2018 Olympic Medal Picks: Predicting the Podium For All 102 Events

Which nation will top the table? Predicting every single event in PyeongChang.

Which nation will top the table? SI's Brian Cazeneuve picks gold, silver and bronze medals for all 102 events at the 2018 Winter Olympics.These picks originally appeared in the Jauary 29-February 5 double issue of the magazine. His expected medal table is at the bottom.

Alpine Skiing

Men

Downhill

• Gold: Beat Feuz, Switzerland
• Silver: Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway
• Bronze: Max Franz, Austria

Svindal won a medal of every color in 2010.

Super-G

• Gold: Kjetil Jansrud, Norway
• Silver: Vincent Kriechmayr, Austria
• Bronze: Max Franz, Austria

Jansrud broke a knuckle in his Olympic debut in 2006.

Combined

• Gold: Marcel Hirscher, Austria
• Silver Kjetil Jansrud, Norway
• Bronze: Alexis Pinturault, France

Hirscher lost gold at worlds by .01 of a second

Giant Slalom

• Gold: Marcel Hirscher, Austria
• Silver: Henrik Kristoffersen, Norway
• Bronze: Alexis Pinturault, France

Hirscher fractured his left ankle in August.

Slalom

• Gold: Marcel Hirscher, Austria
• Silver: Henrik Kristoffersen, Norway
• Bronze: Michael Matt, Austria

Hirscher has won six straight overall World Cup titles.

Women

Downhill

• Gold: Lindsey Vonn, U.S.
• Silver: Tina Weirather, Liechtenstein
• Bronze: Sofia Goggia, Italy

Liechtenstein’s nine medals have all come in Alpine skiing.

Super-G

• Gold: Lara Gut, Switzerland
• Silver: Tina Weirather, Liechtenstein
• Bronze: Federica Brignone, Italy

Mikaela Shiffrin only skied two Super-Gs this season, but she could strike here, too.

Combined

• Gold: Mikaela Shiffrin, U.S.
• Silver: Sofia Goggia, Italy
• Bronze: Wendy Holdener, Switzerland

Goggia missed the Sochi Games with a torn left ACL.

Giants Slalom

• Gold: Mikaela Shiffrin, U.S.
• Silver: Tessa Worley, France
• Bronze: Viktoria Rebensburg, Germany

Croatia’s Janica Kosteli´c’s four Alpine medals in 2002 are the most in one Games.

Slalom

• Gold: Mikaela Shiffrin, U.S.
• Silver: Frida Hansdotter, Sweden
• Bronze: Petra Vlhova, Slovakia

Shiffrin has been in the top three in 25 of the last 26 World Cup slaloms.

Mixed team

• Gold: Austria
• Silver: France
• Bronze: Switzerland

Austria has won 114 Olympic Alpine medals. The Swiss are next with 59.

Biathlon

Men

10K Sprint

• Gold: Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway
• Silver: Martin Fourcade, France
• Bronze: Arnd Peiffer, Germany

Fourcade’s older brother, Simon, is a threetime Olympian.

12.5K Pursuit

• Gold: Martin Fourcade, France
• Silver: Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway
• Bronze: Anton Shipulin, Russia

Fourcade’s hometown, Ceret (pop. 7,700), is said to produce the world’s sweetest cherries.

15K Mass Start

• Gold: Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway
• Silver: Martin Fourcade, France
• Bronze: Tarjei Bø, Norway

Tarjei, 29, is five years older than brother Johannes.

20K Individual

• Gold: Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway
• Silver: Martin Fourcade, France
• Bronze: Ondřej Moavec, Czech Republic

World champ Lowell Bailey of the U.S. has been struggling.

4 x 7.5K Relay

• Gold: Norway
• Silver: France
• Bronze: Germany

Career medal leader Ole Einar Bjørndalen didn’t make Norway’s team.

Women

7.5K Sprint

• Gold: Anastasiya Kuzmina, Slovakia
• Silver: Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Finland
• Bronze: Laura Dahlmeier, Germany

Kuzmina’s brother, Anton Shipulin, competes in biathlon for Russia.

10K Pursuit

• Gold: Dorothea Wierer, Italy
• Silver: Anastasiya Kuzmina, Slovakia
• Bronze: Darya Domracheva, Belarus

Kuzmina’s husband, Daniel Kuzmin, competed for Israel in cross-country until 2011.

12.5K Mass Start

• Gold: Laura Dahlmeier, Germany
• Silver: Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Finland
• Bronze: Darya Domracheva, Belarus

Dahlmeier won five golds at worlds.

