As the New Year gets underway, sports fans all over the world are looking forward to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The events are being held in Sochi, Russia and some of the competitions will be located in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. The preliminaries and opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin on Feb. 6 and the games will continue through Feb. 23.

Do you have a favorite sporting event that you watch during the Olympics? Here are just a few of the many athletes being spotlighted to compete in Sochi.

Alpine Skiing 

Many fans of this competition were awaiting Lindsey Vonn’s appearance. To their disappointment, Vonn announced on Jan. 7 that she was withdrawing from the Sochi Olympics due to an unstable knee. While competing on Dec. 21 in Val d’Isere, France, she suffered a knee injury and was unable to feel confident to compete. But this event has another upcoming star from Vail, Colo. named Mikaela Shriffin. At 18 years of age, she is receiving plenty of attention for her accomplishments, and was even named as Colorado’s Athlete of the Year for 2013.

Figure Skating 

Gracie Gold is one to keep your eye on for this event. The 18 year-old just clinched her first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and secured a position in the March 2014 World Championships.

Short Track Skater 

In previous Olympic Games, Apolo Ohno was a favorite in this event. Now he has relinquished the spotlight over to Seattle native J.R. Celski. Keep a watchful eye on this Emerald City skater. He will be a strong force in this competition.

Alpine Skiing 

If you’re favorite competition is men’s alpine skiing, you’ll definitely be watching Bode Miller. Not only has he won more Olympic medals than anyone else in his class, but a medal at Sochi would classify him as one of the greatest skiers of all time.

Men’s Snowboarding 

Will Shaun White be able to achieve victory in his third gold medal in the halfpipe event? Stay tuned and see when he makes his debut appearance in the first ever slopestyle event that debuts in the 2014 Olympics.

Ice Dancing 

This event has been continuing to gain popularity among viewers. In 2014, the couple to watch is Meryl Davis and Charlie White. This dynamite duo has been victorious in a variety of world competitions and is hoping to bring home the gold in Sochi.

Women’s Figure Skating 

When you think of the women’s team for the Sochi Olympics, the anchoring spot belongs to Ashley Wagner. Since Michelle Kwan, Wagner has been the only female to win back-to-back U.S. Championships.

Athletes worldwide have been training nearly their entire lives for the dream of someday competing in the Olympics. Some of the common characteristics of these competitors include: ambition, discipline, self-confidence, and continued perseverance. These individuals are goal-oriented and strive to be the best in their sport. There is a Bible verse that can be utilized to describe the driven spirit of these participants.

Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, that you may win. —1 Corinthians 9:24

Although most of us are not training for the Olympics, were can still apply this verse to our everyday lives. If each of us gave our all in everything we do, can you imagine how much more we could accomplish? Sometimes the fear of not succeeding causes us to hold back and not reach our full potential. From these athletes we can learn to not let fear of failure prevent us from running every race with ambition.