Experts are predicting a huge medal haul for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Games, and the pressure is on our athletes to make the host country look good. Although the Canadian team won’t be finalized until a few weeks before the competition begins, here is a glimpse at 50 athletes we think have podium potential.
Check after the break for the full listing.
Gold, please
 Women’s hockey |
You could usually bet on an American vs. Canada final, but Sweden and Finland can’t be discounted. Canada has won gold in each of the past two Olympics Games and recently whooped the U.S. 5-1 in the finals of the Four Nations Cup. |
 Men’s hockey |
The Russians are dangerous and the Swedes have the depth and goaltending to repeat. Yet it’s Sid the Kid’s first Olympic Games and the home crowd will be rabid—after all, they’re paying upwards of nearly $800 for a preliminary round game and $4,000 for the medal round. |
 Curling |
Ever since curling became an Olympic fixture in 1998, Canada has won a curling medal in every event. Teams will be finalized after the 2009 Canadian Curling Trials that will be held in Edmonton in early December. |
 Charles Hamelin |
Sport: Short Track Speed Skating Hamelin is a threat in the 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m individual distances. He has captured 12 medals at the World Championships since 2005 and won silver at the 2006 Turin Games in the 5,000m relay. In the first four World Cup events of the 2009-10 season, Hamelin has already won three gold medals. |
 Kristina Groves |
Sport: Long Track Speed Skating The Ottawa native has the potential to win five medals in these Games. Earned two silver medals in Turin (1,500m and team pursuit) and is Canada’s most decorated skater at the World Championships. |
 Christine Nesbitt |
Sport: Long Track Speed Skating Nesbitt has made it abundantly clear, in the first two long track World Cup events of this season, that she is on top of her game—winning a silver and gold in the 1,500m and back-to-back gold medals in the 1,000m. At Turin, she won silver in the team pursuit. |
 Jenn Heil |
Sport: Freestyle Skiing (moguls) Heil won gold in Turin in the moguls and has captured 42 World Cup medals to go along with four podium finishes at the World Championships. She has her own line of sterling silver jewellery designed by Birks, but gold is what she’ll be looking for on the slopes of Cypress Mountain in 2010. |
 Patrick Chan |
Sport: Figure Skating (singles) The affable 18-year-old won the Four Continents Championships and took silver at the World Championships this past year. Currently ranked first in the world, he could capture gold in an event that has no clear-cut favourite. |
 Steve Omischl |
Sport: Freestyle Skiing (aerials) Omischl is a force to be reckoned with in aerials. He has won an amazing 40 World Cup medals over his career, including 20 first place finishes, but has never finished in the top 10 in two Olympic Games. His motto: “Work hard and win. Do nothing and lose.” |
 Alexandre Bilodeau |
Sport: Freestyle Skiing (moguls) Bilodeau was only 18 years old when he competed in Turin, where he finished 11th. He won an impressive five World Cup events last year to go along with a gold medal in the dual moguls at the World Championships, and finished first in the overall World Cup standings. |
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