Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen could become the greatest winter Olympian of all time on Monday when the 40-year-old targets a record 13th medal at the Sochi Games.
Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen competes in the Men's Biathlon 10km Sprint at the Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Center during the Sochi Winter Olympics on February 8, 2014 in Rosa Khutor
Bjoerndalen, taking part in his sixth Games, drew level with compatriot Bjorn Daehlie when he clinched a 12th medal with gold in Saturday's 10km sprint and now he starts the 12.5km as favourite.
The veteran was Olympic champion in the event at Salt Lake City in 2002 and is also a four-time world champion.
Bjoerndalen, nicknamed "The Cannibal", has devoured 19 world championship titles in his time and his performance on Saturday put his critics firmly in their place after he was written off four years ago.
He won a lone gold in Vancouver in 2010 in the relay event but had swept four gold in four events in Salt Lake City eight years earlier.
"Life is too short to give up. You always need to keep going on. I had some bad years with a lot of problems, but my motivation was never an issue," said Bjoerndalen.
"I was able to go on and do my training day after day. That was the most important thing and that is probably the reason why I am here today."
On a day when only five golds are up for grabs, the women skiers get their Games under way with the super-combined -- a discipline including one downhill run and one slalom.
America's Julia Mancuso, a silver medallist in the race in Vancouver four years ago, topped the downhill run with a blistering 1min 42.68sec ahead of Switzerland's Lara Gut and Slovenia's Tina Maze, last season's World Cup winner.
Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch, the defending Olympic champion and a favourite for gold having also won the world championship title last year, was fifth just behind Austrian sweetheart Anna Fenninger.
The medal-deciding slalom takes place later in the day.
In speedskating, Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea defends the 500m title he won in Vancouver four years ago but Japan's Joji Kato and compatriot Lee Kyou-Hyuk are also dangermen.
The rough and tumble short track also starts with gold up for grabs in the men's 1500 metres.
Canadian star Charles Hamelin will be counting on a new aerodynamic skinsuit to edge his Asian rivals and three-time gold medallist Victor Ahn.
Hamelin won gold in the 500m and the 5000m relay in Vancouver and is the highest-ranked male short-tracker in Sochi -- ranked top in the World Cup at 1000m and 1500m, second at 500m.
The 29-year-old will be competing wearing the latest in high-tech clothing for speed skaters -- a spandex bodysuit.
"It is based on the aerodynamics of the fabric," he explained. "We are told this suit is faster and more comfortable. Knowing that in our minds will make us faster in competition."
He added: "I want to be the first man to win the 500m in two Olympic Games."
Ahn, formerly known as Ahn Hyun-Soo, won gold in the 1000m, 1500m and 5000m relay for South Korea in 2006, but switched nationalities to Russia after failing to qualify for Vancouver.
The day's other gold will be in men's moguls in freestyle skiing, where Canada's Mikael Kingsbury, the 2013 world champion, and his compatriot Alex Bilodeau, who won gold in Vancouver, go head-to-head.