Sochi 2014: Action Shots of the Day, day 9

Some of the best images from day 9 at Sochi 2014 as found on the net.

Be warned Americans, may contain some content that will be depicted tonight during NBC primetime. Avoid spoilers as much as you can.

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Sochi 2014: Action Shots of the Day, day 4

Some of the best images from day four of Sochi 2014, as found on the net.

WARNING: may contain spoilers, of course, especially for viewers in the US.

Sochi 2014: Action Shots of the Day, day 3

Some of the best shots from day 3 of Sochi 2014, as found on the net.

REMINDER: Some of these events air on tape stateside on NBC prime time tonight. If you don't want to know, avoid ASAP.

Here we go folks...

Sochi 2014: The Countdown Series: Ski Jumping Preview

Only eight days remaining until the opening ceremonies (one week from the first day from competition) at Sochi 2014. Up next on the countdown: ski jumping preview.

Per FIS standards, 20 countries will have at least one quota spot for this event at Sochi, which was mostly a male-only event until now.

This event has been on the Olympic schedule for some time, and it has produced major multiple winners over the years. In the individual normal hill event, there have been two multiple winners of that event--Birger Ruud (Norway) and Simon Ammann (Switzerland). Ruud won the event twice--at Lake Placid 1932, and again at Garmisch Partenkirchen 1936--and Ammann also won it twice as well, at Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010. Ammann also won the individual large hill event twice, at Salt Lake City and again at Vancouver. Matti Nykanen (Finland) also won the event twice, at Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988. Finland, Germany and Australia are the only countries to win multiple times in the team large hill category. The Fins won at Calgary and again at Albertville 1992, the Germans did it at Lillehammer 1994 and again at Salt Lake City, and the Austrians is the most recent to do so, at Turin 2006 and again at Vancouver.

Nykanen and Ammann are tied for most individual gold in this event at four a piece.

The venue for the ski jump at Sochi is the RusSki Gorski Jumping Center (pictured above), where the women's individual normal hill will make its Olympics debut.

Up next: Alpine skiing preview