15K Individual

• Gold: Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Finland
• Silver: Nadezhda Skardino, Belarus
• Bronze: Valj Semerenko, Ukraine

Mäkäräinen plans to teach physics.

4 x 6.5K Relay

• Gold: Germany
• Silver: France
• Bronze: Ukraine

Eric Heiden’s niece, Joanne Reid, is on the U.S. team.

Mixed Relay

• Gold: Germany
• Silver: France
• Bronze: Russia

Biathlon is the only winter sport in which the U.S. has never won a medal.

Bobsled

Men

Two-man

• Gold: Germany (driver: Francesco Friedrich)
• Silver: Canada (driver: Justin Kripps)
• Bronze: Germany (driver: Johannes Lochner)

Kripps was born in Naalehu, Hawaii.

Four-man

• Gold: Germany (driver: Johannes Lochner)
• Silver: Germany (driver: Nico Walther)
• Bronze: Germany (driver: Francesco Friedrich)

Friedrich’s brother David spent three months in a coma after a sled crash in 2005.

Women

Two-women

• Gold: Canada (driver: Kaillie Humphries)
• Silver: U.S. (driver: Elana Meyers Taylor)
• Bronze: Germany (driver: Stephanie Schneider)

Meyers Taylor’s husband, bobsledder Nic Taylor, proposed while she was on a podium.

Cross-Country Skiing

Men

1.4K Sprint (Classical)

• Gold: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Norway
• Silver: Emil Iversen, Norway
• Bronze: Federico Pellegrino, Italy

Klæbo is an active vlogger on YouTube with 30,000 subscribers.

Team Sprint (Freestyle)

• Gold: Italy
• Silver: Norway
• Bronze: Sweden

The Russians who won Sochi silver have been banned for doping.

15K Freestyle

• Gold: Dario Cologna, Switzerland
• Silver: Maurice Manificat, France
• Bronze: Alex Harvey, Canada

Harvey’s dad, Pierre, was an Olympian in cycling and cross-country.

30K Skiathlon

• Gold: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Norway
• Silver: Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Norway
• Bronze: Maurice Manificat, France

Sundby has won three overall World Cup titles but never Olympic gold.

50K Mass Start (Classical)

• Gold: Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Norway
• Silver: Alex Harvey, Canada
• Bronze: Alexey Poltoranin, Kazakhstan

Sochi winner Alexander Legkov was banned for doping.

4 x 10K Relay

• Gold: Norway
• Silver: Russia
• Bronze: Sweden

Norway leads all countries with 40 crosscountry gold medals.

Women

1.2K Sprint (Classical)

• Gold: Maiken Caspersen Falla, Norway
• Silver: Stina Nilsson, Sweden
• Bronze: Jessie Diggins, U.S.

At worlds, Nilsson crashed out in the semis.

Team Sprint (Freestyle)

• Gold: Sweden
• Silver: U.S.
• Bronze: Norway

The U.S. was eighth in 2014.

10K Freestyle

• Heidi Weng, Norway
• Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Norway
• Jessie Diggins, U.S.

Weng sleeps 12 hours per day.

15K Skiathlon

• Gold: Charlotte Kalla, Sweden
• Silver: Heidi Weng, Norway
• Bronze: Marit Bjørgen, Norway

Kalla made up a 25-second deficit to lead Sweden to Sochi gold in the 4×5K relay.

30K Mass Start (Classical)

• Gold: Heidi Weng, Norway
• Silver: Charlotte Kalla, Sweden
• Bronze: Marit Bjørgen, Norway

Bjørgen’s partner is two-time Nordic combined gold medal winner Fred Børre Lundberg.

4 x 5K Relay

• Gold: Norway
• Silver: Sweden
• Bronze: Finland

Norway leads all countries with 107 total cross-country medals.

Curling

Men

• Gold: Canada
• Silver: Sweden
• Bronze: Switzerland

The U.S. is ranked fourth in the world.

Women

• Gold: Canada
• Silver: Great Britain
• Bronze: Sweden

Two thirds of curling stones come from the Scottish island of Ailsa Craig.

Mixed Doubles

• Gold: Switzerland
• Silver: Canada
• Bronze: China

The Swiss nipped Canada 6–5 at worlds.

Figure Skating

Men

• Gold: Nathan Chen, U.S.
• Silver: Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan
• Bronze: Shoma Uno, Japan

Sochi champion Hanyu played a Samurai lord in a 2016 film.

