Where: Whistler Sliding Center

When: Feb. 18-19

Best of the U.S.: Katie Uhlaender and Noelle Pikus-Pace have seven world championship medals among them and two sound legs. Pikus-Pace, the 2007 champion, broke her right leg in 2005, when a runaway bobsled slammed into her as she stood along the track. Uhlaender shattered her left kneecap in a snowmobile accident in April and has been slow to recover. In the men’s competition, 2006 Olympian Eric Bernotas won a gold medal in Igls, Germany, the penultimate World Cup race of this season.

Best of the rest: There are two Dukurs on the Latvian men’s team. Bet on the younger one, Martins, ranked No. 1 in the world, to continue his hot streak. Frank Rommel has finished the last two seasons in second place. It’s tough to imagine that anyone can beat Canadian Mellisa Hollingsworth, the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist ranked No. 1 in the world, at home. But if anyone can, it is Germany’s Marion Trott.

Predictions

Men: 1. Martins Dukurs, Latvia. 2. Rommel, Germany. 3. Jon Montgomery, Canada.

Women: 1. Hollingsworth, Canada. 2. Trott, Germany. 3. Shelley Rudman, Great Britain.

Ski jumping

Where: Whistler Olympic Park

When: Feb., 12, 13, 19, 20, 22

Best of the U.S.: Anders Johnson made the team for the 2006 Olympic Games as a 16-year-old and now returns as a veteran. Neither he nor any other American figures to be in the running for a medal.

Best of the rest: In a sport where youth rules, Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria captured handfuls of World Cup victories before turning 20 last month. The wunderkind is a strong favorite on the normal hill. Switzerland’s Simon Ammann, who won both individual events eight years ago in Salt Lake City, and Austrians Thomas Morgenstern and Wolfgang Loitzl should also press for spots on the podium.

Predictions

Normal hill: 1. Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austria. 2. Wolfgang Loitzl, Austria. 3. Simon Ammann, Switzerland.

Large hill: 1. Ammann, Switzerland. 2. Schlierenzauer, Austria. 3. Thomas Morgenstern, Austria.

Team: 1. Austria. 2. Finland. 3. Switzerland.