Sochi Olympics: Wednesday’s TV best bets

Men’s Giant Slalom

Ted Ligety is considered a strong threat to take the gold medal. He is the defending World Cup champion and has been dominant in this race in the past. Things got a little easier when Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway pulled out, reportedly because of allergy problems.

Women’s Figure Skating

The short program of the women’s event should set the stage for what will be a showdown in the free skate on Thursday. Yuna Kim of South Korea and Mao Asada of Japan go against 15-year-old Russian superstar in the making Yulia Lipnitskaya. Gracie Gold of the U.S. has an outside shot at a medal.

Men’s Hockey

The men’s tournament hits the quarterfinal round and the U.S. could have a tough game on its hands playing the Czech Republic. The Czechs held on for a 5-3 win over Slovakia to advance. In the other games, Slovenia plays Sweden, Latvia meets Canada and Russia plays Finland.

Women’s Bobsled

The U.S. decision to switch up teams in the women’s competition may be paying dividends. With two of the four runs completed, the USA 1 sled of Elana Meyers and Lauryn Williams has about a quarter of a second lead over Canada. Williams could become the first woman to win gold in the Winter and Summer Games.

john.cherwa@latimes.com