Women

• Gold: Alina Zagitova, Russia
• Silver: Evgenia Medvedeva, Russia
• Bronze: Gabrielle Daleman, Canada

Zagitova, 15, beat world champ Medvedeva at the European Championships.

Pairs

• Gold: Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, Germany
• Silver: Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, China
• Bronze: Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Canada

Savchenko used to skate for her native Ukraine, Massot for his native France.

Ice Dancing

• Gold: Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, Canada
• Silver: Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, France
• Bronze: Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, U.S.

All three U.S. duos are medal contenders.

Team

• Gold: Canada
• Silver: Russia
• Bronze: U.S.

Host Russia won the inaugural event in 2014.

Freestyle Skiing

Men

Aerials

• Gold: Anton Kushnir,Belarus
• Silver: Qi Guangpu, China
• Bronze: Maxim Burov, Russia

Defending champ Kushnir is in his fourth Olympics.

Halfpipe

• Gold: David Wise, U.S.
• Silver: Alex Ferreira, U.S.
• Bronze: Simon D’Artois, Canada

A U.S. sweep is possible.

Moguls

• Gold: Mikaël Kingsbury, Canada
• Silver: Dmitriy Reiherd, Kazakhstan
• Bronze: Ikuma Horishima, Japan

Horishima recently snapped Kingsbury’s record of 13 straight World Cup wins.

Ski Cross

• Gold: Alex Fiva, Switzerland
• Silver: Marc Bischofberger, Switzerland
• Bronze: Jean-Frédéric Chapuis, France

Fiva was born in Newport Beach, Calif.

Slopestyle

• Gold: Øystein Bråten, Norway
• Silver: Andri Ragettli, Switzerland
• Bronze: Ferdinand Dahl, Norway

The U.S. swept this event in Sochi and could return to the podium in PyeongChang.

Women

Aerials

• Gold: Xu Mengtao, China
• Silver: Hanna Huskova, Belarus
• Bronze: Lydia Lassila, Australia

Watch for U.S. veteran Ashley Caldwell.

Halfpipe

• Gold: Cassie Sharpe, Canada
• Silver: Brita Sigourney, U.S.
• Bronze: Marie Martinod, France

At 22, Martinod, now 33, quit skiing for six years to run a nightclub.

Moguls

• Gold: Jaelin Kauf, U.S.
• Silver: Britteny Cox, Australia
• Bronze: Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Canada

Kauf’s parents, Scott and Patty, were moguls world champions.

Ski Cross

• Gold: Sandra Näslund, Sweden
• Silver: Fanny Smith, Switzerland
• Bronze: Georgia Simmerling, Canada

Simmerling won a bronze medal in team pursuit cycling in Rio.

Slopestyle​

• Gold: Johanne Killi, Norway
• Silver: Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen, Norway
• Bronze: Jennie-Lee Burmansson, Sweden

Maggie Voisin, then 15, broke an ankle in Sochi; she’s now the U.S. hope.

Hockey

Men

• Gold: Sweden
• Silver: Russia
• Bronze: Canada

In six Olympics, Team Russia has yet to strike gold.

Women

• Gold: Canada
• Silver: U.S.
• Bronze: Finland

The U.S. and Canada have met for gold in all 18 world championships.

Luge

Men

Singles

• Gold: Felix Loch, Germany
• Silver: Wolfgang Kindl, Austria
• Bronze: Semen Pavlichenko, Russia

In 2010, Loch, then 20, became the youngest Olympic luge champ in history.

Doubles

• Gold: Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken, Germany
• Silver: Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, Germany
• Bronze: Peter Penz and Georg Fischler, Austria

A German doubles team has won a medal in each Olympics since 1968.

Women

Singles

• Gold: Natalie Geisenberger, Germany
• Silver: Dajana Eitberger, Germany
• Bronze: Summer Britcher, U.S.

German-speaking women have won 40 of 42 Olympic medals.

Mixed

Relay

• Gold: Germany
• Silver: Austria
• Bronze: Italy

The U.S. and Canada are medal contenders.

Nordic Combined

Normal Hill

• Gold: Johannes Rydzek, Germany
• Silver: Jan Schmid, Norway
• Bronze: Jørgen Graabak, Norway

Rydzek lost a Sochi medal when he clipped a rival’s skis on the last turn.

Large Hill

• Gold: Jan Schmid, Norway
• Silver: Johannes Rydzek, Germany
• Bronze: Akito Watabe, Japan

Watabe grew up within walking distance of the Nagano Olympic jumping venue.

