Sochi Olympics Begin Early – 2014 Olympic Roundup For Feb. 6th

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Competition at the Sochi (SOH'-chee) Olympics is officially starting today, hours before the opening ceremony.

Early starts are needed with 12 men's and women's medal events added since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Men's snowboard slopestyle qualifying runs — without American star Shaun White, who withdrew Wednesday — are beginning today at X-Treme Park in the mountains above Sochi.

Women's qualifying runs follow and women's moguls qualifying is scheduled to start freestyle skiing events.

Men's slopestyle and women's moguls are among the first medals to be awarded Saturday.

In Sochi, the new team figure skating competition begins at the Iceberg Skating Palace.

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Everything's cool and running with Jamaica's bobsled team. They're back inside the Olympic rings, and back on the track.

After their equipment was delayed in arriving to the Sochi Games, driver Winston Watts and his teammates got in their first two runs down the Sanki Sliding Center track on Thursday. The Jamaicans, who qualified for the first time since 2002, couldn't train Wednesday because they arrived ahead of their luggage, which was on a later flight to Russia.

— Sixty-five heads of state and government and international organizations will be attending Russia's first Winter Games. Russia's chief organizer says that's more than any other Winter Games and three times the number of leaders who attended the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

—Six-time Olympian Todd Lodwick has been chosen to be the U.S. flagbearer at Friday's opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics.