text: 1 of 14 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Athletes to watch for the 2014 Winter Olympics View Photos As the Sochi Games get underway, the U.S. team will feature fresh faces and seasoned veterans. Here are 14 worth keeping an eye on during the ’14 Olympics. Caption As the Sochi Games get underway, the U.S. team will feature fresh faces and seasoned veterans. Here are 14 worth keeping an eye on during the ’14 Olympics. Mikaela Shiffrin, Alpine Skiing Mikaela Shiffrin, 18, looks to be the heir apparent to Lindsey Vonn, who is will this Olympics with knee injuries. Last year, at her first world championships, she beat much more seasoned skiers to take the slalom gold. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
   
   No athlete is more closely associated with extreme sports than Shaun White, who has parlayed his snowboarding daring and artistry into two Olympic gold medals, 13 Winter X Games titles and a multimillion dollar franchise. 
   
   So when White abruptly withdrew from the inaugural Olympic slopestyle competition at the Sochi Games on Wednesday — citing the risk of injury and his preference, on balance, to focus on winning a third gold in the halfpipe — it had seismic effects. 
   
   White’s decision to bow out of the slopestyle event on the eve of qualifying not only robbed Sochi of yet another big name in a much ballyhooed event. It also added to the mounting evidence that Olympic organizers, in their zeal to jazz up the Winter Games in order to connect with a younger audience, may be carrying the “no-limits” ethos of extreme sports one step too far. 
   
   At issue is the safety of Sochi’s slopestyle course, which earlier this week ended the pursuit of gold medal favorite Torstein Horgmo of Norway. The first snowboarder to land a triple cork (three off-axis flips and four full rotations), Horgmo crashed while attempting a difficult trick on the rails near the top of the course in Monday’s opening training session and broke his collarbone. 
   
   From figure skating teams to female ski jumpers - a dozen new events will debut at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. (Associated Press) 
   
   On Tuesday, Finland’s Merike Enne injured her left ankle in a crash, and White, 27, jammed his left wrist in an accident. 
   
   A slopestyle course is akin to an ice-covered, downhill obstacle course littered with jumps, rails and boxes. Riders are free to negotiate them any way they choose, rewarded for the daring and creativity of the jumps, flips and spins they pull off on their descent. 
   
   Last weekend’s rain scuttled the customary pre-event tests of the Olympic slopestyle course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. So the first time riders tried it was Monday. The height of the jumps came as a jolt to many riders who boast of knowing no boundaries. 
   
   “Yikes!” U.S. hopeful Keri Herman said, asked her initial impression. “But that’s the same as X Games every year. You show up; it’s scary. You hit it a couple of times and you are like, ‘All right, I can deal with this.’ ” 
   
   White called it “intimidating.” 
   
   And Sebastien Toutant of Canada told the Olympic News Service, “It’s like jumping out of a building.” 
   
   After several snowboarders appealed for changes Monday night, the course was modified, with the tops and bottoms of some of the jumps smoothed out. 
   
   Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer told reporters Tuesday the modifications had helped. 
   
   “It makes it more safe, but you can still go as big as before,” Scherrer said. “The rails are much better so that you can see more tricks, rather than just trying to survive.” 
   
   After market research in the mid-1990s showed that the Winter Games were losing younger audiences, the International Olympic Committee turned to extreme sports to stem the decline, adding two snowboarding events (halfpipe and giant slalom) for the 1998 Nagano Games. 
   
   In Sochi, a record 10 snowboarding events will be contested. Combined with a record 10 freestyle events, that means extreme sports will account for 20 of Sochi’s 98 events. 
   
   As the first medal event contested, slopestyle snowboarding, in which riders flip down the course like high-flying pinballs in a pinball machine, is expected to set an eye-popping tone for the Games. 
   
   
   
   Venue map of 2014 Olympic games in Sochi Russia 
   
   Although both snowboarders and freestyle skiers wear helmets, the risk of injury remains high. 
   
   White gave no indication of his plans to withdraw during a news conference Wednesday afternoon, fielding questions from reporters in Sochi about the challenge of juggling both the Olympic halfpipe and slopestyle competitions and saying that his wrist injury had been “blown out of proportion.” But within an hour, he told NBC he was pulling out, saying that “the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympic goals on.” 
   
   Moments later, he issued the following statement through the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association: “After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in halfpipe for Team USA. The difficult decision to forego slopestyle is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slopestyle event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being part of.” 
   