Team

• Gold: Germany
• Silver: Norway
• Bronze: Finland

Norway nipped Germany by 0.3 of a second in Sochi.

Skeleton

Men

• Gold: Martins Dukurs, Latvia
• Silver: Yun Sung-bin, South Korea
• Bronze: Axel Jungk, Germany

Eight-time European champ Dukurs is still seeking his rst Olympic gold.

Women

• Gold: Jacqueline Lölling, Germany
• Silver: Tina Hermann, Germany
• Bronze: Elisabeth Vathje, Canada

Vathje is engaged to Austrian bobsledder Benjamin Maier.

Ski Jumping

Men

Normal Hill

• Gold: Kamil Stoch, Poland
• Silver: Stefan Kraft, Austria
• Bronze: Daniel-André Tande, Norway

Stoch won both the normal and large hill events in Sochi.

Large Hill

• Gold: Richard Freitag, Germany
• Silver: Kamil Stoch, Poland
• Bronze: Andreas Wellinger, Germany

Watch for Japan’s eight-time Olympian Noriaki Kasai, 45.

Team

• Gold: Germany
• Silver: Poland
• Bronze: Norway

The U.S. has a single medal (Anders Haugen’s bronze in 1924) in the sport.

Women

Normal Hill

• Gold: Maren Lundby, Norway
• Silver: Katharina Althaus, Germany
• Bronze: Sara Takanashi, Japan

Takanashi entered Sochi with 15 of 18 wins, but came in fourth.

Snowboarding

Men

Big Air

• Gold: Mark McMorris, Canada
• Silver: Chris Corning, U.S.
• Bronze: Marcus Kleveland, Norway

Kleveland was the first rider to land a quad cork 1800 in Big Air competition.

Halfpipe

• Gold: Scotty James, Australia
• Silver: Shaun White, U.S.
• Bronze: Iouri Podladtchikov, Switzerland

In 2010, James, 15, became Australia’s youngest male Olympian in 50 years.

Parallel Giant Slalom

• Gold: Nevin Galmarini, Switzerland
• Silver: Alexander Payer, Austria
• Bronze: Roland Fischnaller, Italy

Reigning world champ Andreas Prommegger of Austria, 37, is still a threat.

Slopestyle

• Gold: Red Gerard, U.S.
• Silver: Marcus Kleveland, Norway
• Bronze: Hiroaki Kunitake, Japan

Gerard grew up with a terrain park in his Colorado backyard.

Snowboard Cross

• Gold: Alex Pullin, Australia
• Silver: Pierre Vaultier, France
• Bronze: Alessandro Haemmerle, Austria

Pullin is also a guitar player, songwriter and singer.

Women

Big Air

Gold: Anna Gasser, Austria

Silver: Miyabi Onitsuka, Japan

Bronze: Julia Marino, U.S.

Watch for 17-year-old X Games champ Hailey Langland of the U.S.

Halfpipe

• Gold: Chloe Kim, U.S.
• Silver: Maddie Mastro, U.S.
• Bronze: Kelly Clark, U.S.

This would be the fourth podium for the 34-year-old Clark.

Parallel Giant Slalom

• Gold: Ester Ledecká, Czech Republic
• Silver: Selina Joerg, Germany
• Bronze: Julia Dujmovits, Austria

Ledecká’s grandfather, Jan Klapác, won two Olympic ice hockey medals.

Slopestyle

• Gold: Christy Prior, New Zealand
• Silver: Jamie Anderson, U.S.
• Bronze: ReiraIwabuchi, Japan

British-native Prior didn’t snowboard until she was 17.

Snowboard Cross

• Gold: Michela Moioli, Italy
• Silver: Lindsey Jacobellis, U.S.
• Bronze: Chloe Trespeuch, France

Jacobellis has won 10 X Games gold medals, but she crashed in the last three Olympics. 

Speed Skating (Long-Track)

Men

500 Meters

• Gold: Ronald Mulder, Netherlands
• Silver: Kai Verbij, Netherlands
• Bronze: Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen, Norway

Mulder’s twin, Michel, won the 500-meter long-track event in Sochi and came in third at 1,000 meters.

1,000 Meters

• Gold: Kjeld Nuis, Netherlands
• Silver: Kai Verbij, Netherlands
• Bronze: Vincent De Haître, Canada

De Haître was Canada’s 1,000-meter track cycling champ in 2013.

