France: Vancouver Outlook

Ophelie David could medal in the inaugural women's ski cross.

France won nine medals in Torino and should collect a similar number in Vancouver.

France is strong in the new discipline of ski cross. Ophelie David has recorded six World Cup victories in each of the last two seasons and is easily the most dominant competitor in women's ski cross. She has won six straight overall World Cup titles and has 20 career World Cup victories.

In men's moguls, Guilbaut Colas has finished second in the final World Cup standings in each of the past three seasons. Last winter, he recorded two victories on the circuit.

Brian Joubert is a medal contender in men's figure skating. He finished sixth in Torino and was third at the 2009 World Championships. Joubert is an accomplished jumper, with one of the best quads in the field.

If Brian Joubert can medal in Vancouver, it would be France's first in the men's singles event since 1998. A gold would be the first ever for a Frenchman.

2008 world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder are question marks at this point. The team missed the 2009 World Championships after Delobel underwent shoulder surgery in January 2009. The team resumed training after two months, only to find out Delobel was pregnant. The seven-time French champions trained carefully all summer until Delobel was too pregnant to train safely. Missing the podium in Vancouver would be devastating for the team that's been skating together for almost twenty years and finished just off the podium in fourth in Torino.

Mathieu Crepel is the 2007 world champion in halfpipe and has seven World Cup medals in his career. Xavier Delerue, who finished 18th in Torino's snowboard cross competition, was second at the 2009 Worlds.

In Alpine skiing, Jean-Baptiste Grange is strong in the slalom and finished first in the 2008-09 World Cup standings in that discipline. However, Grange ruptured his right ACL in Beaver Creek in December and will not compete at the Olympics. Sandrine Aubert has performed very well in slalom throughout the 2009-10 season with a handful of first place finishes. She should contend for a medal in Vancouver.

Jason Lamy-Chappuis, who was born in Missoula, Montana but moved to France as a child, finished third in Nordic combined's individual large hill event at the 2009 Worlds and finished fifth in the season's overall standings.