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A good way to prepare for next week's Winter Olympics

Olympic and South Korean flags
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images

Coming Sunday ... The N.Y. Times Magazine Winter Olympics issue (articles live now), filled with essays and photographs focusing on some of the biggest events. A taste:

  • Long track speed skating: Author Karl Ove Knausgaard writes about the nostalgic appeal of long track speed skating, weaving in his own memories.
  • Alpine ski: Dina Litovsky photo essay of Alpine skinner Lindsey Vonn’s workout routine.
  • Freestyle ski: Jaime Lowe interviews freestyle aerial skiers about just how they can prepare and execute those insane-looking jumps.
  • Curling: Kim Tingley writes about curling, drawing on the history of a charming Tampa-anchored curling club, and how the sport draws its charm through its ability to allow anyone to imagine being good.
  • Ski jumping: Jon Mooallem writes about ski jumping and how, thanks to a group of young women athletes, the sport once known for providing comic relief could be taken seriously.
  • Figure skating: Patricia Lockwood writes about figure skater Jason Brown and how his graceful movement transcends expectations of male skating.
  • Biathlon: Brooke Jarvis writes about biathlon and how the seemingly paradoxical combination of cross-country skiing and shooting defies human control — without intensive practice.
  • Bobsled: Jaime Lowe writes about bobsled driver Seun Adigun, who parted with the U.S. to present her home country of Nigeria — the first African nation to ever compete in the event.
  • Cross country: Sam Anderson writes about cross-country skiing, and why despite its mundane nature and more than two-hour length, the sport is beautiful in its own way for depicting the human condition of raw toil. 
  • Short track: Jay Caspian Kang writes about short track speed skating and tackles the awkward question of why Koreans are so good at that sport, and some other random ones, such as B-boying.
Winter Olympic Games