Olympic Capsules: Crosby's goal wins gold on final day of Games

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Rest assured, Canada, the national honor is served.

With a flick of the wrist from The Next One, Sidney Crosby, Canadians found Olympic redemption Sunday.

The pall of a luger’s death, a series of embarrassing glitches, a first half so dismal the hosts conceded the medals race, a loss to the upstart Americans in a preliminary game.

All but forgotten. Canada is the Olympic champion in men’s hockey, and the whole country can finally celebrate its Winter Games.

Canada survived one of the greatest games in Olympic history to beat the Americans 3-2 in overtime and cap the host country’s record gold rush in Vancouver.

Crosby — hockey heir to Canada’s own Great One, Wayne Gretzky — won it when he whipped a shot past U.S. goalie Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime after the U.S. had tied it with 24.4 seconds left in regulation.

"It’s a pretty unbelievable thing. You know what? Every kid dreams of that opportunity," Crosby said. "Being in Canada, that’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You dream of that a thousand times growing up. For it to come true is amazing.

"Our team worked so unbelievably hard," Crosby said. "Today was really tough, especially when they got a goal late in regulation. But we came back and got it in overtime. ... To win it in overtime, here in Canada, it doesn’t get any better than that."

Canada’s collection of all-stars held off a young, desperate U.S. team that had beaten it a week ago and, after staging a furious comeback from down 2-0 on goals by Jonathan Toews and Corey Perry, almost beat the Canadians again.

With Canada less than a minute away from celebrating the gold medal, Zach Parise — the son of a player who figured in Canada’s finest hockey moment — tied it with Miller off the ice for an extra attacker.

The moment he scored, the groans of disappointed fans likely were heard from Vancouver to the Maritimes. But Crosby, scoreless the previous two games, brought back the cheers with his second post-regulation game-winner of the tournament, a shot from the left circle that Miller was helpless to stop. He also beat Switzerland in a shootout during the round robin.

It was close. It was nerve-racking. It was a game worthy of an Olympic hockey final.

"I just tried to shoot it quick," Crosby said. "Iggy (Jarome Iginla) kind of bumped it out from the corner, I tried to get a quick shot on net. I didn’t even really see. I barely looked at the net. I just tried to throw it there."

Before the game, Crosby received a brief text message from Penguins owner Mario Lemieux that said: "Good luck."

Now, Crosby joins Lemieux — whose goal beat the Soviet Union in the 1987 World Cup — and Paul Henderson, who beat the Soviets with a goal in the 1972 Summit Series, among the instant national heroes of Canadian hockey. At age 22, Crosby has won the Stanley Cup and the Olympics in less than a year’s time.

"He’s got a little destiny to him — his entire career, throughout minor hockey, junior hockey, NHL," Canada executive director Steve Yzerman said about Crosby. "So it’s just another monumental moment in his career. And he’s what, 22 still? He’s a special, special guy. Kind of like Gretzky."

Minutes after the game ended, delirious fans chanted, "Crosby! Crosby! Crosby!" International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge paused before giving the final medal to Crosby as the crowd got even louder. Then he gestured with his right hand, calling for more cheers for Crosby.

"It’s just fitting, I think, that Sid would get it," goalie Roberto Luongo said. "I couldn’t think of anyone better."

As "O Canada" played, the Canadian team stood shoulder to shoulder, while the U.S. team stood dejected, staring at the ice, many with their hands on their hips.

"Our team worked so unbelievably hard," Crosby said. "Today was really tough, especially when they got a goal late in regulation. But we came back and got it in overtime."

To win, Canada withstood a remarkable and determined effort from a U.S. team that wasn’t supposed to medal in Vancouver, much less roll through the tournament unbeaten before losing in the first overtime gold-medal game since NHL players joined the Olympics in 1998.

"No one knew our names. People know our names now," said Chris Drury, one of three holdovers from the 2002 U.S. team that also lost to Canada in the gold-medal game.

Miller, the tournament MVP, was exceptional, and Parise scored a goal that — if the U.S. had won — would rank among the storied moments in American Olympic history.

With less than a half minute remaining and Miller out of the net and off the ice for an extra attacker, Patrick Kane took a shot from the high slot that deflected off Jamie Langenbrunner to Parise, who shot it off Luongo’s blocker and into the net.

Parise is the son of J.P. Parise, who scored two goals for that 1972 Canada Summit Series team.

