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Men's Downhill and Super-G
Lucky Luc Alphand of France has hung 'em up after dominating the speed events for the past three years: three straight World Cup Downhill titles, last season's Super-G title and the Overall World Cup title. Quite a feat for the 32-year-old busted up veteran they used to call "Crash."

Kristian Ghedina

The man who couldn't quite catch up in the past should be the guy to win the next World Cup title and the Olympic Gold — Kristian Ghedina of Italy. The happy-go-lucky Ghedina led the downhill standings for much of last season and now has fully recovered from a horrible car crash four years ago that almost killed him.

If Ghedina falters, there is a pack of young Austrians ready to pounce: Josef and Fritz Strobl, and Werner Franz. Then there's also chemical engineer, and current World Downhill Champ, Bruno Kernen of Switzerland.

A long shot for an Olympic medal could be Italy's Pietro Vitalini, who got it going late in the season with two 2nd place finishes.

All these guys could dominate Super-G, too, with the addition of Austria's young phenom Hans Knauss, the next all-around superstar.

— Eric Moffitt, Mountain Zone Correspondent