Plenty of drama will highlight the four medal events on the schedule Tuesday at the Turin Winter Olympics in Italy.
Fans will be watching for a speedskating rivalry, not among nations, but between American teammates Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick. Both men are in the men's 1,500 meters final. Davis became the first black athlete to win an individual Winter Olympics gold medal when he claimed the 1,000 meter title on Saturday. But Hedrick is upset because Davis chose to skip a team event in which the United States had a gold medal opportunity and instead missed the podium.
Three-time World Cup champion Hannu Manninen of Finland will have one last chance to win an individual medal in the Nordic combined 7.5 kilometer cross-country ski sprint and jump off the large hill. Manninen has won a record 42 events at the World Cup level but has yet to finish first, second or third in an individual event at the Olympics.
The Austrian men's biathlon team is hoping to turn their Olympic experience around with a good performance in the 4 X 7.5 kilometer relay race. The team was hit by an unprecedented police raid late Saturday as authorities probed for evidence of possible blood doping.
Pure speed down a controversial track will determine the winner of the women's double bobsled competition. Several luge and skeleton racers have crashed at the Turin Games. A Dutch bobsled also flipped on the twisting, icy track on Monday. Two German sleds and an American entry have the best times after the opening two runs.
Also, Irina Slutskaya begins her quest to join her Russian compatriots in a sweep of Olympic figure skating gold medals when the women's short program begins. The seven-time European champion and current world champion is the favorite for the women's title that ends Thursday with the free skate.
Some information for AP and AFP.