In a little over two weeks I’ll be going to my first Olympics, the winter games in Sochi, Russia. ASide from the plethora of sports and medals and records, there will be plenty of political and social news to cover too.

When it comes to the competition though, a passing knowledge of winter sports is nowhere enough, so I’m currently immersed in a ton of books, magazines and blogs about everything from luge to freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

I’ve covered the last two ice hockey World Championships (which took place in Stockholm and Helsinki) – with any luck, the hundreds of hours I spent watching games and talking to players will be of some use to me in Sochi.

Whatever sports I cover I don’t really mind – as long as they don’t ask me to try any of them out…