What to watch: Day 1 at Sochi 2014

The first day of action includes, Jon Santacana Maiztegui, Nikolay Polukhin and Seung-Hwan Jung. 08 Mar 2014
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Nikolay Polukhin
Nikolay Polukhin has been Russia's top biathlon competitor over the last Paralympic cycle.
ⒸGetty Images
By IPC

The men’s 7.5km visually impaired event will draw the most appeal, as Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin is the two-time defending world champion in the event won six medals in Nordic skiing at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics.

Morning

Start your day off by tuning into the men’s and women’s downhill races across all classes. In particular, fans are eager to see if Spain’s visually impaired skier Jon Santacana Maiztegui can come back from an Achilles tendon injury that has sidelined him for the last six months. He is hoping to win his second consecutive gold in the event, as he goes up against Italy’s Alessandro Daldoss, who just won the 2013-14 IPC Alpine Skiing men’s overall title for the season. France’s Marie Bochet, Great Britain’s Kelly Gallagher and the USA’s Alana Nichols will be top athletes to watch on the women’s side.

Afternoon

Tune into the first day of the biathlon competition, where host nation Russia are hoping to rack up the medals. The men’s 7.5km visually impaired event will draw the most appeal, as Russia’s Nikolay Polukhin is the two-time defending world champion in the event won six medals in Nordic skiing at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics. Men’s sit skier Roman Petushkov and women’s visually impaired skier Mikhalina Lysova will make their first Sochi 2014 appearance for the host nation as well.

Evening

The day finishes with two of the world’s most-improved ice sledge hockey teams taking to the ice at 20:00 (MSK), as host nation Russia faces South Korea. Russia won bronze at the last World Championships after just starting up a team a little more than four years ago, while Korea won the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Qualification Tournament last weekend. Two top forwards will be on display in this game in Russia’s Dmitry Lisov and South Korea’s Seung-Hwan Jung.