U.S. Olympians Shine in Vancouver Games

People love stories; and there’s no better place to write them on a world stage than at the Olympics. With only three days left in the 2010 Vancouver games, most of the stories have already been scrawled into the history books, some in triumph and some in sour defeat. With the United States sitting atop the medals table with 28, here are some of the stories that have come to define their Olympics in Gastown.

Much of the United States’ initial success in Vancouver stemmed from their dominance in Alpine skiing, with American men and women claiming eight of 18 medals in downhill, super-G, and super combined. Those eight are the most by a U.S. ski team in Olympic history; three more than the team managed in Sarajevo in 1984.

Lindsey Vonn:  The pressure on Lindsey Vonn coming into the Vancouver games was immense as the media had two gold medals draped around her neck before the opening ceremonies even began. She’s lived up to some of the hype with one event to go, winning gold in downhill and bronze in super- G. It’s not nearly what most Americans expected from the world’s best female skier, but at least she hasn’t completely choked like Bode Miller did in 2006.

Bode Miller:  I love this one. Bode Miller, arguably the greatest U.S. skier in history, was touted as the cornerstone of the strongest U.S. Olympic ski team ever assembled for the 2006 games in Torino. They didn’t live up to the hype, however, as America took home only two Alpine medals with Miller making a name for himself as an irresponsible partier rather than a world class skier and finishing no better than fifth in any of his five events. Now married with a child, Miller came into Vancouver battered, out of shape, and off the heels of the worst professional season of his career. Despite low expectations, Miller swept the podium in the first three Alpine events, winning bronze in downhill, silver in super-G, and gold in super combined. With the two silvers he won in 2002 in Salt Lake City, he became the most decorated Alpine Olympian in U.S. history.

In the Olympics, where every medal counts, no medal counts more to Canada than hockey gold. But when the U.S. men’s team upset Canada in the sport that they invented, a wave of panic shot through the True North. With the semi-finals set for Friday, the Americans have their sights set on another unexpected gold while Canada scrambles to get their talented squad back into contention.

Johnny Spillane secured a silver medal in the individual event, giving the U.S. its first Olympic medal ever in Nordic Combined. And America didn’t waste any time winning a second, jumping and skiing to team relay silver.

Evan Lysacek: Aside from becoming the first U.S. man to win figure skating gold since Brian Boitano in 1988 and sending Russian silver medalist Evgeni Plushenko into a delusional, self absorbed hissy fit, Lysacek publically announced his relationship with 2008 Olympic all around gymnastics champion Nastia Liukin as well as his plans to treat himself to a 007-esq Aston Martin DBS. What a stud.

Ice Dancing: Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the first North American couple to win ice dancing gold while U.S. pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White took silver. Unfortunately, North America didn’t sweep the podium as the other U.S. pair of Benjamin Agosto and the gorgeous Tanith Belbin placed fourth in what very well may have been their last competitive dance.

Shaun White:  I’ve realized that if you watch men’s snowboard halfpipe, you don’t watch it for the competition. You watch it for Shaun White. Blowing away the rest of the field, White already had the gold medal won as he dropped into his second run. Not only did White use his victory lap to throw down the new jaw-dropping Double McTwist 1260, but he also scored a 48.4, 1.6 points better than his gold-medal-winning first run.

Ladies’ Halfpipe: This was the U.S.’s best chance to sweep the podium as they boasted former gold medal winners Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark and former silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler. However, two falls by Bleiler in the finals and the superior performance of Australia’s Torah Bright relegated the U.S. to a silver and bronze for Teter and Clark respectively.

Lindsey Jacobellis: Having four years to dwell on her embarrassing silver medal Snowboard Cross performance in Torino, Jacobellis came into Vancouver looking for redemption. She didn’t get it though, and failed to even make it to the finals.

These events are always fun to watch. An unnecessary pass attempt in the final turn of the short track men’s 1500m cost South Korea two medals while a coach’s lane blunder cost Dutch standout Sven Kramer gold in the long track 10,000m.

Short Track: Speed skating star Apolo Ohno sped to a sixth and seventh short track medal, making him the most decorated U.S. winter Olympian in history. His teammate, J.R. Celski, won a surprise bronze in the 1500m, his first competitive action since nearly bleeding to death at U.S. nationals after crashing and slicing his left leg with the blade of his skate.

Long Track:  World Record holder Shani Davis took gold in the 1000m and became the first man to successfully defend his title in that event. If Dutchman Mark Tuitert didn’t post the skate of his lifetime in the 1500m, Davis would have been the only American sporting dual gold’s in Vancouver.

Canada came into these Olympics with uncharacteristic swagger after funneling $117 million into its Own The Podium program, an effort designed to help its athletes succeed in Vancouver. Boldly predicting that they would finish atop the medals table with upwards of 30 podium performances, Canada has since rescinded from that claim as they currently sit in a distant fourth place with 15 medals. Canadian officials claim that they can make up some ground in the last few days of competition, but it would take a miracle to catch up to the U.S. or Germany who have 28 and 24 medals respectively. Oh, Canada.

Though most Olympic stories end with sentiments like "we’ll see what happens in four years," I’d like to encourage everyone to follow the stars of Vancouver through the rigors of yearly competition. The games are just means by which to showcase athletes at their best, yet often our tendency is to define entire careers by their Olympic performances. That being said, they’re always a hell of a ride.