ALPINE SKIING

MEN’S SLALOM

* Where: Sestriere Colle.

* When: Feb. 25.

* Best of the U.S.: Bode Miller is one of the most talented gate runners in history but has fallen back into a go-for-broke mode and has been having trouble finishing races. Ted Ligety is the American on the slalom rise with nine top-10 finishes, to Miller’s one, through January on the World Cup circuit.

* Best of the rest: Giorgia Rocca, the best Italian gate skier since Alberto Tomba, has dominated the World Cup slalom scene and is this event’s prohibitive favorite. It won’t play well locally if Finland’s Kalle Palander pulls off the upset.

* U.S. chances to medal: You would have drawn laughter in December had you suggested that Ligety had a better chance than Miller, but that’s the way it’s shaping up now.

* Little-known fact: Tomba, who won 50 World Cup races, 35 in slalom, was such a dominant figure in the technical races that he won the World Cup overall title one season without competing in a downhill or super-G.

*

WOMEN’S SLALOM

* Where: Sestriere Colle.

* When: Feb. 22.

* Best of the U.S.: Kristina Koznick, who skis independently of the U.S. team, has more than 50 top-10 finishes in a solid World Cup career. Lindsey Kildow and Julia Mancuso rank in the top 20.

* Best of the rest: It could be a repeat of the top-three four years ago in Salt Lake City: Janica Kostelic of Croatia, Laure Pequegnot of France and Anja Paerson of Sweden. The spoiler could be Austria’s Marlies Schild, who is neck-and-neck with Kostelic in the World Cup slalom title race.

* U.S. chances to medal: Koznick, 30, has the best resume but hasn’t fared well in big events. Kildow and Mancuso are young, talented and thirsting for success, so they could pop a surprise here.

* Little-known fact: The first women’s Olympic slalom race ever contested, at St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1948, was won by American Gretchen Fraser.

*

MEN’S GIANT SLALOM

* Where: Sestriere Colle.

* When: Feb. 20.

* Best of the U.S.: Miller won silver in this event at Salt Lake City and it has been his most consistent discipline on the World Cup circuit. Daron Rahlves, once known as only a speed racer, has worked giant slalom into his repertoire and earned a bronze at last year’s world championships. Veteran Erik Schlopy, working his way back from injuries, took bronze at the 2003 worlds.

* Best of the rest: This could be gold-medal time for Austrian Benjamin Raich, the World Cup overall leader, and the first Italian Alpine party if home country skier Massimiliano Blardone, one of the race favorites, earns a medal.

* U.S. chances to medal: Miller has won more World Cup races in giant slalom than in any other discipline, but predicting how Miller is going to fare these days is about as easy as predicting what he will say next.

* Little-known fact: Schlopy is married to Summer Sanders, a four-time Olympic medalist in swimming and now a television personality.

*

WOMEN’S GIANT SLALOM

* Where: Sestriere Colle.

* When: Feb. 24.

* Best of the U.S.: This is probably America’s weakest event, with only Mancuso ranked among the top 20 in the world.

* Best of the rest: Kostelic and Paerson battle again in the final women’s event of the Games. Kostelic is the defending Olympic champion and Paerson took the silver. Spain’s Maria Jose Rienda Contreras announced her Olympic intentions in December by winning the GS World Cup at Aspen, Colo., then winning another just before the Olympics at Ofterschwang, Germany.

* U.S. chances to medal: Not strong, unless Mancuso or Kildow have already won medals and become fearless in this female finale.

* Little-known fact: When Kostelic won the GS gold at Salt Lake City, her third gold of those Olympics, she became the first Alpine skier to win four medals in a Winter Olympics.

*

MEN’S SUPER-GIANT SLALOM

* Where: Sestriere Borgata.

* When: Feb. 18.

* Best of the U.S.: Rahlves won the super-G world championship in 2001, Miller is the defending world champion and World Cup titleholder, and 28-year-old Scott Macartney recently joined the discussion by finishing second in a World Cup in Germany -- his first top-three finish.

* Best of the rest: Austrian Hermann Maier became a cult legend at the 1998 Nagano Games when, 72 hours after his horrific crash in the downhill, he rebounded to win the super-G gold. Eight years later, he remains one of the world’s best. Also factors: Erik Guay of Canada and Aksel-Lund Svindal of Norway.

* U.S. chances to medal: Bronze would be a good result here as Rahlves has had a better year in downhill and Miller has fallen off from his world championship form.

