The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics are set to kick off with an opening ceremony scheduled for Feb. 4. The world’s top athletes will descend upon the Olympic Village for the two-week competition, all in pursuit of a spot on the podium.

The Games’ skiing and snowboarding events in particular will feature some of the most exciting rivalries, compelling figures and heated contests.

Here are 10 snowboarders and skiers to keep an eye on during the Beijing Winter Olympics:

1. Chloe Kim

Chloe Kim is one of Team USA’s biggest stars as the heavy favorite to take home gold in the women’s snowboard halfpipe. Beijing will mark Kim’s second consecutive Olympics after she clinched gold in 2018 at the PyeongChang Games at just 17 years old. Now 21, Kim is dominating the competition heading into February’s Winter Olympics, winning every event she has entered since 2021. In Beijing, look out for Kim to throw down a run featuring two 1080s with her signature big air.

2. Mikaela Shiffrin

Returning for her third Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin is looking to become the most decorated American alpine skier in Olympic history. The Colorado native currently holds three medals to her name, taking home gold in the slalom in Sochi 2014 and gold in the giant slalom and silver in the alpine combined in PyeongChang. Shiffrin has been racking up World Cup titles in the run-up to Beijing, solidifying herself as a favorite in the slalom and giant slalom and a challenger in every other downhill event. At just 26 years old, Shiffrin is expected to dominate the Winter Olympics’ podium once again as she competes in five events.

3. Petra Vlhová

Slovakia’s Petra Vlhová is one of Shiffrin’s greatest rivals in the slalom and giant slalom, locking up the World Cup season title heading into the Winter Games. Already considered the greatest skier out of Slovakia, Vlhová hopes to add an Olympic medal to her growing resume. If anyone is going to spoil Shiffrin’s gold-medal run in Beijing, it may just be the 26-year-old Vlhová.

4. Eileen Gu

Team China’s Eileen Gu is flying high as one of the host country’s star athletes. The California-born free skier has competed for China since 2019, winning gold in the halfpipe and slopestyle events at the 2021 World Championships. At 18 years old, Gu will make her Olympic debut in Beijing, competing in halfpipe, big air and slopestyle. A force on the slopes and an iconic cultural figure in China, Gu is set to make a splash at the Winter Games and potentially emerge as an international superstar.

5. Sara Takanashi

Sara Takanashi is back for her third Winter Games, looking for gold after capturing bronze at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. The Japanese ski jumper has shattered almost every record in her sport, collecting 61 World Cup victories, the most ever by a skier. The 25-year-old has also earned a spot on the podium in a staggering 110 of her 167 World Cup appearances. Now all that’s left for Takanashi to accomplish is an Olympic gold, which has eluded the star up to this point.

6. Charlotte Bankes

Charlotte Bankes is an Olympic veteran, competing in Sochi and PyeongChang, but Beijing will mark the snowboarder’s first Games representing Great Britain. The 26-year-old competed for France after moving to the country as a toddler before switching her affiliation to Great Britain in 2018. As the 2021 World Snowboard Cross Champion, Bankes is expected to make a run for gold in the event at Beijing.

7. Lara Gut-Behrami

Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami is in top form ahead of Beijing, challenging Shiffrin, and the rest of the field, throughout the World Cup season. The 30-year-old is no stranger to Olympic competition, capturing gold in downhill during the 2014 Games. Winning gold in the super-g and giant slalom at the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, Gut-Behrami is one to watch, specifically in her most successful discipline, the super-G.

8. Ester Ledecká

Ester Ledecká enters Beijing hoping to top a remarkable and historic PyeongChang Olympic Games. In 2018, the Czech athlete shocked the world when she captured gold in snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom and alpine skiing’s super-G, becoming the first woman Winter Olympian to win in two different sports in the same Games. The 26-year-old will compete in both disciplines in Beijing as a heavy favorite in snowboarding and a fierce challenger in alpine skiing.

9. Sofia Goggia

Sofia Goggia arrives in Beijing as the reigning Olympic downhill champion, ready to defend her title. The Italian skier won seven World Cup downhill races before crashing during a Jan. 15 competition, the longest streak in women’s skiing in 40 years. In Beijing, Goggia is expected to be a force in downhill and the super-G as well as the other alpine disciplines.

10. Lindsey Jacobellis

After a series of narrow defeats in her previous four Olympic Games, Lindsey Jacobellis will be looking for redemption in Beijing. The American snowboardcross athlete nearly clinched gold at the 2006 Torino Olympics, throwing a celebratory method grab just before the race’s finish line, which caused her to fall and allowed her competitor to win the event. Jacobellis left Torino with silver, her best Olympic result, falling off the podium in the following three Games. In Beijing, Jacobellis will hope to secure the elusive gold medal in her fifth Olympic appearance.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.