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Who and what to watch for in Pyeongchang

On Jan. 13 at the U.S. Grand Prix in Snowmass, Colo., Shaun White qualified for his fourth Olympics with a perfect 100 on his third run. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

At the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (Feb. 9-25), American Mikaela Shiffrin will attempt to become the first skier to win consecutive Olympic slalom gold medals; for the first time since 1994, there will be no NHL players on the ice; North Korea and South Korea will march together in the Opening Ceremony under the Korea unification flag; and Canada's women's hockey team will look to further their Olympic gold-winning streak. Here are the biggest storylines and athletes to follow at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Men's luge: Sunday, 6 a.m. ET

Five-time Olympian Shiva Keshavan -- the first Indian to compete in luge at the Winter Olympics -- will participate in his sixth and final Olympics in Pyeongchang. His celebrated career includes four gold medals at the Asian Championship, with the latest coming in 2017.

Men's biathlon: Sunday, 6:15 a.m. ET

Martin Fourcade is a megastar in Europe. The Frenchman won two gold medals in Sochi and also has won 11 world championships in men's biathlon to date.

Women's ski jumping: Monday, 7:50 a.m. ET

In women's ski jumping, which is being contested for only the second time in the Olympics, Maren Lundby of Norway is on a big roll. She has won four of the past five World Cups and will look to continue that winning streak in Pyeongchang.

Women's half-pipe snowboarding: Monday, 8 p.m. ET

At 17 years old, Chloe Kim has a chance to make history. If she wins gold at the half-pipe event, she will become the youngest snowboarder in history to stand on the top of the podium. She has continued to stun the world ever since she turned 13 -- by becoming the youngest American to win the Aspen X Games at age 14, and the first female snowboarder to land two perfect 1080s at the 2016 U.S. Grand Prix. But don't underestimate four-time (soon to be five-time) Olympian Kelly Clark, Kim's role model. The veteran won her first gold medal at her debut Olympics in 2002, and in January, she edged out Kim for first place at the U.S. Grand Prix in California.

Men's alpine skiing: alpine combined: Monday, 9:30 p.m. ET; Giant slalom: Feb. 17, 11:30 p.m. ET.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety is back for his fifth Olympics in Pyeongchang this February. With five World Cup titles, the 33-year-old is one of the greatest giant slalom skiiers of all time and his experience makes him a heavy favorite to win this year's alpine skiing events in South Korea.

Women's short track 500m: Feb. 13, 5 a.m. ET

Maame Biney is already in the record books. In December, the 18-year-old became the first African-American woman (and second African-American after Shani Davis) to qualify for a U.S. speed skating Olympic team. A former inline skater, she won bronze in the 500m event at the World Junior Championship last season and will look to best that in Pyeongchang.

Women's singles luge: Tuesday, 5:30 a.m. ET

In 2014, four-time Olympian Erin Hamlin took home the bronze medal -- and that was a first for an American female. She also won a gold and two silvers at the 2017 World Championships, making her the most celebrated luger in the United States. Pyeongchang will be the 31-year-old luger's last Olympics, as she recently announced her retirement.

Men's half-pipe snowboarding: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET

After winning gold in the men's half-pipe snowboarding events in 2006 and 2010, Shaun White was poised to become the first American man to win gold in three consecutive Olympics in the same event. But the Flying Tomato finished fourth after two falls. Then Pyeongchang seemed to be in jeopardy. A crash while training in New Zealand in October resulted in a face injury requiring 62 stitches. But the fan favorite promised on Instagram he'd be "back soon and better than ever." Will he live up to that in South Korea?

Another snowboarder to look out for is Australia's Scott James. When James competed at the 2010 Vancouver Games at age 15, he became the youngest male Olympian in 50 years. He took home gold in the 2015 and 2017 world championships.

Men's ice hockey: Wednesday, USA vs SLO, 7:10 a.m. ET

Curious to see how this tournament fares without any NHL players? So is the rest of the world. The U.S. is led by captain Brian Gionta, an Olympian and a Stanley Cup winner, and the rest of the players have 13 international medals among them.

Women's ice hockey: USA vs. Canada on Wednesday, 10:10 p.m. ET

The U.S. last won gold in 1998, the year women's hockey debuted at the Olympics. Ever since it has earned either silver or bronze. Canada has won four straight Olympic golds, though the U.S. has won four straight World Championships. In Pyeongchang, the team hopes to flip the script and bring home gold.

