Medal events: 5 Athletes: 148 Dates: 6–22 February

Javier Fernández Lopez has already made sporting history for Spain by becoming double European figure skating champion in 2013 and 2014. Now he is aiming for a new first for his country: a figure skating medal at the Olympic Winter Games.

A gold medal winner in each of her two previous appearances at the Olympic Winter Games, Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst is aiming to eclipse two of her country’s greatest champions on the ice rink at Sochi.

As he approaches his third Olympic Games, Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer, unbeaten in the 5,000m, 10,000m and team pursuit this season, is determined to pull off the triple gold that eluded him at Vancouver 2010.

It's Go Time! The full lowdown on each winter discipline.

Twelve winter sports events (three mixed events, four men’s events and five women’s events) will make their debuts on the Olympic programme in Sochi. Here’s what to look out for:

After winning the 3,000m in Turin in 2006 and the 1,500m in Vancouver in 2010, Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst is targeting further Olympic success in Sochi in 2014 and speaks to the Olympic Review.

Those who missed out on Sochi 2014 tickets in the first sales phase have been given another chance to join spectators at the first Winter Games in Russia, with the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee launching the second phase of sales on 10 October.

The PyeongChang Organising Committee (POCOG) today launched its official Olympic emblem in front of over 1,000 guests at a gala ceremony held simultaneously in PyeongChang and in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. The new emblem draws on Hangul – the Korean alphabet – and Korea’s traditional humanism – Cheon-ji-in.