* Little-known fact: Maier, bruised and battered after his downhill spill in Nagano, could not have won his super-G had the race gone off as scheduled the next day. Bad weather prompted a three-day postponement, which allowed Maier enough time to recover.

*

WOMEN’S SUPER-GIANT SLALOM

* Where: San Sicario Fraiteve.

* When: Feb. 19.

* Best of the U.S.: Kildow, Mancuso, Kirsten Clark and Libby Ludlow all rank in the top 15 of the World Cup standings, although, through January, no American had won.

* Best of the rest: Don’t be surprised if the Austrians sweep this event with the 1-2-3 punch of Michaela Dorfmeister, Alexandra Meissnitzer and Renate Goetschl. Also factor in Kostelic, who took the silver at Salt Lake City.

* U.S. chances to medal: The Americans run deep in this event, but their medal hopes seemed only so-so until Rip Van Mancuso woke up in late January and posted a super-G second at Cortina.

* Little-known fact: Picabo Street won her gold medal in super-G at Nagano, and it was her only victory in the discipline in major international competition.

*

MEN’S COMBINED

* Where: Sestriere Borgata and Sestriere Colle.

* When: Feb. 14.

* Best of the U.S.: Miller won silver at Salt Lake City in this event, which includes a morning downhill followed by two afternoon slalom runs. Ligety placed 10th at World Cup combined at Val d’Isere in December.

* Best of the rest: Austrian Raich, this season’s overall leader, has to be the gold-medal favorite, but don’t count out 34-year-old Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norway’s gracefully aging superstar and a seven-time Olympic medalist.

* U.S. chances to medal: Given Miller’s wobbly season, this might be his best opportunity, provided he can make all his gates in the slalom.

* Little-known fact: This will be only the eighth Olympic combine event contested; it was not held from 1924 to 1932 and 1952 to 1984.

*

WOMEN’S COMBINED

* Where: Sestriere Colle and San Sicario Fraiteve.

* When: Feb. 17.

* Best of the U.S.: As teenagers four years ago, Kildow finished sixth at Salt Lake City and Mancuso was 13th.

* Best of the rest: Kostelic and Paerson have won four of the last five World Cup overall titles and should battle for the gold here.

* U.S. chances to medal: Good. Kildow is one of the world’s top downhill skiers and has enough slalom ability -- three top-10 finishes -- to make her a combined favorite for years to come (she’s only 21). Mancuso, also 21, is more solid in the middle disciplines, super G and giant slalom, which also makes her a contender.

* Little-known fact: At the Salt Lake Games, because of high winds, the order of events was switched. Two slaloms were skied in the morning, followed by an afternoon downhill. Kostelic claimed the gold.

*

MEN’S DOWNHILL

* Where: Sestriere Borgata.

* When: Feb. 12.

* Best of the U.S.: Rahlves is the most successful male speed skier in American history and, at 32, is having one of his finest seasons on the World Cup circuit. He has won three downhill events and nine in his career. World Cup overall champion Miller is also a threat. Macartney, Steve Nyman and Marco Sullivan round out the deepest unit in years.

* Best of the rest: The Austrians. Start with Fritz Strobl, who will be defending his Olympic downhill title despite breaking his hand in a January race. And don’t count out Maier, back in form after a horrific motorcycle accident in 2001. Six Austrians, led by points leader Michael Walchhofer, rank among the top 14 in the World Cup downhill standings.

* U.S. chances to medal: Everything points to a rah-rah day for Rahlves, trying to cap a brilliant career with his first Olympic medal on a course where he won a World Cup downhill in 2004.

* Little-known fact: Maier, one of the greatest ski racers of all time, has never won an Olympic downhill. He has two gold medals in other events.

*

WOMEN’S DOWNHILL

* Where: San Sicario Fraiteve.

* When: Feb. 15.

* Best of the U.S.: Kildow started the season with two World Cup downhill wins, slumped, then rallied in late January with top-three finishes in two other events, the super-G and combined. Mancuso is the hottest U.S. skier on the circuit.

* Best of the rest: Austria’s Dorfmeister, 33, says she’s retiring after this year and is looking for her first Olympic gold. Her toughest challenge may come from teammate Goetschl.

* U.S. chances to medal: If you had taken this poll in December it would have been Kildow by a mile, but don’t be surprised if Mancuso sneaks in for a medal.

* Little-known fact: The United States has never won this event but has finished second three times.

-- Chris Dufresne