WINTER OLYMPICS : 10 Athletes Who Just Might Be (More) Famous in Two Weeks

(Ten athletes to watch during the Winter Olympics)

Brian Boitano, 24, United States--The United States has no solid gold-medal favorites, but Boitano is as close as anyone. He is a four-time national champion in figure skating. But it will be no upset if he loses to Canada’s Brian Orser. Boitano won the world championship in 1986, but Orser took the title away last year in Cincinnati.

Sean Burke, 21, Canada--The goaltender for Team Canada could be a national hero if the host country wins its first gold medal since 1952. Many people assumed Andy Moog, former Edmonton Oilers goalie, would be take over in the net when he joined Team Canada, but he wasn’t able to dislodge Burke. He has been the star of the team’s pre-Olympics campaign, including the first-place finish in the prestigious Izvestia Cup in Moscow. The New Jersey Devils own the rights to Burke.

Michela Figini, 21, Switzerland--Never has an Olympic downhill champion repeated, but Figini could become the first. She won four years ago in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, when she was 17. She already was a star in Switzerland at 14 and had a book written about her when she was 18. Figini also is one of the favorites here in the super G.

Karin Kania, 27, East Germany--Soviet speed skater Lydia Skoblikova has won more gold medals than any other person in the Winter Olympics with two in 1960 and four in 1964. Kania could at least match her. She won one in 1980, two in 1984 and is one of the favorites in the 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 here. She also shouldn’t be overlooked in the 500.

Matti Nykaenen, 24, Finland--If there is such a thing as a lock in the Olympics, he is it. The ski jumper known as Matti Nukes has no peers in the 70 meters and 90 meters. He won a gold and a silver in Sarajevo, but his career was interrupted last year when the Finnish team suspended him for heavy drinking. He also found himself in trouble with the Finnish police after breaking down a door. But after two knee operations and the birth of his second child last summer, he has quit drinking and appears to have settled down.

Christa Rothenburger, 28, East Germany--Her place in history may not be assured until the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The 500-meter champion in speed skating at the 1984 Winter Games, she is favored to win the event again in Calgary. She also excels in cycling, having won the world sprint title in 1986. If she wins in Seoul, she would become the only person other than the United States’ Eddie Eagan to win gold medals in the Winter and Summer Olympics. He won the light heavyweight title in 1920 and was a member of the winning four-man bobsled team in 1932.

Josh Thompson, 25, United States--He may not become an international star, but at least he may be recognized in his own country if he becomes the first American biathlon medalist. With parents who both are national park rangers, he grew up near Old Faithful in Yellowstone. Last year, he finished second in the 20-kilometer race in the world championships, the highest finish ever for an American.

Alberto Tomba, 21, Italy--Tomba La Bomba (The Bomb) already is a hero in his home country. He has emerged this year as the world’s best slalom skier and is considered a contender on Mount Allan in three races, the slalom, the giant slalom and the super G. But he is as well known for his flamboyance. He calls himself the messiah of skiing. “The Olympics might create heavy pressure and turn him back into a normal person,” Austrian skier Guenther Mader said.

Katarina Witt, 22, East Germany--Since Norway’s Sonja Henie won the last of her three gold medals in 1936, no woman has repeated in individual figure skating. But after upsetting the United States’ Rosalyn Sumners in Sarajevo at 18, Witt is favored here over another American, Debi Thomas.

Pirmin Zurbriggen, 25, Switzerland--Austria’s Tony Sailer and France’s Jean-Claude Killy are the only Alpine skiers to win three gold medals in a single Olympics. With the addition of two events this year, Zurbriggen is considered a contender in all five races. Depending on which expert is talking, Zurbriggen is favored in as few as two and as many as four. An indication of how successful he will be should come Sunday in his best event, the downhill. His races against Tomba in the giant slalom and the super G could be classics.