The Associated Press plans the following coverage to preview the Vancouver Olympics. For editorial questions, call AP Deputy Sports Editor Mary Byrne at 212-621-1630.
The preview package stories moved in two batches - the week of Jan. 18 and the week of Jan. 25, available for use any time.
Medal projections will move Jan. 31.
General previews:
OLY--CANADA-US RIVALRY
NEW YORK - Canada plans to own the podium when it hosts the upcoming Winter Olympics and has spent more than $110 million to do just that. That quest sets up a showdown with the United States in the battle for neighborhood bragging rights that could well be a highlight of the Vancouver Games. By National Writer David Crary. AP Photos NY201-202. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--SKI-THE VONNCOUVER OLYMPICS
UNDATED - The lasting image of Lindsey Vonn's previous trip to the Olympics was her body-battering tumble down a mountain when she fell during a training run. Recovering in the hospital, she worried she might never race again. Yeah, right: She got back on her skis to compete two days later. The determination and daring she showed four years ago, not to mention her speed and skill, are a big part of why Vonn is widely seen as a favorite to win more than one medal this time - and why the 25-year-old American might very well turn next month's Winter Games into the Vonncouver Olympics. By Howard Fendrich. AP Photo NY203. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--VANCOUVER-DOPING
LONDON - Any athletes planning to cheat their way to success at the Vancouver Olympics will have to beat the most rigorous anti-doping net in Winter Games history. By Stephen Wilson. AP Photos NY219-222. MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--Vancouver-Doping-Box. MOVED on Jan. 19.
OLY--HKO-HOCKEY-ONLY GOLD WILL DO
UNDATED - From the Atlantic Provinces to the Pacific coastline, Canadians will spend two weeks gleefully rooting for their country's stars in skiing, skating and snowboarding. Winter sports are a passion in the Great White North. But for many of Canada's 33 million residents, hockey is the only game that matters, the only sport in which a gold medal absolutely, positively must be won for the Vancouver Olympics to be considered a success in the country that invented the game. By Alan Robinson. AP Photos NY204-205. MOVED Jan. 19.
Schedules:
- OLY--Winter Olympic Sport Schedule-EST. MOVED.
- OLY--Winter Olympic Sport Schedule-PST. MOVED.
- OLY--Winter Olympic Daily Schedule-EST. MOVED.
- OLY--Winter Olympic Daily Schedule-PST. MOVED.
- OLY--Winter Olympic TV Schedule. MOVED.
OLY--SPD-SPEEDSKATING PREVIEW
HAMAR, Norway - There are no more Eric Heiden years like 1980, when Olympic domination meant perfection - winning every single event. Now, being half as good likely will suffice to let any athlete reign supreme over the Olympic oval. That translates to three of a possible six golds at the Richmond venue just south of Vancouver. Among the men, it will likely pit Dutchman Sven Kramer vs. American skater Shani Davis. Among the women look for Canada's Christine Nesbitt vs. Czech Martina Sablikova for most gold. And when it comes to national anthem's tugging at the heart, ``O Canada'' should give the Dutch ``Wilhelmus'' a run for the glory, with ``The Star-Spangled Banner'' coming close behind. By Raf Casert. AP Photos NH206-209. MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--SPD-Speedskating Explained. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--BOB-BOBSLED PREVIEW
UNDATED - Steven Holcomb has what he believes to be the best team of bobsled pushers in the world. Fastest four-man sled in the world, too, even with a catchy name, the ``Night Train.'' And the 2009 world championship gold medal shows how good Holcomb can be when the stakes are highest. Now comes the ultimate test - the Vancouver Games, where a stocky American driver who thought he was going blind a few years ago can see himself winning an Olympic gold medal. By Tim Reynolds. AP Photos NY210-211. MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--BOB-Bobsled Explained. MOVED on Jan. 19.