1,500 Meters

• Gold: Denis Yuskov, Russia
• Silver: Koen Verweij, Netherlands
• Bronze: Kjeld Nuis, Netherlands

Born in Moscow, Yuskov, who thought he was going to soccer practice at his first training session, grew up in Moldova.

5,000 Meters

• Gold: Sven Kramer, Netherlands
• Silver: Ted-Jan Bloemen, Canada
• Bronze: Nicola Tumolero, Italy

Dual citizen Bloemen is a Dutch native.

10,000 Meters

• Gold: Sven Kramer, Netherlands
• Silver: Jorrit Bergsma, Netherlands
• Bronze: Patrick Beckert, Germany

Kramer’s girlfriend, Naomi van As, won two Olympic golds in field hockey.

Team Pursuit

• Gold: Netherlands
• Silver: Norway
• Bronze: Canada

Dutch skaters won eight of 12 races in Sochi.

Mass Start

• Gold: Lee Seung-hoon, South Korea
• Silver: Joey Mantia, U.S.
• Bronze: Sven Kramer, Netherlands

Mantia twice won Pan-Am Games golds in in-line skating.

Women

500 Meters

• Gold: Nao Kodaira, Japan
• Silver: Lee Sang-hwa, South Korea
• Bronze: Arisa Go, Japan

Two-time Olympic champ Lee turns 29 on the day of the closing ceremony.

1,000 Meters

• Gold: Nao Kodaira, Japan
• Silver: Miho Takagi, Japan
• Bronze: Heather Bergsma, U.S.

Bergsma and her Dutch husband, Jorrit, have combined for 23 worlds medals.

1,500 Meters

• Gold: Miho Takagi, Japan
• Silver: Marrit Leenstra, Netherlands
• Bronze: Ireen Wüst, Netherlands

Takagi was a 2010 Olympian at age 15.

3,000 Meters

• Gold: Martina Sábliková, Czech Republic
• Silver: Claudia Pechstein, Germany
• Bronze: Antoinette de Jong, Netherlands

European 3K champ Esmee Visser made the Dutch team only at 5K. 

5,000 Meters

• Gold: Martina Sábliková, Czech Republic
• Silver: Natalia Voronina, Russia
• Bronze: Claudia Pechstein, Germany​

Sábliková is a former national cycling champ in the time trial. 

Mass Start

• Gold: Francesca Lollobrigida, Italy
• Silver: Kim Bo-reum, South Korea
• Bronze: Guo Dan, China

The mass start returns to the Olympics after an 86-year layoff.

Team Pursuit

• Gold: Netherlands
• Silver: Japan
• Bronze: Germany

Dutch skaters won 23 medals in Sochi; Poland was next with three.

Speed Skating (Short-Track)

Men

500 Meters

• Gold: Wu Dajing, China
• Silver: Shaolin Sándor Liu, Hungary
• Bronze: Samuel Girard, Canada

Wu says his sports hero is Michael Phelps.

1,000 Meters

• Gold: Shaolin Sándor Liu, Hungary
• Silver: WuDajing,China
• Bronze: Hwang Dae-heon, South Korea

Sándor’s girlfriend is Elise Christie.

1,500 Meters

• Gold: Hwang Dae-heon, South Korea
• Silver: Charles Hamelin, Canada
• Bronze: Sjinkie Knegt, Netherlands

In 2014, Knegt became the first Dutch person to win a short-track medal.

5,000-Meter Relay

• Gold: South Korea
• Silver: Canada
• Bronze: Netherlands

The U.S. team could nab a medal.

Women

500 Meters

• Gold: Choi Min-jeong, South Korea
• Silver: Marianne St-Gelais, Canada
• Bronze: Elise Christie, Great Britain

South Korea has never won gold or silver at 500.

1,000 Meters

• Gold: Choi Min-jeong, South Korea
• Silver: Kim Boutin, Canada
• Bronze: Elise Christie,Great Britain

Christie has dyed her hair a dozen different colors before events.

1,500 Meters

• Gold: Choi Min-jeong, South Korea
• Silver: Shim Suk-hee, South Korea
• Bronze: Kim Boutin, Canada

In 2015, Choi was world champ at age 16.

3,000-Meter Relay

• Gold: South Korea
• Silver: China
• Bronze: Canada

All but five of South Korea’s 26 winter golds have come in short track.

Projected medal count

​

Here's the top of the medal table if all these projections are correct. The U.S. will match its total from Sochi, while Norway tops the table and depleted Russia (er, Olympic Athletes of Russia) takes a fall.