The opening ceremony for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics won’t be held until Friday, but the competition will officially begin on Thursday with the first five events. No medals will be handed out on Day 1, with only qualification and preliminary events on the schedule. The games will begin in the mountains with men’s slopestyle snowboarding the first event on the docket.
2014 Olympics: Event schedule for Thursday
The 2014 Winter Olympics kick off early Thursday morning with the first five events.
Joe Scarnici
Here is a closer look at the complete event schedule for Day 1 of the Winter Olympics.
Snowboarding - Men’s slopestyle qualification, 1 a.m. ET
With a scheduled start time of 10 a.m. local time, men’s slopestyle will be the first event of the Olympics. The qualification round will narrow the field with a semifinal and final round scheduled for Feb. 8. The athletes will perform runs on a slope course. They will be judged on technical aspects with the top performers moving on. The United States will have three athletes in the event after Shaun White pulled out of the event, with Ryan Stassel, Charles Guldemond and Sage Kotsenburg scheduled to compete.
Snowboarding - Women’s slopestyle qualification, 5 a.m.
Following the men’s qualification round, the women will take their turn on the slopestyle course. Four women will compete for the United States, headlined by Jamie Anderson. The 23-year-old finished second in slopestyle at the World Snowboarding Championships in 2012 and won slopestyle gold at the Winter X Games in 2012 and 2013. Jessika Jenson, Karly Shorr and Ty Walker are also scheduled to compete for the United States.
Freestyle Skiing - Women’s moguls qualification, 9 a.m.
The first of two qualifying rounds will be held on Thursday. The athletes go through a downhill bumpy slope course and are required to perform two jumps. They are judged by the difficulty and quality of the jumps with speed also factoring in. Hannah Kearney will be one of four athletes competing for the United States. She won gold in the event at the 2010 Winter Olympics and is one of the favorites in the event this year. Heather McPhie, Heidi Kloser and Eliza Outtrim will also compete for team USA.
Figure Skating - Team men’s short program, 10:30 a.m.
The team figure skating competition will begin with the men’s short program. Each team will compete in eight events, earning points for each. The team event is a new competition with the United States one of the favorites to medal. The teams are made up of athletes who qualified for one of the traditional individual or pairs events. Jeremy Abbott is expected to handle the short program for the United States. He won the U.S. National Championship four times, including in 2014.
Figure Skating - Team pairs short program, 12:10 p.m.
The team competition will continue on Thursday with the pairs short program. Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir will skate the event for the United States. They will also compete in the team pairs long program. The duo are two-time U.S. National champions and finished 13th in the pairs event at the 2013 World Championships.
More on the Winter Olympics:
• Hockey: Men’s schedule | All 12 men’s rosters | USA roster analysis
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