Biathlon, Nordic Combined Competitions Begin

Buck Tooth Rabbit Bitches hope to extend their lead as the Fantasy Winter Olympics continue Sunday with five medals being awarded including four in the morning/afternoon.

11:15 AM PST - BiathlonBiathlon will award it's first men's medal Sunday with the 10km Sprint. This sport is one of the most unique and challenging in the Games, combining the exertion of cross-country skiing with the precision of shooting. Here's hoping NBC devotes more than 15 minutes to this competition unlike Saturday.

The sport's all-time greatest athlete, Norway's Ole Einar Bjørndalen (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos), is favored to take his sixth career gold medal. He won this event at Nagano and Salt Lake City as well as at the 2009 World Championships. Also I am a sucker for athletes with that crossed-out O in their names, so I guess I'll be picking a lot of Norwegians until China adopts that convention. Fellow Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen is my pick to take the silver. Unlike in short track skating, Da Nag Dynamos won't depend on their athletes not crashing into each other so two medals are actually possible.
While the top two Norwegians are in a tier above their competitors, there's a good group just behind them including my pick for bronze, Austrian Dominik Landertinger (undrafted). Russian Evgeny Ustyugov (Joy Sadaly/Olympic Ring...) is an upstart challenger who will look to give Joy Sadaly's squad her first medal. He hails from the great Siberian city Krasnoyarsk, heretofore known mainly for its mail order brides. And Norwegian Lars Berger, the third best biathlete from his country, could also be the third best in the world. Finally don't count out German Michael Greis (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers), but I think he's stronger in the other biathlon events than the sprint.

1:00 PM PST - Speed SkatingThe first women's speed skating event will be the long distance 3000 meter. The Czech Republic's Martina Sáblíková (Tim Lavoie/Fightin' Ovechkins), silver medalist at last year's World Championships, is the most consistent skater and is my pick for the gold medal.

The other medals are basically a toss-up between Canadians Kristina Groves and Cindy Klassen (Dave Spence/Paragons), German Stephanie Beckert (John Binz/Da Nang Dynamos), and Turin gold medalist Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers).

1:00 PM PST - LugeThe men's singles luge competition, which began Saturday, will award its medals Sunday afternoon. The third run is scheduled for 1:00 PM PST and the fourth and final run starts at 3:10 PM PST.

The leaders after two runs are Germans Felix Loch and David Moeller (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined). Italy's Armin Zoeggeler (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club) is third. German Albert Demtschenko, Austrian Daniel Pfister (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) and Russian Albert Demtschenko (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) are close behind in this sport where a tenth of a second means everything. I have to think the Germans hold onto their lead with Italy taking the bronze, which was basically the expected result before the first two rounds began.

The Canadian coach has been whining about moving the start of the course for safety because, umm, somebody DIED. With no Canadian finishing better than 10th in either run, hsi words sound like sour grapes to me and are insensitive as well.

1:45 PM PST - Nordic CombinedThis event which combines ski jumping and cross country skiing kicks off with the Individual Normal Hill/10 kilometer Cross Country event at 1:45. You have to love these events which combine two totally different sports. Imagine if ice hockey was like that. Hockey Combined, combining Offensive Hockey and Defensive Hockey. Alex Ovechkin would be terrible at that.

This is a wide open event. Norway's Magnus Moan (Brian Schwartz/Nordique Combined), ranked fourth in the world, is one of the best cross country skiiers but a weaker jumper. I think he'll hunt down his competitors and take the gold.
Frenchman Jason Larny Chappuis (Ellis Kunka/Cornballers) is the current World Cup leader and the favorite in this event, solid in both portions. He's my pick for silver. He's said he feels a lot of pressure from the French media, but I don't really believe in the psychological angles.

Finland's Hannu Manninen (Adam Claus/Ice Lugers) earned team medals at the last three Olympics. He's stronger on the cross country skiing side, but I think he'll take the bronze for his first individual Olympic medal.

Austria's Felix Gottwald (Zach Chromiak/Banker's Club), who already has six Olympic medals including two gold, returned from retirement just for these Olympics and is another favorite. American veterans Todd Lodwick, Bill Demong and Johnny Spillane (Brittany B./Buck-Toothed Rabbit Bitches) all have a shot to medal as well.

Of course, check back later for a preview of the evening events and other updates.