OLY--LUG-LUGE PREVIEW
UNDATED - A year ago, Erin Hamlin answered the question the women's luge world had been asking for more than a decade. ``Can the Germans be beaten?'' Rarely, but yes, they can. A former soccer player from a tiny little town in upstate New York took down the Germans in 2009, winning the world championship by putting together the race of her life. And if anyone has a chance of preventing the German national anthem from inevitably playing after the women's luge competition at the Vancouver Games, it's Hamlin. By Tim Reynolds. AP Photos NY215-216. MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--LUG-Luge Explained. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--SKE-SKELETON PREVIEW
UNDATED - In 2002, the U.S. skeleton program was, by far, the best in the world. The world has most assuredly caught up since. It's not the Americans, but the Canadians and Latvians and Brits and Germans who'll carry the burden of being the Olympic skeleton favorites into the Vancouver Games, perhaps no one under more pressure than Canada's Mellisa Hollingsworth - the women's favorite who, even in a hockey-mad nation, could become a national hero if she delivers the gold. By Tom Withers. AP Photos NY217-218. MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--SKE-Skeleton Explained. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--HKW--WOMEN'S HOCKEY PREVIEW
UNDATED - My, how women's hockey has grown. Heading into the fourth Olympic tournament, players from Moose Jaw to Stockholm who grew up watching the sport's Nagano debut are now old enough to play the fastest, sharpest version of this quickly growing game. Yet some things haven't changed: Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser and the Americans' Angela Ruggiero are still dominant stars, and their teams are heavily favored to meet for gold. By Greg Beacham. AP Photos NY212-213.MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--HKW--Women's Hockey Explained. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--CUR-CURLING PREVIEW
UNDATED - will be many a Maple Leaf waving at Vancouver Olympic Centre, as curling's popularity at these games will be right up there with Canada's more well-known pastime: hockey. With all that support would seemingly come some serious pressure on the home ice to defend the gold Canada won at the 2006 Turin Olympics. By Janie McCauley. AP Photos NY214. MOVED Jan. 19.
- With:
- OLY--CUR-Curling Explained. MOVED Jan. 19.
OLY--SKI-THRILLS & CHILLS OF SPEED
UNDATED - We watch the Winter Olympics with a need for speed, marveling when it's harnessed properly in a thrilling downhill run or a record-breaking speedskating sprint. And we ooh and ahh when all goes wrong, too, when a Hermann Maier soars then crashes, when an Apolo Anton Ohno slams into a barrier or other short-track skaters scatter like bowling pins. That rubber-necking appeal is why snowboardcross is so popular, why skicross joins the Olympics at Vancouver next month. By Howard Fendrich. AP Photos NY232-234. MOVED.
OLY--FIG-FIGURE SKATING PREVIEW
SPOKANE, Wash. - For the first time since 1992, a Winter Olympics will take place without Michelle Kwan being some part of the U.S. team. Take a few moments to digest that, and then let it go. Figure skating has survived without Kwan these last four years, and there will be plenty else at the Vancouver Olympics to keep fans' interest. Like reigning men's champion Evgeni Plushenko, who is back. And Evan Lysacek, the American men's best hope for a gold medal since Brian Boitano was throwing down against Brian Orser. And the U.S. ice dance teams, who might come home with not one, but two medals. Even the women's competition will have its share of thrills. The U.S. women might not be involved, but Kim Yu-na is so good, you might not even care. By National Writer Nancy Armour. AP Photos NY230-231. MOVED.
OLY--VANCOUVER-VIEWER'S GUIDE
NEW YORK - With more than 800 hours of TV coverage planned, the Vancouver Olympics can seem overwhelming. Here's a quick look at the top storylines and can't miss events and athletes of the games. AP Photos. MOVED.
OLY--YOU OUGHTA KNOW
UNDATED - More Jamaicans in the Winter Olympics? A skier from Ghana? Eric Heiden's record in jeopardy? Get a head start on the story lines everybody will be buzzing about during the Vancouver Games. By Rachel Cohen. AP Photos NY249-250. MOVED.
