The Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin Feb. 7 in Sochi, Russia, and several athletic hopefuls are set to try and win the gold in their scheduled events.

98 gold medals are at stake in several events which will see competitors participating in events that take place on either snow or ice. Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin Friday night, with the first of the medal-bearing events scheduled for Saturday. The final medals will be awarded on the same day as the Feb. 23 closing ceremonies, to the winner of the men's hockey tournament.

Events scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 8 include: Biathalon, Cross-Country and Freestyle Skiing. Closing out the weekend on Sunday are continues Biathalon and Cross-Country Skiing events, as well as the start of Alpine Skiing, Luge and Figure Skating events.

Several U.S. athletes are returning this year after winning medals during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Bode Miller, who won three events in 2010, will be back as part of the U.S. Alpine Skiing team, alongside fellow 2010 medal winners Andrew Weibrecht and Julia Mancuso. Returning for the U.S. Bobsled team are three members of the gold medal winning four-man team from 2010 (Steven Holcomb, Curt Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen), as well as Elana Meyers from the bronze medal winning two-woman bobsled.

Speed skaters J.R. Celski, Jordan Malone, Alyson Dudek, SHani Davis, Brian Hansen and Jonathon Kuck are returning, as well as Nordic combined medal winner Bill Demong.

Fans of snowboarding can also expect to see Shaun White, Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark as well.

For a full schedule of the games, click here.


Tags: 2014 Winter Olympics