2010 Vancouver Olympics: Looking ahead

little article

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-olyvancouver25-2008aug25,0,7984092.story

Athletes to watch: Skiers Bode Miller and Lindsey Kildow Vonn. Reigning world champion figure skater Mao Asada of Japan (trivia note: she was first a ballet dancer), and two rising 15-year-old skaters from Southern California, Caroline Zhang of Brea and Mirai Nagasu, who attends Arcadia High School.

Wow! That's great that they though about Mao, Mirai and Caroline! I want soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much to go to these Olympics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really wanna go to that winter olympics too!
I used to live in Vancouver before, so the city is kind of familiar to me.
hope Mao will get a gold medal there!

Another article

ESPN - With Beijing in the rear-view mirror, here are athletes to watch for 2010, 2012 - Olympics

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?id=3552429

Mao Asada: Two years ago, many thought the best skater in the world wasn't at the Olympics. That skater was Japan's Mao Asada, who was too young to compete in Torino. Two years later, she became the world champion. One of the few women in the world who has landed a triple axel, Asada became the first to land two in a program. Now training with Tatiana Tarasova, the Russian who guided Ilia Kulik and Alexei Yagudin to Olympic gold, Asada hopes she can stay on top.

Jeffrey Buttle: Canada has had a long history of churning out great male figure skaters -- Brian Orser, Kurt Browning and Elvis Stojko, among them -- but none was able to win an Olympic gold. The last time the Winter Games were held on Canadian soil, back in 1988 in Calgary, Orser narrowly lost to American Brian Boitano in the famed Battle of the Brians. Buttle is the reigning world champion, but if others can land quads, he could extend the Canadian curse.

Mirai Nagasu: The reigning American champion hasn't been old enough to compete at the world championships (nor have top American rivals Caroline Zhang and Rachael Flatt). But Nagasu & Co. will be age eligible by Vancouver, and if these youngsters can maintain their high level of athletic and artistic abilities, they could fare better than established veterans like Kimmie Meissner, who won the world title in 2006 and the U.S. crown in 2007, but had a disastrous showing in 2008. One problem: At most, the U.S. will be able to send three women skaters to Vancouver. At least one, possibly two, of these talented skaters will be watching on TV.

Thank you for all the links. I didn't expect such a huge interest in Winter Olympics so soon after the Summer ones!