OLY--SKI-ALPINE PREVIEW
UNDATED - Austria has a long history of dominating Alpine skiing at the Olympics, collecting nearly twice as many medals as any other nation. There is a growing sense that could change this time around, thanks to reigning World Cup overall champions Lindsey Vonn of the United States and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, plus a strong Swiss men's team. And while Hermann Maier is no longer around, there are plenty of other familiar faces, from Bode Miller to Anja Paerson. By Howard Fendrich. AP Photos NY235-236. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--SKI-Alpine Skiing Explained. MOVED.
OLY--SBD-SNOWBOARDING PREVIEW
ASPEN, Colo. - Shaun White is a superstar, his likeness plastered on billboards towering over Times Square and almost every inch of retail space at a ski resort near you. He has helped take snowboarding big-time, to the Olympics and beyond, to places most people thought it would never go, back when it was considered a small piece of the counterculture movement on the slopes. By National Writer Eddie Pells. AP Photos NY237-238. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--SBD-Snowboarding Explained. MOVED.
OLY--BIA--BIATHLON PREVIEW
UNDATED - The only American who might be rooting against rising star Tim Burke from becoming the first U.S. biathlete to win an Olympic medal is teammate Jay Hakkinen, who covets the honor for himself. Asked to put Team USA's race to the podium in historical context, Hakkinen, who came excruciatingly close to a medal in Torino, cracked: ``There was a race between Amundsen and Scott to the South Pole.'' When the laughter died down, he was asked which one was playing the part of Amundsen, who prevailed in that competition nearly a century ago. ``We'll find out in Vancouver,'' Hakkinen said. By Arnie Stapleton. AP Photos NY239-240. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--BIA-Biathlon Explained. MOVED.
OLY--NOR-NORDIC COMBINED PREVIEW
UNDATED - The U.S. Nordic combined team looks back on Billy Demong's lost bib fiasco that cost them a shot at sweeping the medals at the world championships last year as a good omen. They insist the way they handled it with grace and forgiveness allowed Demong to win another race 48 hours later and, more important, showed a maturity necessary to succeed at the Olympics. Demong, Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane will try to put gold around the Americans' necks for the first time in a winter sport long dominated by the Europeans, whom they've finally chased down. By Arnie Stapleton. AP Photo NY241. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--NOR-Nordic Combined Explained. MOVED.
OLY--JUM-SKI-JUMPING PREVIEW
UNDATED - Janne Ahonen's list of achievements easily explains why he's considered one of the all-time greats in ski jumping. But despite his five world championship titles and record five overall wins in the Four Hills Tournament, Ahonen still lacks what he wants most: an individual Olympic medal. Now the 32-year-old Finn has come out of retirement for one last shot at a gold medal - and judging by his form so far this season, he just might pull it off. By Mattias Karen. AP Photos NY242-243. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--Ski Jumping Explained. MOVED.
OLY--XXC-CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW
UNDATED - Petter Northug is well on his way to becoming the biggest star cross-country skiing has seen since eight-time Olympic champion Bjorn Daehlie retired a decade ago. But to cement his status as Norway's next skiing great, Northug's performance in his first Winter Games needs be as dominant as it was at last year's world championships, where his unrivaled sprinting ability earned him three gold medals. By Mattias Karen. AP Photo NY244. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--XXC-Cross Country Explained. MOVED.
OLY--FRE--FREESTYLE PREVIEW
UNDATED - Canada says it has the best freestyle team in the world and will have the homefield advantage to prove it. It won't be easy, not with China rising to power in aerials and the everything goes nature of skicross, which will make its Olympic debut in Vancouver. By Will Graves. AP Photos NY245-246. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--FRE--Freestyle Explained. MOVED.
OLY--SHO--SHORT TRACK PREVIEW
UNDATED - Apolo Anton Ohno put away the dancing shoes and put back on his skates. He couldn't pass up the chance to race close to home at one more Olympics - and, oh yeah, try to become the most decorated winter Olympian in U.S. history. But the dynamic short track star faces plenty of stiff competition in his bid to make it to the medal podium at a third straight Olympics, mainly from South Korea, China and a team with a true home-ice advantage, Canada. By National Writer Paul Newberry. AP Photos NY247-248. MOVED.
- With:
- OLY--SHO--Short Track Explained. MOVED.
