver glory and they could definitely come up big again. Also, watch out for Sandra Kiriasis of Germany, a past gold medal winner and the only competitor that’s raced in every Olympic women’s bobsled competition; she won the Sochi test event over Meyers and Humphries.
