Beijing is looking for the superstar: 7 possible faces

Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Alpine skiing): At the age of 18, the exceptional racer had already become the youngest slalom Olympic champion in Sochi, and in 2018 in Pyeongchang she won giant slalom gold and silver in the combination. Nobody has celebrated as many World Cup victories in one discipline as the American in slalom (47). At the World Championships in Cortina last year, Shiffrin won four medals. In Yanqing, the 26-year-old is planning to compete in all five disciplines - and wants to attack the women's record for Olympic medals in the alpine area, which Janica Kostelic and Anja Pärson hold with six each.

Eileen Gu (China/Ski Freestyle): The American-born freestyler has been competing for China since 2019. The 18-year-old is considered a medal candidate in the halfpipe, slopestyle and big air – and could therefore become the big star of the Beijing Games. The daughter of a Chinese woman and an American learned to ski at Lake Tahoe and feels she belongs to both nations. Gu is considered a model student; she is a Stanford student and also works as a model. She won two gold medals at the World Cup and the X Games last year. She already has eight World Cup victories to her credit and is still unbeaten in the halfpipe this season.

Eileen Gu, freestyler. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / MADDIE MEYER

Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan/Figure Skating): There isn't much that Japan's figure skating star hasn't won. Hanyu recently won Olympic gold twice in a row and is also considered one of the favorites in Beijing. The 27-year-old could become the first figure skater to become Olympic champion three times in a row since 1928. In Sochi in 2014 he became the first Asian to triumph, and four years later in Pyeongchang he got fit in time to follow up. Hanyu now has seven World Cup medals, two of them gold, four Grand Prix Final titles and 19 world records. His big rival is the American Nathan Chen, who recently became world champion three times in a row.

Yuzuru Hanyu is a figure skating star. © AFP / PHILIP FONG

Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands/Short Track): The 1.000m Olympic champion has dominated her sport since she won the Netherlands' first Olympic gold on the short course in Pyeongchang in 2018. At last year's World Cup in Dordrecht, Schulting became only the second woman to win all five events - including for the first time in World Cup history with the Dutch relay team. Some top nations were missing at the time due to Corona concerns, but Schulting is still considered a candidate for several gold medals in Beijing - even if a lot can happen in the short track due to the tough duels on the ice.

Suzanne Schulting, short tracker. © AFP / WANG ZHAO

Marco Odermatt (Switzerland/alpine skiing): The Swiss is not only well on his way to winning the big World Cup ball for the first time, he can also be a big winner at the Olympics. In the giant slalom, the 24-year-old won four of five races this season and came second once, and in the Super-G he also laughed from the top twice. And after second places in Bormio, Wengen and Kitzbühel, you know that there is not much left to achieve your first triumph in the downhill. Odermatt has a quick comprehension, it will be his first Olympic Games. In 2018 he competed at the Junior World Championships - and won gold there five times.

Marco Odermatt, ski star from Switzerland. © AFP / MARCO BERTORELLO

Chloe Kim (USA/Snowboard Freestyle): The American was one of the stars of the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. At the age of 17, she became the youngest Olympic snowboard champion in history. Four years later, she is still the clear favorite in the halfpipe. Kim, who had already triumphed at the X Games at the age of 14, withdrew from sport for almost two years after her historic Olympic gold. Kim has already proven that she is ready for her second Winter Games: The Californian, whose parents come from South Korea, triumphed in the halfpipe at both the X Games and the World Championships in Aspen.

Johannes Thingnes Bø (Norway/Biathlon): The 28-year-old has already been world champion twelve times; in Pyeongchang he won Olympic gold in the individual over 20 km and two silver medals in the relay. The three-time overall World Cup winner has a good chance of adding precious metal in Beijing: his previous big competitor, five-time Olympic champion Martin Fourcade, ended his career in 2020.

However, things haven't gone well for Bø so far this season. The Norwegian has only won one World Cup race, the sprint in Annecy in December. He was more successful in the relays in which he also competed in China together with his older brother Tarjei.

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Beijing is looking for the superstar: 7 possible faces

Who will be the superstar of the Beijing Olympics? We've found seven athletes who could make their mark on the Beijing Winter Olympics, which begin on Friday.

Suggestions

Comments (0)