Competition Just Around the Corner for Sudbury's Olympian

The 2014 Olympic Opening Ceremonies are less than a week away, which means that one of Sudbury's own is preparing for the biggest competition of his lifetime.

Sudbury resident Simon Shnapir will be representing the United States in the pairs figure skating competition, which gets underway Thursday morning.

The pairs short program will air on Thursday night in the 8 p.m. time slot on NBC while the figure skating action continues throughout the day on Saturday. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 10 a.m. on NBC Sports Network, the United States pairs teams will compete in the free skate program. For a complete scheduled of Olympic events, visit the NBC Olympics website.

The 2014 Olympics serve as a homecoming of sorts for Shnapir. This year's games are being held in Russia, where Shnapir was born.

Shnapir found himself in the spotlight last week as the Associated Press wrote a feature story about him and his journey from Russia to Sudbury, and now back to Sochi. The story ran in publications throughout the United States last week, including the Boston Globe and USA Today.

‘‘I'm not really sure what to expect or what I'm going to feel until I'm going to be there,’’ Shnapir told the AP. ‘‘I know the connection is there.’’

The Sudbury resident is chronicling his journey to the Olympics on social media. You can follow him on Twitter, where he has nearly 2,000 followers, throughout the games.