Qualifying and tune-up events continue this weekend for coveted spots on the U.S. Olympic team. Athletes in snowboarding and free skiing all look to punch their tickets to Sochi. Meanwhile alpine, cross-country, and aerial skiers all compete in world cup events.

Two-time gold medalist Shaun White is expected to participate in the snowboarding trials despite an ankle injury he suffered last week. While his previous medals have come in the half-pipe, White is currently looking for an Olympic berth in the slopestyle snowboarding event.

Slopestyle is a competition for both skiing and snowboarding in which athletes perform tricks while skiing or boarding downhill. Unlike in alpine skiing events, slopestyle competitors are judged on the quality and difficulty of their acrobatic jumps and flips, not on the speed of their descent.

Besides White, other top athletes in this weekend's qualifiers include halfpipe skiiers David Wise and Maddie Bowman, slopestyle skiiers Nick Goepper and Devin Logan, halfpipe snowboarders Kelly Clark and Arielle Gold, and slopestyle snowboarders Jamie Anderson, Chas Guldemond, and Sage Kotsenburg.

Portions of the qualifiers will be televised this weekend on NBC and NBC Sports. You can also watch the coverage online through NBC Sports Live Extra.

Off the slopes and outside of the ice rinks, the U.S. Olympic delegation made some bigger-than-sports news of its own this week, naming multiple gay athletes as representatives in spite of Russia's increasingly harsh anti-homosexuality laws.

Both openly gay tennis legend Billie Jean King and hockey player Caitlin Cahow were among the five athletes selected to represent the United States at the opening and closing ceremonies in Sochi. Shortly after his selection to the delegation, figure skater Brian Boitano officially came out as well. The timing of Boitano's announcement makes a major statement for 50-year old man who has previously been exceeding reticent to speak about his sexuality.

With Boitano's coming out, the United States is officially sending a majority-gay delegation to Russia.

The message from the U.S. is clear. How the Russians will respond is less certain, though releases of political prisoners like the women of Pussy Riot and anti-whaling Greenpeace activists signal that Russia is trying to do some last minute whitewashing of its autocratic reputation in advance of the games.

In any case, the answers to both the political and athletic questions are coming very soon. The opening ceremony takes place in just a month and a half -- Feb. 7, 2014.