Women's slalom: Wednesday, 11:45 p.m.

In Sochi, Mikaela Shiffrin earned herself the title of youngest slalom gold medalist -- male or female -- in Olympic history. She was 18 years old. Now she can become the first American woman to win three medals in skiing at one Olympics -- and the first American of either gender to claim two alpine skiing gold medals at one Olympics since Andrea Mead Lawrence in 1952. Shiffrin has won 24 of her last 30 slalom races on the World Cup circuit. What history will she make in South Korea?

Cross country skiing: Feb. 16, 1 a.m. ET

India's Jagdish Singh is all set to make his Winter Olympics debut in Pyeongchang after qualifying for the 15km Nordic skiing freestyle event. He will make up the two-men delegation India is sending to South Korea along with luger Shiva Keshavan.

Men's skeleton: Feb. 16, 9:30 a.m. ET

It was only two years ago that Akwasi Frimpong took up skeleton. A former relay racer for the Netherlands, he will now represent Ghana and is the only African man -- and the second ever athlete from Ghana -- to participate in the Winter Olympics.

Men's figure skating: Feb. 16, 8 p.m. ET

Nathan Chen's lead-up to the Olympics has been phenomenal. The 17-year-old is the first to land five types of quads and the first to land seven quadruple jumps in a competition. He has also been unbeatable lately, with notable wins at Skate America in November, the Grand Prix final in December and the nationals in January -- with a 40-point lead.

Women's skeleton: Feb. 17, 6:20 a,m, ET

Katie Uhlaender missed out on an Olympic medal by 0.04 seconds at the Sochi Olympics, and Russia's Elena Nikitina took the bronze. When the IOC recently banned the 28 Russian athletes for doping, Uhlaender was supposed to receive the bronze medal. But that did not happen when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the IOC ruling. The 2012 world champion will participate in her fourth Olympics in Pyeongchang -- still looking to win her first medal.

Men's freestyle skiing slopestyle final: Feb. 17, 11:15 p.m. ET

Remember that U.S. podium sweep in Sochi? Silver medalist Gus Kenworthy was part of that trio. Now in Pyeongchang, he will focus on gold.

Kenworthy will have to fight it out with celebrated British freestyle skier, James Woods, who finished fifth in Sochi after a last-minute hip injury during a training session. He is back this year, injury free and a heavy favorite to win a medal in Pyeongchang. He won bronze at the 2017 Winter X Games.

Women's downhill skiing: Feb. 20, 8 p.m.

In 2010, Lindsey Vonn became the first American to win Olympic gold in downhill skiing. Eight years later (she missed out on 2014 Sochi because of injury), the 33-year-old is on a World Cup winning streak, winning three straight downhills entering these Games. Can she continue dominate in Pyeongchang? It might be her last Olympics to do so.

Women's bobsled: Feb. 21, 6:40 a.m. ET

Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga went from not knowing much about bobsled in 2016 to making history in 2018. The women became the first ever athletes from Nigeria to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Now on to making history in the medal department.

Figure skating women: Feb. 22, 8 p.m. ET

When Mirai Nagasu touches Olympic ice in Pyeongchang (eight years after her 2010 debut in Vancouver where she finished fourth), she hopes to become only the third American female figure skater to land the triple axel, after Tonya Harding and Kimmie Meissner. After being left off the team for the Sochi Olympics, the 24-year-old is looking for redemption.

Men's 1000m speed skating: Feb. 23, 5 a.m. ET

Shani Davis made his Olympic debut at the 2006 Olympics -- after deciding not to participate in the 2002 Games in Park City. The 35-year-old has medaled (two golds and two silvers) in each of the Olympics he has participated in -- except for Sochi. Pyeongchang could be his last Olympics.

Men's four-man bobsled final heats: Feb. 24, 8 p.m. ET

Steve Langton took home bronze at the two-man and the four-man bobsled events at Sochi. But in Pyeongchang, he'll be without longtime teammate Steven Holcomb, who died in May. The 34-year-old bobsledder told Reuters that "[Steven] would want us to win medals, and we're going to do everything we possibly can to make that happen."

The rest of the world will also be focused on the the four-men bobsled team from Germany, which Johannes Lochner is a part of. They are a heavy favorite to win gold in Pyeongchang. The team is the reigning European Championship having won gold in 2017 and 2018.