Three minutes before Parise scored, Kane — who also set up Ryan Kesler’s goal in the second period — knocked the puck off Crosby’s stick on a breakaway that would have sealed it for Canada.

"It’s just a shame that both teams couldn’t have received a gold medal," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "A great player made a great play and found a way to finish us off. This was a classic hockey game. In Canada now, it’s the greatest game ever."

Luongo didn’t outplay Miller, but still proved he is a big-game goalie — something he has never been previously — by making 34 saves in his own NHL arena. Luongo went 5-0 in the tournament and 4-0 after replacing Martin Brodeur following America’s 5-3 win the previous Sunday.

OK, you can exhale now, Canada. The quivers of fear created by the loss to the U.S. and the shootout over Switzerland are gone, replaced by the good-as-gold feeling that was a necessity for Canada to truly proclaim these Olympics a success.

Canada won its eighth hockey gold medal and only its second since 1952 — it beat the U.S. 5-3 in Salt Lake City in 2002. For the United States, considered on a tier slightly below the Canadians, Russians and Swedes when the games began, it was an immense letdown, especially since it was the best team from nearly start to finish. Nearly.

"It stings right now," said Miller, who made 33 saves after giving up only a goal per game in the first five games.

"It’s devastating. It was the biggest game any of us have played in," U.S. defenseman Jack Johnson said.

Requiring the United States to beat favored Canada two times in eight days was a monumental task; under Olympic formats used until the 1990s, when there wasn’t a true gold-medal game, the earlier victory and the Americans’ unbeaten record would have been enough for gold. The U.S. has never won an Olympics outside the U.S., with its two golds coming in 1960 at Squaw Valley, Calif., and 1980 at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Unlike those games, it wouldn’t have been a miracle if America had won — but, given the opponent and the circumstances, it would have been one of the nation’s proudest moments in international sports.

-- Alan Robinson

Miller claims MVP, despite U.S. golden OT loss

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Ryan Miller could only do so much.

Only a shot from Canada’s favorite Kid — Sidney Crosby — 7:40 into overtime during Sunday’s gold-medal game kept him from carrying the United States to a perfect mark and the top spot on the Olympic podium.

Canada 3, United States 2.

And it was every bit that close thanks to the American goaltender, who made 36 saves in an arena rooting hard against him and waiting for him to fail.

"I’m just very frustrated," Miller said. "We got ourselves in a position to win from two goals down. Sudden death kind of stings, especially in this situation. I was happy, proud, the way I handled myself these two weeks."

When Crosby’s winning shot found the back of the net, Miller dropped to a knee and then fell forward. He stayed down for several moments until it was time to head to the bench.

Miller, the tournament MVP, graciously accepted the silver medal around his neck, but the disappointment was easy to read on his face.

"He was the main reason we were in the gold medal game and why we got it to overtime," forward Ryan Callahan said.

Chris Drury, Miller’s former teammate with the Buffalo Sabres, hugged the devastated goalie near the U.S. bench as the celebration roared all around them.

"He’s pretty down, but there’s no chance we’re here without the way he played the whole tournament," Drury said. "It’s heartbreaking to lose in OT of a gold-medal game, but he should be proud of everything he did the last two weeks."

Miller played in all six U.S. games and was in for the duration, except for the second half of the third period in a 6-1 semifinal win over Finland. He stopped 139 of 147 shots in the tournament.

His defining moment — on the winning side — will be the stellar 42-save effort a week earlier that carried the Americans to a 5-3 victory over Canada in the preliminary round. That victory began making believers of many people outside the red, white and blue dressing room.

"This was a classic hockey game, just as our game was a week ago," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "Ryan gave us a chance to win, and unfortunately we didn’t."

Miller was done in on Sunday by a couple of costly mistakes by his typically sure-handed defensemen. The gaffes led to shots that gave the rock-solid goalie little chance to stop.

Miller was beaten by Canada’s Jonathan Toews in the first period and Corey Perry in the second. But it was what happened before those pucks found their way in that told the true story.

When an attempt on a long pass failed to hit its mark and sailed the length of the ice, the United States was guilty of icing. After the ensuing faceoff deep in the U.S. zone, defenseman Brian Rafalski had control of the puck, but it was stripped from him when Canada’s Mike Richards lifted his stick.