   Roberto Moresi, assistant snowboard race director for the International Ski Federation, defended the course, telling the Olympic News Service: “It’s only him that’s pulled out, but people had already started to get into the course and like it a lot.” 
   
   Freestyle skiing’s slopestylers will compete on the same course in Sochi. 
   
   Charlottesville’s Sara Greenfield, a former freestyle instructor and competitor who started the National Ski and Board Safety Association after her son’s best friend was killed at a local resort, applauded White’s decision to withdraw. 
   
   “Injury prevention is easier to provide when athletes stand up for their beliefs,” Greenfield wrote in an e-mail exchange. “I have seen many a jump redesigned to make it safer. Death and serious injury is simply put unacceptable, and it is occurring at alarming rates in these two sports. If there is a call for rail or jump safety, the builders of these obstacles should make them safer, or shut them down, take them out.” ||||| Ashley Wagner, of the United States, skates at the figure stating practice rink ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (Associated Press) 
   
   SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Competition at the Sochi Olympics has begun, 32 hours before the opening ceremony. 
   
   Early starts are needed because of 12 men's and women's medal events added since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. 
   
   Men's snowboard slopestyle qualifying runs — without American star Shaun White, who withdrew Wednesday — got underway Thursday 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) at X-Treme Park in the mountains above Sochi. 
   
   Women's qualifying runs were following in the afternoon, and women's moguls qualifying was scheduled to start freestyle skiing events at 6 p.m. (1400 GMT). 
   
   Men's slopestyle and women's moguls are among the first medals to be awarded Saturday. 
   
   Down in Sochi, the new team figure skating competition begins 7.30 p.m. (1530 GMT) at the Iceberg Skating Palace. 
   
   The men's short program is to be followed by the pairs. ||||| CLOSE The Olympics is off and running, but we've been hearing more about the hotel issues than the sporting events so far. (USA TODAY, USA NOW) 
   
   An armed Russian security guard stands at the ski resort Rosa Khutor, where the snow and sliding sports venues for the 2014 Winter Olympics are located, on Tuesday. (Photo: Dita Alangkara, AP) Story Highlights Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak said safety concerns in Sochi had been exaggerated 
   
   Kozak said "the level of threat in Sochi is no worse than in New York, Washington or Boston" 
   
   Kozak said there was no reason to believe there were new threats in Sochi 
   
   SOCHI, Russia – Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak said Thursday the concern over a terrorist attack on the Winter Olympics has been overblown in media reports and characterized Russia's ability to secure the games equal to any country hosting a major international event. 
   
   "The level of fear should be lower," Kozak said through an interpreter. "The level of threat in Sochi is no worse than in New York, Washington or Boston. Based on information we received from our intelligence services, there's no reason to believe Sochi is under more threat than any city on the planet." 
   
   Kozak's comments came during a previously scheduled news conference several hours after reports that the Department of Homeland Security had issued a bulletin warning airlines that explosives might be concealed in tubes of toothpaste – perhaps to be smuggled into Sochi – on flights from the U.S. to Russia. 
   
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   Kozak would not comment specifically on the report but said there was no reason to believe there were new threats. 
   
   After the press conference, Scott Blackmun, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, was asked how information about the threat was relayed to him: "I don't want talk about specific responses to specific threats because I think it actually impairs our security plan to do that. But I will say that we were made aware of it, and I can't really say anything beyond that." 
   
   "The safety and security of our athletes and whole delegation is always the primary concern. As we always do we work closely with our state department and our state department is in very close contact with the local authorities. We react to situations as they arise but we also have a lot of planning exercises in advance and these games are no different than any other Games in that respect." 
   
   That advisory is the latest in a series of security concerns leading up to Friday's opening ceremonies. Islamic extremist groups based in the nearby Caucasus mountains have vowed to disrupt the Olympics and claimed responsibility for twin December suicide bombing in Volvograd – roughly 500 miles away – that left more than 30 dead. 
   
   Though Russia has promised a "ring of steel" around the Olympic area, with more than 40,000 security forces in the region, some members of the intelligence community have questioned whether the concentration of manpower will leave other outlying areas vulnerable to an attack. 
   
   Kozak said the intensity of talk about the terrorism threat has been "a little too much." 
   
   "In any place, in any sporting event on the planet, it has the same nature," he said. 
   
