20 Olympic Athlete Stories to Know

Representing: South Korea
Event: Figure Skating
Her Story: In 2010's Vancouver Games, the then-19-year-old received the highest score ever given to a figure skater in the Olympics, securing the first-ever Olympic gold for her homeland. Four years later, ''Queen Yuna'' — who has capitalized on her fame to the tune of $14 million in prize money and sponsorships in 2013 — must be feeling the pressure from competitors, particularly Japan's Mao Asada, who has something to prove after taking silver in Vancouver, and Russian wunderkind Julia Lipnitskaia (read on for more on them). —Ariana Bacle

Representing: USA
Event: Ski Halfpipe
His Story: In 2011, at the age of 15, Yater-Wallace — just one of EW's Athletes to Watch on Team USA — was the youngest male to ever medal at the Winter X Games. He's built a nice collection since then, but his road to Sochi was rough: He sat out the X Games finals in Aspen last month to continue recovering from a long December that dealt him a twice-collapsed lung, two fractured ribs, and a total of three weeks in the hospital (including his 18th birthday). Who wouldn't love a comeback story? —Mandi Bierly

Representing: Brazil
Event: Aerial Ski Jumping
Her Story: She was on a mission to make history, but she found herself mired in tragedy. Hoping to become Brazil's first acrobatic skiers, the 29-year-old Olympic gymnast and fellow Olympic gymnast Laís da Silva Souza began training in July 2013 — which just happened to be the first time Santos had ever seen snow in her life. In late January, Souza had completed only a few runs off trampoline training before suffering a horrific crash that left her paralyzed from spinal cord damage. Claiming Souza's place, Santos has made history. Now she's trying to make up for what happened to her friend and teammate. —Lanford Beard

Representing: Canada
Event: Figure Skating
His Story: He didn't take any hardware home from his Olympic debut in Vancouver, but Chan has racked up three consecutive World Championship wins since then, making him the hands-down favorite to take top honors in Sochi. Don't be fooled by that friendly face. Chan threw some pre-competition shade at Russian rival Evgeni Plushenko, who's collected medals in the last three Games (a gold in 2006, and silver in '02 and '10). While Chan's Olympic resume boasts only a fifth place finish in Vancouver as of now, he's not shy about serving notice that this time, he's in it to win it. —Lanford Beard

Representing: U.K.
Event: Skeleton
Her Story: Since 2002, Britain has won precisely four medals at the Winter Games — and three of them have been in women's skeleton, including a gold in 2010. Yarnold is poised to continue that tradition after winning the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation's 2014 World Cup by 152 points. It's no small accomplishment since Great Britain doesn't actually have a single skeleton track on its soil, meaning the 25-year-old gets a fraction of the practice of her competitors. Also, she named her sled Mervyn. —Hillary Busis

Representing: Tonga
Event: Luge
His Story: So bizarre, you couldn't make it up...only they did! When he began training on the luge in 2008 for his bid to get to Vancouver, the tropics-raised rugby player was touted as an underdog who just happened to share a name with a German underwear company. In fact, it was exposed that Banani (né Fuahea Semi) had legally changed his name as part of a guerrilla marketing scheme. Regardless of the wacky circumstances, his appearance at the Sochi Games will still make history, as Banani is Tonga's first-ever Winter Olympian. —Lanford Beard

Representing: Thailand
Event: Alpine Skiing
Her Story: Though she's been skiing since she was 4 years old, Vanakorn is better known to international audiences as British violin prodigy Vanessa-Mae, who rose to fame in her tweens and eventually recorded solos on tracks for Janet Jackson and George Michael. In 2013, she hit pause on her music career to pursue Olympic Gold. She will compete for her father's homeland, despite the fact that Vorapong Vanakorn once criticized his daughter, then 18, as looking like '' a soft-porn showgirl.'' —Lanford Beard

Representing: Russia
Event: Hockey
His Story: For his day job, Ovechkin is a star on the NHL's Washington Capitals. This year though, he's got an even more daunting task at hand: Serving as captain for Team Russia while they compete for a long-denied gold medal in front of what's sure to be a raucous home crowd. Will his leadership and home team advantage prevail, or will he be Putin an incredibly awkward situation come Feb. 24? —Kerrie Mitchell

Representing: Canada
Event: Ice Dancing
Their Story: After being bested by Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the World Figure Skating Championships in March, Virtue and Moir find themselves fighting to defend their title from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Together for more than 16 years, the couple are gunning for gold in what could be their final appearance at the Games. —Lanford Beard

