The Tomato in winter, and other international Olympic stars to watch

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There are some great international athletes to watch at the Olympics too

Over the past few months, we've spent most of our time in this newsletter tracking Canada's top winter Olympic athletes on their road to Beijing. But there are a lot of interesting international stars as well. Here's a (by no means exhaustive) list of some worth following:

Figure skating: Nathan Chen, Kamila Valieva

Chen is the undisputed king of men's figure skating right now. With his unmatched athleticism and jumping ability, the 22-year-old American has dominated the event throughout this Olympic cycle. He captured the last three world titles, the last three Grand Prix Finals and won an incredible 14 consecutive competitions before the streak finally ended back in the fall. There's one big hole in his resumé, though. Chen's Olympic debut in 2018 quickly turned into a nightmare when he stumbled to a shocking 17th-place showing in the short program before rebounding with a brilliant free skate to finish fifth. Now he's a massive favourite to win gold in Beijing. But Chen needs to prove he can deliver on the sport's ultimate stage in order to take the title away from back-to-back champ Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan.

Valieva is an even bigger favourite to win the women's event. The 15-year-old Russian won all five of her competitions this season, including the European championships a couple of weeks ago. She could become the third consecutive Russian teenager to capture the Olympic women's title, and could lead a Russian sweep of the podium with Alexandra Trusova and Anna Stanislavovna.

Bobsleigh: Kaillie Humphries, Francesco Friedrich

Humphries is the greatest bobsleigh pilot in Canadian history. Along with a pair of world titles, she won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the two-woman event in 2010 and '14 and bronze in '18 before a bitter dispute with the Canadian program led to her taking her talents to the United States. She captured the two-woman world title for her new team in 2020 and '21, along with a world title in the women's monobob, a newish version of the sport making its Olympic debut in Beijing. A newly minted U.S. citizen, Humphries will go toe-to-toe with fellow American and good pal Elana Meyers Taylor, who won the World Cup title in both events this season. Other challengers include Canada's Christine De Bruin (a medal contender in the two-woman and the monobob) and Cynthia Appiah (competing in both events, but a serious threat only in the monobob).

The men's bobsleigh competitions are far less interesting, thanks to the almost mechanical excellence of Friedrich. The German pilot has swept the two- and four-man events at the last four world championships, and he just completed a near-perfect World Cup season, winning seven of the eight races in each discipline. Friedrich is also the reigning Olympic champion in both events, though in 2018 he had to share the two-man gold with Canada's Justin Kripps after they finished in a dead heat. Another gold looks like a tall order for Kripps, but he remains a strong medal contender in both events.

Snowboarding: Shaun White, Chloe Kim

White corked into the mainstream at the 2006 Olympics in Italy, where he won the men's halfpipe gold as a 19-year-old with flowing red hair that earned him the nickname "The Flying Tomato." Since then, he's trimmed the locks and added two more Olympic gold medals to go with his extensive collection of X Games titles. Now, at 35, White is the lion in winter. He heads into what is likely his final Olympics as the oldest halfpiper the U.S. has ever sent to the Games.

Kim was the Shaun White of the 2018 Olympics, soaring to instant stardom with her charismatic victory in the women's halfpipe as a 17-year-old. The American went on to win back-to-back world titles and is favoured to repeat in Beijing.

Alpine skiing: Mikaela Shiffrin vs. Petra Vlhova

The American and Slovak rivals, both 26 years old, currently rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the World Cup women's overall standings, and the reverse of that in the slalom. Shiffrin was the undisputed queen of both competitions for three straight seasons before the sudden death of her dad in early 2020, followed by the pandemic, derailed her career and her life off the slopes. Shiffrin has not won a World Cup season title since then, while Vhlova captured the overall crown last season, plus a pair of slalom crystal globes.

Still, Shiffrin has by far the better record on the biggest stages. She's won six world titles (in three different disciplines) and she got the better of Vlhova at last year's world championships, winning four medals (including gold in the combined) compared to a pair of silvers by her rival. Shiffrin won Olympic gold in the slalom in 2014 and added gold in the giant slalom and silver in the combined in '18. Vlhova has no podiums to show for her two trips to the Olympics.

Curling: Bruce Mouat

The 27-year-old Scotsman is the only big-name skip competing in both a traditional event and the mixed doubles in Beijing. He also has a real chance of winning gold in both. Last season, Mouat and mixed-doubles partner Jennifer Dodds captured the world title and Mout took silver at the men's world championship in Calgary after losing to Sweden's Nik Edin in the final. Mouat returned the favour in November, beating Edin to win the European championship.

In Beijing, Mouat's rivals in the men's event include Edin and Canada's Brad Gushue. His mixed-doubles foes include the formidable Canadian duo of John Morris and Rachel Homan, and a Swedish team that features Oskar Eriksson, who plays third for Edin's rink.

Quickly...

Canada's first group of Olympic athletes has landed in Beijing. They flew in on a charter from Vancouver, and it seems like things are going OK so far. Olympic organizers have mandated that all athletes produce two negative tests for COVID-19 within 96 hours of their trip to China, plus another one upon arrival. Athletes who recovered from COVID-19 within the last 30 days had to supply two additional negative tests. There have been no reports of a Canadian athlete testing positive within this framework, which could jeopardize their eligibility to compete. Read more about Canadian athletes' arrivals in Beijing and see some video and pictures of them here. 

The Canadian men's soccer team returns to its house of horrors tonight. When Canada visited Honduras for an important third-round World Cup qualifying match in 2012, it ended in a humiliating 8-1 defeat. A decade later, with only three players remaining from that disaster, much has changed (for the better) for the Canadian team. Just past the halfway point of the third round of regional qualifying for this year's World Cup, Canada sits atop the standings and is on pace to reach the sport's biggest event for the first time since 1986. A positive result vs. a Honduras side that's currently last in the standings should be much easier to achieve this time around. But Canada is without superstar Alphonso Davies because of a heart issue, and key midfielder Stephen Eustáquio could be unavailable too after reportedly testing positive for COVID-19. Plus, that 2012 nightmare still haunts some as Canada heads back into hostile Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula tonight at 8 p.m. ET. We covered what Canada needs to do in this upcoming three-match window in yesterday's newsletter, which you can read here if you missed it. You can also read soccer expert John Molinaro's preview here and read John's piece on the 2012 Honduras debacle here.

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