Stars to follow at Beijing Winter Olympics

Madrid, Feb 1 (EFE).- Chloe Kim, Mikaela Shiffrin, Ryoyu Kobayashi and Ester Ledecka are some of the elite athletes who are set to compete at the Beijing Olympic Games which kicks off Friday.

CHLOE KIM (US):

After being denied a chance to compete at Sochi 2014 as she was only 13, she captured Olympic gold with 17 in the Pyeongchang Games, becoming the youngest ever Olympic snowboard champion in the halfpipe.

Now, at 21, she is once again the great favorite at the Beijing Games, having claimed and defended the 2019 World Championship halfpipe title.

MIKAELA SHIFFRIN (US):

At the age of 22, she had already won absolutely everything in alpine skiing, the king of winter sports.

Four years later, in Beijing, she will try to add to her impressive silverware of two Olympic titles and six world titles, as well as three global victories in the World Cup.

Shiffrin, the youngest slalom Olympic champion at age of 18, is only one of seven skiers in all history to claim victories in each and every one of the disciplines.

She is also the third most successful skier at the World Cup with 73 triumphs only behind her compatriot Lindsey Vonn (82) and the already retired Swedish Ingemar Stenmark (86).

Ahead of the big event, she got a morale-boosting, historic 47th World Cup slalom win, to set a new record for the most victories in the same discipline, getting past Stenmark’s 46 giant slaloms.

RYOYU KOBAYASHI (JP):

At the beginning of the year, Ryoyu Kobayashi won his second Four Hills Competition, despite missing a leg in his quest for becoming the first in history to sweep the title twice.

Claiming the last leg, Austrian Daniel Huber denied the Japanese a chance to break a tie with German Sven Hannawald and Polish Kamil Stoch as the only to sweep their way to the Four Hills once.

At 25 years old, Kobayashi is on the verge of a great challenge, hoping to repeat the 2019 season in which he claimed practically everything, a World Cup included.

ESTER LEDECKA (CZ):

Four years ago, she became the first to win two Olympic gold medals, snowboard and skiing, in the same Games.

Although she is on paper far from the Pyeongchang form, the often smiling Czech should not be written off.

At 26, she will defend both titles without any pressure. The talented Czech is capable of anything in China.

SHAUN WHITE (US):

Turin 2006 was the breakthrough for the athlete whose long, red hair earned him the popular nickname of The Flying Tomato. Four years later, he successfully defended his Snowboard Halfpipe.