The pair triumphed at the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy, earlier this month, but will both face fierce competition when Olympic medals are up for grabs in Canada next month.

The 26-year-old Kowalkcyzk is the current overall World Cup leader and has been battling Slovenia’s Petra Majdic all the winter with the pair are set to resume their struggle in Whistler, high above Vancouver.

But veteran Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, who won three gold medals at the world championships last year, will be looking to add Olympic gold to her 10km Individual, Team Sprint and 4x5km relay global success with the Finland team.

Likewise in the men’s events, Bauer has silver medals in the 15km classical from both the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, but will face Petter Northug on his path to gold in Vancouver.

With three gold medals to his credit from Liberec, Norway’s Northug will be amongst the favourites.

The 24-year-old, a keen poker player, will be contesting his first winter games and will be looking to add Olympic glory to his world crowns over the pursuit, 50km individual and 4x10km relay.

While the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Finland are traditionally strong in the region where the sport originated, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard are names to watch.

Reigning Olympic sprint champion Chandra Crawford could be set to give the Canadians something to cheer about as she looks to defend her gold on home soil.

Having switched from biathlon aged 16, in her first year on the Canadian senior team she collected five international medals in one month.

Considered an underdog in Torino in 2006, Chandra surprised herself and the experts by coming through with a gold medal performance in the women’s sprint.

In total, 12 medals will be contested in six different disciplines at the Olympic Winter Games which include the Individual, Mass Start, Pursuit, Individual Sprint, Team Sprint and Relay.

Vancouver (AFP) –

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Petter Northug

Since winning three world titles last winter at the age of just 23, Norway’s Northug has been tipped for gold in Vancouver.

He first rose to prominence at the 2007 world championships in Sapporo, Japan, when he helped the powerful Norwegian team to the relay gold.

Coached by Norway’s quadruple Olympic champion Thomas Alsgaard, Northug continued to progress and hit the jackpot at the 2009 world championships in the Czech Republic.

In Liberec, he took gold in the pursuit, relay and prestigious 50km freestyle races.

He will go to his first Olympics confident of winning multiple titles, but he will have to go quite some way yet to compatriot Bjorn Dahlie, who quit the sport with eight gold medals and nine world titles.

He is the clear favourite for the pursuit title after current Olympic champion Yevgeny Dementyev tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in August 2009.

Along with Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic, Northug is a good bet for medals and will again anchor a strong Norwegian team.

In the relay at the world championships, he was Norway’s anchor man and set off on his 10km leg with a deficit of 15 seconds on Germany’s double world champion Axel Teichmann.

He caught Teichmann with time to spare before turning in a devastating final kilometre to give victory once again to Norway and the Norwegians will be the team to beat in Whistler.

Northug is one of the strongest finishers on the World Cup circuit and this along with his other qualities make him one to watch in Whistler.

The pair triumphed at the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy, earlier this month, but will both face fierce competition when Olympic medals are up for grabs in Canada next month.

The 26-year-old Kowalkcyzk is the current overall World Cup leader and has been battling Slovenia’s Petra Majdic all the winter with the pair are set to resume their struggle in Whistler, high above Vancouver.

But veteran Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, who won three gold medals at the world championships last year, will be looking to add Olympic gold to her 10km Individual, Team Sprint and 4x5km relay global success with the Finland team.

Likewise in the men’s events, Bauer has silver medals in the 15km classical from both the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, but will face Petter Northug on his path to gold in Vancouver.

With three gold medals to his credit from Liberec, Norway’s Northug will be amongst the favourites.

The 24-year-old, a keen poker player, will be contesting his first winter games and will be looking to add Olympic glory to his world crowns over the pursuit, 50km individual and 4x10km relay.

While the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Finland are traditionally strong in the region where the sport originated, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna and France’s Jean-Marc Gaillard are names to watch.

Reigning Olympic sprint champion Chandra Crawford could be set to give the Canadians something to cheer about as she looks to defend her gold on home soil.

Having switched from biathlon aged 16, in her first year on the Canadian senior team she collected five international medals in one month.

Considered an underdog in Torino in 2006, Chandra surprised herself and the experts by coming through with a gold medal performance in the women’s sprint.

In total, 12 medals will be contested in six different disciplines at the Olympic Winter Games which include the Individual, Mass Start, Pursuit, Individual Sprint, Team Sprint and Relay.