Representing: Japan
Event: Ski Jump
His Story: At 41, Noriaki Kasai became the oldest winner of a ski jump World Cup competition this past January, marking his 16th career victory. Kasai isn't just victorious competition-wise, but also has competed in more World Cups and Olympic Games than any other ski jumper. With a 20-year gap between his last medal — a silver for the team large hill competition in Lillehammer — the seven-time Olympian keeps coming back for one simple reason: ''Because I haven't won a gold medal yet.'' —Ariana Bacle

Representing: Norway
Event: Biathlon
Her Story: Berger made twice the history in the last Winter Games, not only landing her country's first gold for the Women's Biathlon but also scoring Norway's 100th Olympic Winter Games gold medal with her victory in the 15km individual event. Having scored four golds and two silver medals at the 2013 World Championships, she's on a winning streak to be envied — or to be broken. Which will it be in Sochi? —Ariana Bacle

Representing: Italy
Event: Luge
His Story: Armin ''The Cannibal'' Zöggeler — seriously, that's his nickname, only they say it in Italian — is his sport's most decorated athlete; he's also medaled in every Winter Games since Lillehammer in 1994, though he's garnered gold just twice (in 2002 and 2006). If he places in the top three again this year, Zöggeler — who moonlights as a policeman — will become the first athlete to win six medals at six different Winter Games. Would that make him history's biggest luger? —Hillary Busis

Representing: Japan
Event: Figure Skating
Her Story: After Asada finished second to Yuna Kim in Vancouver, she burst into tears. In the years following, the tears didn't stop. Asada's mother died of chronic liver disease in December 2011, and she considered quitting the sport. But luckily, she persevered, and now the gorgeous, artistic skater is performing better than ever with newfound passion. Watch for her triple axels planned in both her short and long programs — she's the only woman who'll attempt the risky move. She's one of the most exciting stories of the Sochi Olympics because, even though she has the most to prove, she's not playing it safe. —Stephan Lee

Representing: Russia
Event: Short Track Speed Skating
His Story: A top speed skater, Ahn collected three golds for South Korea in 2006. So what gives with the new nationality? Dissatisfied with the South Korean skating program, the 27-year old switched countries, gaining Russian citizenship in 2011. And suddenly, he's the host country's best shot for a medal in short track. —Kerrie Mitchell

Representing: USA
Event: Biathlon
Her Story: If you've drunk in beer-brewer Guinness's new Olympics ad, this tale of sisterly sacrifice will be familiar (though no less heady). When two-time Olympian Lanny Barnes, 31, failed to qualify for Sochi because she was too sick to finish trials, her fellow competitor (and twin sister) Tracy gave up her spot on Team USA so Lanny could have another shot at gold. I think we can all drink to that. —Amy Wilkinson

Representing: Germany
Event: Luge
His Story: This speed demon made history in Vancouver by snagging gold at the tender age of 20 — making him the Olympics' youngest luge champion ever. But this four-time world championship winner certainly isn't resting on his laurels: The athlete reportedly trains inside the wind tunnel at a German car manufacturer. Now that's dedication. —Hillary Busis

Representing: Russia
Event: Figure Skating
Her Story: For such a young skater, this 15-year-old Russian possesses a quiet maturity beyond her years and an otherworldly power over the audience. She hasn't built up as much of the power and ability to cover the ice as some of the older competitors, but her spectacular spins and consistency has put her on the level of her personal idols, and she may even defeat some of them at the Olympics too. Whatever happens this year, the outlook looks bright for her in 2018. —Stephan Lee

Representing: France
Event: Ski Jump
Her Story: Mattel is considered one of the world's best female ski jumpers?and she's only 18. The French skier jumped onto the scene at age 13 and has since scored multiple victories, including her first World Cup win in 2012. Her third-place performance at the World Ski Championships in 2011 marked France's first global ski jumping medal, cementing Mattel's reputation as a stellar athlete and national icon. —Ariana Bacle

Representing: Germany
Event: Nordic Combined
His Story: Only a truly gifted athlete can excel at both cross-country skiing and ski jumping — but two-time world champion Frenzel does it all, all while balancing the demands of his sport with the demands of fatherhood. (His son Philipp was born in 2007.) In Vancouver, he snagged a bronze medal; in Sochi, he'll be quite literally aiming higher. —Hillary Busis

Representing: Italy
Event: Figure Skating
Her Story: Carolina Kostner was born to skate. Her father was the captain of Italy's ice hockey team at the 1984 Olympics, and her mother competed in national figure skating competitions. She made her Olympic debut in Turin 2006, but a series of falls (heartbreakingly repeated in Vancouver) have knocked her off the podium two times running. Last March's silver at the World Championships, as well as a strong showing at January's European championship, have figure skating fans hoping she might finally live up to her tremendous potential and ascend to medal status. —Ariana Bacle