Sochi 2014: The Countdown Series: Cross Country Preview

11 days remaining until the opening ceremonies (10 until the first day of competition) at Sochi 2014. Up next on the countdown: cross country preview.

Per FIS standards, 54 countries will have at least one cross country skier in at least one of twelve events at Sochi.

Historically speaking, when it comes to gold medals, there have some dominance in some events, while parity remains in most of the events. On the men's side, Andrus Veerpalu (Estonia) is the only multiple winner of the 15km classical at both Salt Lake City 2002 and Turin 2006. There have been two different winners of the 30km skiathlon-Yevgeny Dementyev (Russia, Turin) and Marcus Hellner (Sweden, Vancouver 2010). Sixten Jernberg (Sweden) and Bjorn Daehlie (Norway) are the only multiple winners of the 50km free. Jernberg won the event at Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 and Innsbruck 1964, while Daehlie won the event at Albertville 1992 and Nagano 1998. Sweden still owns the most wins in the 4x10km relay with five--at St. Moritz 1948, Innsbruck 1964, Sarajevo 1984, Calgary 1988 and at Vancouver. There also have been three different winners of the individual sprint; the most recent is Nikita Kruykov (Russia) at Vancouver. Sweden and Norway are the only winners of the team sprint, with the Swedes victory at Turin and the Norwegians at Vancouver.

On the women's side, there have been twelve different winners of the 10km classical, including Charlotte Kalla (Sweden) at Vancouver. There also have been two different winners of the 15km skiathlon-Kristina Smigun Vahi (Estonia) at Turin, and Marit Bjorgen (Norway) at Vancouver. There also have been six different winners of the 30km freestyle; the most recent was Justyna Kowalczyk (Poland) at Vancouver. Russia is the most dominant when it comes to the 4x5km relay, with wins at Lillehammer 1994, Nagano and Turin. Bjorgen is also among three different winners of the individual sprint, with her win at Vancouver. Only Sweden and Germany won the team sprint event in the Olympics; the Swedes won at Turin, while the Germans won at Vancouver.

Daehlie has the most individual gold among men with eight, one of the most decorated winter Olympians of all time, while Lubov Egorova (Russia, Unified Team) has the most amongst women in the event with six gold medals.

The Laura Biathlon and Ski Complex (above, pictured) is the venue for the cross country skiing at Sochi.

Up next: freestyle skiing preview