Richards’ drive was stopped by Miller. The rebound wasn’t. Toews got to the loose puck and slammed it in.

"I’m not going to focus on that now. We were tied going into overtime," said Rafalski, a member of the 2002 U.S. team that lost to Canada in the gold medal game at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

Whitney’s bobble led to the other goal.

"We had a chance to win. They got two rebound goals," Whitney said. "To lose like this is tough. No one wants silver. Everyone wants gold."

Even with an early 0-2 deficit — the first for the Americans’ in this stunning Olympic run — Miller proved to be as brilliant as he had been throughout the tournament.

A two-goal hole was already deep for the Americans. Three would have been almost too monumental to overcome.

Miller knew it and never let it get that far. He watched from the bench after being pulled for an extra attacker and saw Zach Parise net the goal that made it 2-2 with 24.4 seconds remaining that forced a most improbable overtime.

Canada was in control throughout extra time, keeping the puck in the U.S. zone and the pressure squarely on the young Americans. Their speed, the Americans’ greatest strength, seemed to slow as the game wore on under the constant hitting from the much-bigger Canadians.

"It certainly doesn’t feel good right now," Drury said, "but where we came from in August when people were making fun of how many Johnsons and Ryans and everything else we had ... no one knew our names. People know our names now."

For the record, there were seven Ryans — first or last name — and two Johnsons on the young roster already poised to make another run at gold four years from now in Sochi, Russia. That is if the NHL decides to allow its players to participate in the Olympics for a fifth consecutive time.

"I hope the players, especially my group, gets to go to Sochi," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "I think it’s great for hockey."

U.S. general manager Brian Burke said he didn’t want anyone picked for this team to think they were chosen with 2014 in mind. Whether anyone outside USA Hockey wanted to believe it never mattered to those in charge.

They came to Vancouver for gold and were forced to settle for silver.

"I think both teams are winners, and maybe more than anything hockey in general won," Wilson said. "It’s just a shame that both teams couldn’t have received a gold medal.

"A great player made a great play and found a way to finish us off."

-- Ira Podell

Zach Parise’s late goal lifts U.S., for a bit

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Zach Parise had his Olympic moment, although it didn’t last long.

He knocked home a loose puck from just in front of the net with 24.4 seconds in regulation that brought the U.S. hockey team jubilation and a reprieve. It forced overtime, but not victory.

"I think we felt like we deserved to be in that position," U.S. goalie Ryan Miller said. "It was going to be a way for this team to win. With so much energy coming from Canada’s side, it was going to be in that fashion. It came out really close."

The Americans, however, couldn’t take this wild ride any further in trying to win the country’s first gold medal in men’s hockey since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

Sidney Crosby had something to say about that. His goal 7:40 into the extra session gave Canada a 3-2 victory and the gold.

"It’s tough to put into words. We’re pretty disappointed right now," Parise said. "We were confident going into it that being an important game going into overtime that we were going to win. It just didn’t happen."

The United States was a team few expected to even reach the podium. And who could have imagined at the start that a silver medal would turn out to be a disappointment for the Americans.

"I think we proved a lot of people wrong," forward Patrick Kane said. "People probably picked us fourth or fifth and we finished second."

The final push for the tying goal worked as perfectly as everything else in the past two weeks for the Americans, who left Vancouver with a 5-1 record. Kane’s shot hit U.S. captain Jamie Langenbrunner in front and barely touched the pads of Canada goalie Roberto Luongo.

Parise has developed quite a nose for the net in his brief NHL career, and he has repeatedly shown pinpoint precision from in close. He did again when the puck found him and he fired it behind Luongo to tie it 2-2.

He darted to the corner and leaped into the glass in front of the stunned Canadian fans poised to celebrate the gold. Parise’s teammates mobbed him, but they couldn’t finish off the comeback in overtime.

"We battled hard," said Langenbrunner, Parise’s teammate with the New Jersey Devils.

Parise, a 25-year-old forward, finished his first Olympics appearance with four goals in six games. He earned is spot on the team for his scoring prowess that produced 45 NHL goals last season and 28 more this season in 60 games.

Parise is also considered an emerging leader. He earned an ‘A’ on his Devils sweater as an alternate captain for the first time this season, and served a similar role for the U.S. in the Olympics.

"Scoring a goal with 20-something seconds left shows the character in this room," Langenbrunner said. "The guys had a never-give-up attitude. What can you do?"

