The names to watch at the Winter Olympics

BarcelonaEverything is ready in Italy for the Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony will be held at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan, although some competitions already began on Wednesday in preliminary rounds, with an initial scare when the lights failed in the curling hall. The third Winter Games held in Italy so far have the home team fielding a large delegation hoping to win medals against traditional powerhouses like Austria, Germany, Norway, the United States, and Canada. These Games, still without the sanctioned Russia, are exploring a model with different venues throughout the Alps—never before have there been so many sub-venues and such a large territory—and with sports making their debut, all in an effort to create competitive and spectacular Winter Games in the context of climate change. However, unlike four years ago in China, the weather has cooperated, with heavy snowfall.

The Spanish delegation, which in its entire history has won only five medals and one gold – in 1972 with Paquito Fernández Ochoa – is sending 20 athletes to the Games. 11 of them are Catalan, with podium options in different sports. But as always happens, some athletes stand out after years of hard work. And, a symbol of modern times, also because of the virality on social media on occasion. These would be some of the names to follow.

Mikaela Shiffrin (United States, 30 years old, alpine skiing)

The Colorado skier is an international star, with three Olympic medals under her belt, two of them gold. Four years ago in China, Shiffrin's disappointing performance was a surprise, so she's eager to redeem herself in Italy, where she's aiming for three medals. The only skier with over 100 World Cup victories surpassed Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark's record for most wins in this competition years ago and arrives in top form, ready to become both world and Olympic champion in the same year. Engaged to Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, back home they've experienced the other side of the sport this year, as Kilde will withdraw from the Games because he hasn't recovered from the pain caused by an old fall. In addition to winning races, Shiffrin is a shareholder in the Denver Summit, a professional American women's soccer club.

The brothers Domen and Nika Prevc (Slovenia, 26 years old and 20 years old, jumps)

In recent years, Domen Prevc has become the dominant force in the spectacular discipline of springboard diving. This January, he already dominated the Quatre Trampolins tournaments, equaling his brother Peter's feat. Never before have two brothers won the Quatre Trampolins, but to top it all off, their younger sister, Nika, is also making a strong showing, ready to make her Olympic debut. In Slovenia, sport runs in the blood. This small country boasts champions in various disciplines, from basketball to cycling, but where divers are truly world-class stars. In fact, cycling champion Primoz Roglic himself, in his youth, performed dives like the Prevc brothers. Last year, Domen broke the world record by leaping 254.5 meters on the giant Planica springboard in Slovenia and appears to be stronger than his rivals, especially Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi. If Domen is aiming for four medals at the Games, Nika is also a favorite, having dominated the women's World Cup for the past three years. It's worth remembering that two other siblings, Peter and Cene, won silver in the team competition four times. In other words, if Domen and Nika perform well, four members of the family will have medals. All except their sister Ema. The only one who doesn't hit the slopes, as her stage is different: she's a dancer.

Johannes Hosflot Klaebo (Norway, 29 years old)

"He's in a league of his own," Catalan Jaume Pueyo often says about the dominant figure in cross-country skiing. Norway, let's remember, remains the country with the most Olympic medals in Winter Games despite its small population. It's a nation where snow sports are in their blood, thanks to athletes like Klaebo, who has already won seven Olympic medals, five of them gold. This year, he seems destined to win his sixth World Cup title, ahead of his rival, fellow countryman Harald Östberg Amundsen. In Norway, Klaebo is a huge star with thousands of followers on a YouTube channel he runs with his brother. His family, in fact, is key. His father acts as his manager, and his coach is his grandfather, with whom he started skiing as a child.

Eileen Gu (People's Republic of China, 22 years old, freestyle skiing)

Four years ago, she was one of the names that stood out at the Games. A young woman caught between two worlds. Well, perhaps not caught, since she moves with ease despite being a young woman born in California who chose to compete in the Olympics representing her mother's homeland, China. Two states at odds politically and athletically, two opposing cultures. Both of which she loves. In China, she is a media figure with millions of followers thanks to her daring style and her sporting achievements, having won three gold medals in freestyle skiing at the age of 18. When she competes for China, she goes by the name Ailing Gu, but she pursues her modeling career under the American name, Eileen. Magazine cover Time, She arrives at the Games in good shape and as a big favorite to win even more medals.

