World champion Seth Wescott could whoop or wave his way to gold in the first-time Olympic event. (Getty Images)
Just as organizers had hoped, snowboarding sparked new interest in the Winter Games when it was added to the Olympics in Nagano in 1998. The 2002 U.S. medal sweep in men's halfpipe added to the buzz among American youngsters. Now comes a new discipline -- snowboard cross, which makes its Olympic debut in Turin. It's a wild hybrid of snowboarding's two other Olympic disciplines -- halfpipe, a judged sport in which riders do stunts in a half-cylinder carved in the snow; and parallel giant slalom, a timed sport in which boarders race side-by-side down a slope on identical courses.
In snowboard cross, boarders race in packs on an obstacle course littered with such elements as whoops, waves, banks, kickers and spines. The competition begins with qualifying, in which each rider takes two runs on the course alone. The 32 boarders with the fastest single run advance to the elimination phase, in which they race in groups of four. The fastest two in each group advance to the next round. Heats are held until the field is winnowed to four, who will scramble for the medals in one final run. As in short-track speedskating, some contact is inevitable. But intentional pushing or toppling of an opponent is grounds for disqualification.
Reigning world champion Seth Wescott, 29, of Farmington, Maine, is expected to square off for the gold with good friend Xavier Delerue, 27, a Frenchman. Wescott was a multi-sport athlete growing up in North Carolina; his father coached 1984 Olympic marathon winner Joan Benoit at N.C. State.
NEW FACE
Johnny WeirUnited States
Figure skating
Men's free skate
Given his penchant for self-tanning products, flamboyant costumes and candid comments, Weir is bound to make a splash in his Olympic debut. The more pressing questions: Will the three-time U.S. national skating champion win an Olympic medal? The answer likely hinges on whether Weir, 21, of Quarryville, Pa., can master a quadruple jump, which he has yet to land in competition. Completing four revolutions in the air has become almost essential for a male skater if he wants to make it to the podium in international events. It's doubtful that Weir's trademark fluidity and showmanship can overcome the absence of a quadruple jump.