   Kozak was also asked for his reaction to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who blasted any "arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions" carried out against homosexuals during a speech to the IOC on Thursday morning. The comments were pointed toward Russia's so-called "gay propaganda" law, which has inspired various forms of protest and political blowback leading up to the Games. 
   
   Kozak essentially repeated Russian president Vladimir Putin, who said the law only bans propaganda aimed at minors and that gay athletes and visitors won't be arrested in Sochi. 
   
   "We don't differentiate between people depending on nationality, religion or sexual relations," Kozak said. "We are all grown-ups and any adult has the right to understand their sexual acts. Please don't touch the kids, that's the only thing." 
   
   PHOTOS: The scene in Sochi ||||| New Zealand's Rebecca Torr takes a jump during the women's snowboard slopestyle qualifying at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana,... (Associated Press) 
   
   New Zealand's Rebecca Torr takes a jump during the women's snowboard slopestyle qualifying at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana,... (Associated Press) 
   
   SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Fast five, Thursday edition: Things you'll want to know about the 2014 Winter Olympics. 
   
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   SECURITY: It's foremost on many minds as Olympic competition begins and thousands stream into the Black Sea resort city. The Russian government says it's doing all it can to ensure safety, and on Thursday a deputy prime minister went even further. "We can guarantee the safety of the people as well as any other government hosting a mass event," said Dmitry Kozak. 
   
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   TOOTHPASTE: It's the latest item to fall under scrutiny after the U.S. Homeland Security Department warned airlines flying to Russia that terrorists might try to smuggle explosives on board hidden in toothpaste tubes. The threat was passed onto airlines that have direct flights to Russia, including some that originate in the United States, a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. 
   
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   SNOWBOARDING: It begins, but without marquee name Shaun White, the world's most famous snowboarder. He pulled out of slopestyle, a new Olympic event, to concentrate on the halfpipe, where he'll have a chance to win his third straight title next week. After practice slopestyle runs, White said: "The potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympics goals on." 
   
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   WORLD LEADERS: It's a record, says the Sochi Olympics' chief organizer: Sixty-five heads of state and government and international organizations will be attending Russia's first Winter Games. Dmitry Chernyshenko says that's more than any other Winter Olympics and three times the number of leaders who attended the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Here's who you won't see, though: President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German President Joachim Gauck. 
   
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   OPENING APPROACHES: Friday night's opening ceremony will showcase Russia to the world on its own terms — a storyline intended to impress the many nations in attendance and allow President Vladimir Putin to put forth the message he's been trumpeting for months now: that his country has successfully combined its storied history with modern innovation and is ready for anything. The intended audience is as much Russians as it is the rest of the world. 
   
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   Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
target: – Sochi's opening ceremony kicks off at 11am ET tomorrow, and if you just can't wait for the Olympic news to begin, well, here you go. Competition has already started: Some 32 hours before the opening ceremony, to be exact. The AP reports that early starts are required because Sochi's slate holds a dozen men's and women's medal events added since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Everything happening in advance of tomorrow are just qualifying rounds, though. Among them: men's snowboard slopestyle and women's moguls. Security: Everyone is worried about it, and Russia says everyone should chill. USA Today reports that Russian deputy PM Dmitry Kozak today said, "The level of threat in Sochi is no worse than in New York, Washington, or Boston. Based on information we received from our intelligence services, there's no reason to believe Sochi is under more threat than any city on the planet." He would not, however, comment specifically on... ...Toothpaste bombs: Homeland Security officials yesterday said airlines flying to Russia ahead of the Olympics ought to pay special attention to passengers' toothpaste tubes because they could contain explosives to make a bomb. DHS officials aren't aware of any specific plot in the works, though. Dangerous course? Shaun White made waves when he pulled out of aforementioned new Olympic event slopestyle yesterday, saying that "the potential risk of injury is a bit too much for me to gamble my other Olympics goals on." The Washington Post reports that it's only added to the questions of the extreme nature of the course, which killed the gold medal dreams of Norway's Torstein Horgmo on Monday when he broke his collarbone in a training session. After a number of athletes clamored for changes, the tops and bottoms of a few of the jumps were "smoothed out." A record: These Winter Olympics will see more heads of state and government and international organizations than any prior Winter Games, and three times the number of leaders who showed up in Vancouver, reports the AP. Of course, big names like Barack Obama, Francois Hollande, and David Cameron won't be there. And then there's the gripes about the accommodations and the food...