In fact, the ladies will get the speedskating Olympic spotlight to themselves on Day 4. The only speedskating event on tap for Tuesday is the ladies' 500 meters.
This has to come to the dismay of the red-hot Netherlands team. The Dutch were fantastic on Monday. That was highlighted by a podium sweep in the men's 500-meter long-track race with Michel Mulder (gold), Jan Smeekens (silver) and Michel's twin Ronald Mulder (bronze).
Meanwhile, the Americans will be looking to get their speedskating hopes back on track. Legend Shani Davis missed out on the podium in his first event on Monday, and short-track star J.R. Celski just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 1,500-meter short-track race.
Neither of those two highlighted stars will be on display on Tuesday.
Ladies’ 500-Meter Long-Trace Race (First of Two)
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 11
Time: 7:45 a.m. ET, 4:45 p.m. Sochi time and 12:45 p.m. GMT
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Network at 7:45 a.m. ET, NBC at midnight (rebroadcast) and BBC at 12:45 p.m. GMT
Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com
Ladies’ 500-Meter Long-Track Race (Second of two)
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 11
Time: 8:45 a.m. ET, 5:45 p.m. Sochi time and 1:45 p.m. GMT
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Network at 8:45 a.m. ET, NBC at midnight (rebroadcast) and BBC at 1:45 p.m. GMT
Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com
Previewing the 500 Meters
One of Team USA's brightest speedskating stars will be taking the ice for this event.
Heather Richardson is the face of a resurgent women's long-track team for the Americans. She was recently the first American woman to win the world sprint crown since 2005.
She and teammate Brittany Bowe enter these games as expected medalists.
Those hopes, however, are more due to their domination in the 1,000 meters. Both Richardson and Bowe are converted in-line skaters. They both are also better at the 1,000 than the 500.
This is not to suggest that they are hopeless in the 500; chances are, one of them will pick up a bronze.
With South Korean defending champion Lee Sang Hwa and Russia’s Olga Fatkulina also in the mix in the 500, there isn't a lot of opportunity for any other skaters to sneak into the top two.
Lee is the world-record holder in the event, and she was first in the overall World Cup standings for the 500 meters in the 2012-13 season. She will have to slip up for someone else to snag a gold in this event.
Meanwhile, this will all prove to be valuable experience for Richardson in her second Olympics. This is key for her to achieve her lofty goals.
As passed along by John Powers of The Boston Globe, Richardson put far greater expectations on herself in Sochi than she did in Vancouver:
In Vancouver I was just happy to be there. Here, I actually want to put in some solid races, just go out, relax, and do my best, hopefully be on the podium. My goal is to be on the podium in at least one of my three individual events.
Richardson has a chance to take a step toward that goal on Tuesday.
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