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It has been nearly a year since the Vancouver Olympics, but many of the sports heroes who competed there will be closer than ever this winter.

Nine major competitions will take place along the Wasatch Front over the coming weeks, allowing fans plenty of opportunities to see some of the best skiers, skaters, sliders and snowboarders in the world.

The highlight figures to be the FIS Freestyle World Championships at Deer Valley Resort.

There, Canada's Jennifer Heil is expected to reprise her moguls battle with Hannah Kearney of the United States — Heil is a two-time defending world champion who won gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics, while Kearney also is a former world champ who dethroned her at the 2010 Vancouver Games — in what could be the final major competition of her illustrious career.

"World championships are really important to me, and they're only once every two years," Heil said recently. "Obviously, that's one of the biggest focuses of the season."

It won't be just established stars such as bobsled gold medalist Steve Holcomb and speedskating world-record holder Shani Davis that fans can expect to catch at two World Cup events and two senior-level national championships, either.

Up-and-coming young athletes will be on display, too, at the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships, the Junior World Championships for bobsled and skeleton and a sub-elite Continental Cup stop for Nordic combined.

The schedule is particularly busy this month, with World Cup stops for bobsled, skeleton and luge sliders at the Utah Olympic Park near Park City, followed by the junior figure skating event at the Salt Lake City Sports Complex, the Nordic combined event at the Olympic Park and the national championships for speedskating and short-track speedskating at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.

"Our venues are sought out as a result of consistent excellence in hosting events," said Jennifer Clarke, a spokeswoman for the Utah Athletic Foundation that runs the Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval. "Athletes, officials, and coaches enjoy events at our venues and there is a comfort level of being a former Olympic city which makes us a natural fit."

—

Lindsey Vonn, Alpine Skiing

The snow queen of the Vancouver Olympics is back … though maybe not better than ever just yet.

While the part-time Park City resident and three-time defending overall World Cup ski champion won gold and bronze medals in Vancouver, she and the rest of the U.S. Ski Team have endured a somewhat sluggish start to the new World Cup season. No podiums for any American after the first four World Cup stops heading into the weekend, though the results are comparable to those that preceded an American record eight-medal haul at the Olympics.

After a busy offseason that included a guest role on her favorite TV show, NBC's Law & Order, Vonn opened the season hoping to break the record of 14 World Cup wins in a season.

—

Steve Holcomb, Bobsled

The Park City native has picked up right where he left off, winning the opening four-man bobsled race of the new World Cup season last month on the same track where he made history by winning gold at the Vancouver Olympics.

The victory came as a great relief to Holcomb, who entered the season with a new member of his push team - Steve Langdon replaced the retired Steve Mesler - but also huge new expectations and the continuing challenge of a German team that does not seem to have been weakened by the retirement of the legendary Andre Lange.

"I proved not only to everyone else, but to myself, that we can keep winning," Holcomb said.

—

Ted Ligety, Alpine Skiing

The two-time Olympic ski racer who won the combined at the 2006 Turin Games spent part of his summer moving into his new house in Park City, and hopes an increased intensity to his offseason workout regimen will provide him a boost on the slopes.

Ligety has been part of the early-season podium drought the Americans have endured, but had only two World Cup races heading into the Audi Birds of Prey races in Colorado this weekend - and those feature the speed disciplines that haven't been Ligety's speciality.

He had skied only one slalom so far, and finished 18th. On the bright side, he isn't coming off a knee injury like he was last year.

—

Katherine Reutter, Short-Track Speedskating

Having enjoyed a breakthrough by winning silver and bronze medals at the Vancouver Olympics, the short-track speedskater who lives in Salt Lake City and trains at the Utah Olympic Oval appears poised to keep contending for gold.

While the legendary Apolo Anton Ohno takes the season off from competition while considering retirement and promoting a new book, Reutter has opened the season with two golds and two silvers at the opening two World Cup competitions - teammate Lana Gehring of Kearns has won twice, too - and ranked No. 1 in the overall standings at 1,000 meters.

The powerful Koreans skipped those opening World Cups, though, and figured to provide stiff competition when the circuit resumed this weekend.

—

Jeret "Speedy" Peterson, Freestyle Skiing

The Hurricane has landed, but Peterson isn't flying away.

The three-time Olympian who lives and trains in Park City is back on the U.S. aerials team after finally claiming that elusive medal - a silver - by landing his signature quintuple-twisting move in the finals at the Vancouver Olympics. He's still preparing for the start of his World Cup season, but expects to be competing when the FIS Freestyle World Championships are held at Deer Valley Resort in February.

Fellow Olympic medalist Bryon Wilson of Park City - bronze in the moguls - also is back on the team, which opens its World Cup season Dec. 11 in Finland. —

Winter sports on the docket

Fans can watch a wide variety of elite level winter sports coming to the Wasatch Front this season:

Event Date Location

World Cup Bobsled & Skeleton Dec. 9-11 Utah Olympic Park

FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup Dec. 11-12 Utah Olympic Park

U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships Dec. 16-18 SLC Sports Complex

World Cup Luge Dec. 17-18 Utah Olympic Park

U.S. Short Track Championships Dec. 17-19 Utah Olympic Oval

U.S. Speedskating Championships Dec. 30-Jan. 4 Utah Olympic Oval

Junior World Bobsled Championships Jan. 28-30 Utah Olympic Park

FIS Freestyle World Championships Feb. 2-5 Deer Valley Resort

U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix Feb. 11-12 The Canyons Resort

For more information, visit http://www.OlyParks.com, http://www.SaltLakeFigureSkating.com, http://www.DeerValley.com or http://www.TheCanyons.com.