The 2014 Winter Olympics started Feb. 6 with athletes from 88 countries competing for medals in Sochi, Russia.

In this year’s Winter Olympics, there will be 15 sports with 98 events total. The U.S. team also boasts the largest it has ever to compete in the Winter Games.

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, the day before the games, superstar snowboarder Shaun White announced that he was dropping out of the slope-style event. White is still competing in the half-pipe event, where he could win his third consecutive gold medal.

“All of my favorites are not competing (in the Olympics) anymore,” said senior Aimee L’Eplattenier. “Figure skater Evan Lysacek had to pull out of the Winter Olympics, but now Patrick Chan is my favorite ice-skater – he is from Canada.”

The Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics started with fireworks exploding from the stadium. The Opening Ceremony had many surprises that contributed to the greatness of getting the games started by all of the technical equipment and pieces of art.

Some of the performances in the opening ceremony included an 11-year-old girl who took the audience on an interesting journey, the Russian ballet and graphics of the country on the main floor while the athletes walked out.

Sochi held about 40,000 people in the stadium watching the athletes taking their walk. Former Russian gold-medalists figure skater Irina Rodnina and hockey legend Vladislav Tretiak lit the Olympic cauldron to officially begin the Sochi Games.

Team USA has a few strong opponents this year in Sochi, said Chanho Kang, a health physical education and recreation professor.

The Germany and Norway teams are strong opponents to the U.S. Olympic Team and they are going to be two of the top competitors for the U.S., Kang said.

“Germany has won over 339 medals at the Winter Olympic Games, Norway has won over 300 medals at the Winter Olympic Games and the U.S. Team has won over 250 medals at the games,” Kang said.

Being from Korea, Kang said he is interested in the Winter Olympics because the 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, Korea. He also enjoys watching the speed skating.

“I like to watch the short-track speed skating because the game provides me with tremendous excitement,” Kang said. “I really like games where the outcome is uncertain.”

A new face for the Winter Olympics team is Lolo Jones, but she is not new to Team USA. Jones competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the 100-meter hurdles and is now competing in Sochi as a bobsledder.

“Lolo Jones is good at running, so I don’t know why she wouldn’t be good at bobsledding,” said senior Josh Scott. “She is pretty intense.”

Zach Parise, a member of Team USA, is captain for the men’s ice hockey team for the Winter Olympics.

The U.S. hockey team is always a strong contender and it will be one of the biggest events of the Winter Olympics this year, L’Eplattenier said.

The Winter Olympics will close out in Sochi with the closing ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 23.

The 15 different sports that are included in this year’s Winter Olympics are: Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short-track speedskating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding and speedskating.