Connor McDavid (Canada, 29 years old, ice hockey)

In Canada, ice hockey is a religion. The country has won the most gold medals and enjoys defeating its southern neighbors. But the last gold medal for the Canadian men's hockey team was in 2014. In 2018, the Russians won, and in 2022, the Finns, editions in which the Canadians failed to reach the semifinals. To try and solve this national problem, Canada is taking a strong team to Italy, featuring its star player, a man some consider the best in the world right now and captain of the Edmonton Oilers, making his Olympic debut.

Ester Ledecka (Czech Republic, 30 years old, alpine skiing and snowboarding)

Every Czech knows the Ledeckas. Plural. Ester Ledecka is a star destined for great things, as her mother was a great figure skater and her father is still a rock star, singing in the band Zentour and a judge on television music programs. Her maternal grandfather was Jan Kaplac, who won two Olympic medals and seven world championships playing ice hockey for Czechoslovakia. Ester, in fact, started out as a hockey player before taking to the ski slopes. And what a leap she made! Four years ago, she became the first woman to win two gold medals in two different sports: skiing and [unclear - possibly "the one" or "the one"].snowboardHe triumphed in the super-G and then in the parallel snowboard downhill. He wants to do it again in the Italian Alps.

Marco Odermatt (Switzerland, 28 years old, alpine skiing)

It's hard to imagine any scenario other than the Swiss skier returning home with even more medals around his neck. A world champion in three different disciplines (downhill, slalom, and super-G), he has been dominating the slopes for years with his fearless style, which has made him the most recognized Swiss athlete alongside Roger Federer. Four years ago in Beijing, he won gold in the giant slalom, but this year he wants even more. He has dominated the World Cup all season, although a few weeks ago he lost in Kitzbühel to the young Italian Giovanni Franzoni, who is ready to put up a fight and thrill the local fans on the slopes of Bormio. Odermatt's challenge would be to win all three individual alpine skiing gold medals at the same Games, a feat only two men have achieved so far: Austrian Toni Sailer in 1956 and Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy in 1968. Jutta Leerdam (Netherlands, 2

Speed ​​skating on ice, discipline where for the first time a Catalan, Nil LlopShe will be an Olympian, she speaks Dutch. Skaters from the Netherlands have won more medals than any other nation and want to continue their dominance in Milan thanks to athletes like Jutta Leerdam, a seven-time world champion. Four years ago she won silver in the 1,000-meter race, but now she has promised to return home with at least one gold medal in a YouTube live stream with her partner, the YouTuber American Jake Paul, who is also a boxer. Together they have millions of followers on social media, where they share images of their lavish lifestyle. In the Netherlands, Leerdam's lifestyle has sparked some debate, as many people doubt whether she can compete effectively with so much leisure travel. For now, the results seem to support the idea of ​​a woman who will be one of the biggest media stars in Milan. Win or lose.

Ilia Malinin (United States, 21 years old, figure skating)

The man who ignites passions in American figure skating. And as is often the case, it comes from his family roots. His mother was the figure skater Tatiana Malinina, born in Russia but an Olympian for Uzbekistan. And his father, the figure skater Roman Skorniakov, who was also Russian but competed internationally for Uzbekistan. His parents pursued the American Dream and ended up in Virginia, where he began to stand out as a child. A two-time world champion, he has won four consecutive U.S. championships, despite his young age, with a captivating and daring style that led him in 2022 to become the first man to land a quadruple axel in an international competition.

Lindsay Vonn (United States, 41 years old, alpine skiing)

An indomitable woman. Just a few weeks ago, she suffered a horrific fall that seemed to rule her out of her sixth Olympic Games, but the Minnesota skier has announced that she will compete with a torn ACL. Vonn is a media star in the United States, with journalists closely following her love life (she married fellow skier Thomas Vonn and, after their separation, began a relationship with golf superstar Tiger Woods). She has endorsement deals with commercial brands, and like Mikaela Shiffrin, she has also invested as a shareholder in a professional women's soccer club, Angel City FC.

But the reason she can do all this is because she's a great skier who decided to return to the slopes after a five-year hiatus due to injuries, including the one that required a titanium knee replacement. After missing the 2022 Games, she's back at 41, strong and with two World Cup victories. Vonn, the Olympic champion back in 2010, wants to star in a Hollywood-style story: the great champion who returns after years of retirement and triumphs over younger rivals despite her injuries. Don't count her out.