ADVISORY-Olympics-Ice skating-Women's individual preview package

SOCHI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The women's individual figure skating competition, which takes place on Wednesday and Thursday this week, is always one of the highlights of the Winter Olympic programme and Reuters will be issuing an in-depth preview package ahead of the action. The package will contain an overall preview of the event as well as factboxes profiling the leading contenders and looking at the pick of the champions who have gone before. We will carry exclusive interviews with teenage American hope Gracie Gold, and Tara Lipinski, who knows what challenges her compatriot faces having been the youngest ever champion when she triumphed 1998 at the age of 15. We will look at how Olympic gold opens the door to fame and fortune, via sponsorships and endorsements, and also examine the importance of the competition to broadcasters who have paid millions for Olympic rights. We will have a story explaining the technical side of the event, why certain jumps are more challenging and what the judges are looking for. There will also be a story on the sacrifices skaters endure in dedicating their lives to trying to win the sport's ultimate prize. The short programme takes place on Wednesday Feb. 19 at 1900 local time (1500GMT/1000Eastern) with the free programme the next night, starting at the same time. We will issue our package from 1900GMT (2300local/1400 Eastern) on Tuesday with the master slug of OLYMPICS-FIGURESKATING/WOMEN (Compiled by Mitch Phillips, editing by Peter Rutherford)