Cape Elizabeth native Clare Egan will compete in her first event Saturday morning as a member of the U.S. biathlon team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Egan, 30, will take part in the 7.5-kilometer sprint – which involves five prone shots and five standing, with each missed target requiring a penalty loop – at 6:15 a.m. It can be viewed via live stream at nbcolympics.com/biathlon.

Biathlon is the only Winter Olympic sport in which the United States has never won a medal. Egan will compete in at least two – and up to four – individual events as well as two relays during the PyeongChang Games in South Korea. She is ranked 78th in the world among women’s biathletes.

In biathlon, competitors ski through the woods with a .22-caliber rifle strapped to their back. At measured intervals, they glide into a shooting range and attempt to hit five targets from either prone or standing position. Missed shots mean penalties, in either time or added distance.

Laura Dahlmeier of Germany is a favorite to compete for the gold. Dahlmeier had a strong world championships last year, winning gold in five events and silver in the sprint.

Susan Dunklee may give the U.S. its best chance at a medal in the event. Last year, she won a silver medal in the 7.5K sprint at the World Championships and finished the season ranked 10th overall. Currently ranked 39th, Dunklee was the highest-finishing American woman in the biathlon sprint at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, hitting nine of 10 targets to come in 14th, 41.5 seconds behind clean-shooting winner Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia.

 

What else to watch

American Red Gerard was atop the snowboard slopestyle World Cup rankings in 2017, and he’s there again going into PyeongChang: The 17-year-old holds a 450-point lead over Marcus Kleveland of Norway. Short-track speedskating begins Saturday, and the South Koreans are sure to go bonkers for their favorite sport, especially if the home team wins a medal.

Saturday, Feb. 10

There is a 14-hour time difference. Events listed here are those shown on that particular day in Eastern Standard Time.

• NBC
  • 3-6 p.m. Men’s snowboarding, slopestyle; short-track speedskating, men’s 1,500-meter gold; men’s ski jumping normal hill gold; men’s luge, singles
  • 8-11 p.m. Figure skating, team event, ice dancing and women’s short programs (LIVE); men’s downhill gold
  • 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Figure skating, team event, pairs free skate (LIVE)
• NBCSN
  • 2-5 a.m. Women’s cross-country, skiathlon gold (LIVE); mixed doubles curling, U.S.-China
  • 5-7:35 a.m. Men’s short-track speedskating, 1,500 gold (LIVE)
  • 7:35-11:30 a.m. Men’s ski jumping, normal hill gold (LIVE); men’s snowboarding, slopestyle
  • 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Men’s luge, singles1-5 p.m. Women’s speedskating, 3,000 gold; women’s biathlon, 7.5km sprint gold; mixed doubles curling, U.S.-Norway
  • 7-9:45 p.m. Men’s snowboarding, slopestyle gold (LIVE)
  • 9:45 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Mixed doubles curling, U.S.-Finland; women’s snowboarding, slopestyle (LIVE)
  • 1:30-2:40 a.m. Mixed doubles curling, Canada-South Korea
• USA
  • 7-9:30 a.m. Women’s hockey, Switzerland-Koreas (LIVE)

Sunday, Feb. 11

American Mikaela Shiffrin is the best slalom skier in the world – in fact, the best skier in the world period. Defending champion Jamie Anderson and Olympic rookies Julia Marino and Hailey Langland are capable of a U.S. sweep in slopestyle snowboarding.

• NBC
  • 3-6 p.m. Men’s speedskating, 5,000-meter gold; men’s biathlon, 10km sprint gold; men’s cross-country, skiathlon gold
  • 7-11 p.m. Figure skating, team event, men’s, women’s, dance free skates, gold (LIVE); women’s skiing, giant slalom (LIVE); women’s freestyle skiing, moguls gold; women’s snowboarding, slopestyle gold; men’s luge, singles gold
  • 11:35 p.m.-1 a.m. Women’s skiing, giant slalom gold (LIVE); women’s snowboarding, halfpipe (LIVE)
• NBCSN
  • 2:40-5 a.m. Women’s hockey, U.S.-Finland (LIVE)
  • 5-9 a.m. Men’s biathlon, 10km sprint gold (LIVE); men’s speedskating, 5,000 gold; men’s cross-country, skiathlon gold
  • 1:30-5:30 p.m. Mixed doubles curling, tiebreaker; men’s luge, singles gold
  • 5:30-8 p.m. Men’s biathlon, 10km sprint gold
  • 8-11:30 p.m. Women’s snowboarding, slopestyle gold (LIVE); mixed doubles curling, semifinal11:30 p.m.-2:40 a.m. Men’s speedskating, 5,000 gold
• USA
  • 7-9:30 a.m. Women’s hockey, Canada-OAR (LIVE)

(Events in the TV listings are tape-delayed unless indicated as LIVE. OAR is Olympic Athletes from Russia.)

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