-- Ira Podell

U.S. hockey team draws inspiration from Iraq veteran

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Sure, the young, surprising U.S. hockey team had a supreme challenge facing powerful Canada inside its roaring home arena in the gold-medal match of the Winter Games.

They better not have whined to Chad Fleming.

He didn’t fly from Virginia to Seattle, then drive three hours to Vancouver, to see his Americans lose.

He didn’t "give" his leg — he refuses to say "lose" — in an ambush on patrol as an Army special forces officer in Iraq in 2005, then go on three more deployments wearing a prosthetic, to see the team he adopted be overwhelmed by long odds.

He didn’t earn three Purple Hearts in combat, run the New York City marathon and bike 460 miles through California in November to get behind futile efforts.

American fans know how great Ryan Miller, Zach Parise and Patrick Kane have been in these Olympics. They don’t know how great Chad Fleming has been for the U.S. team.

"I’m not exactly a mascot," Fleming says. "More a motivator."

Before the most anticipated hockey game in recent history, Fleming spoke to a U.S. team dinner Saturday night, inspiring the Americans just as he did to begin the tournament.

Then on Sunday, the barrel-chested Fleming was in Section 109, row 24, standing tall and proud amid a sea of red-clad Canadians waving maple-leaf flags and ringing cowbells.

"This is awesome!" he yelled over the roars before the opening faceoff.

The 37-year-old from Tuscaloosa, Ala., relayed to The Associated Press what he told the underdog U.S. team upon his arrival Saturday following an 11-hour trip.

"My story is one of tenacity and perseverance," Fleming, who has a slight Southern drawl, says he told the players. "I’m missing a leg, but that didn’t stop me from going overseas three more times. So hey, when you think you’ve got it bad ... know that there are always people who have it worse.

"You are representing something way larger than the NHL or professional hockey. You are representing the greatest country in the world. I fought to defend what you are playing for."

He paused and told a reporter, "That tends to resonate with them."

Guess so. The team wearing "Land of the free and home of the brave" on the sleeves of its jerseys hadn’t lost entering Sunday since Fleming addressed the team before its Olympic opener against Switzerland on Feb. 16.

"We’re not just playing for our dressing room," said Brian Burke, the general manager of the U.S. team. "We’re playing for our wounded warriors and we’re playing for the Americans. We’ve heard from lots of them."

Burke’s BlackBerry is full of e-mails from wounded soldiers who have "adopted" each U.S. player. Staff Sgt. Javier Villanueva of San Antonio is paired with Parise. Cpl. William Hunker of Fayetteville, N.C., adopted Kane. Fleming, an 11-year Army veteran and the only officer in the group, is paired with U.S. captain Jamie Langenbrunner.

Fleming is the only wounded veteran here from the nonprofit Operation Homefront organization, which helps U.S. soldiers, the families they leave behind on deployments and veterans who come home wounded.

The organization’s CEO, Rob Wolford, invited Fleming to Chicago last year for the U.S. team’s orientation camp. Fleming instantly bonded with "Burkie," "J.J." and the rest of the U.S. roster.

The reception was enough to make Fleming, who grew up minutes from the football powerhouse at the University of Alabama, a hockey fan.

The team invited him to Vancouver for another motivational pep talk two weeks ago. Fleming brought care packages for each player from the wounded soldiers.

These weren’t boxes of cookies. Inside Miller’s package from his sponsor, Staff Sgt. John Stanz of Hamburg, N.Y., was a bullet shot in one of Stanz’s firefights in Iraq. The goalie has kept it in Vancouver as a good-luck charm.

Another player got a headdress from a soldier who had been given it by an Iraqi tribal leader grateful the Americans had successfully defended his people from insurgents.

"They told me, ‘Hey, we get to the gold-medal game, you’re coming back,"’ said Fleming, who will return to Iraq soon as a government contractor advising Army special operations.

The latest call from the U.S. team came after its semifinal rout of Finland on Friday. With help from Operation Homefront, Fleming arrived Saturday in time to join the private team dinner at the downtown Italian restaurant where the undefeated and superstitious Americans have dined each night since before they stunned Canada last weekend.

And yes, the players knew he was in the arena Sunday for the most important game of their lives. Win or lose, he was headed down to the locker room to see his boys again after the game.

He was supposed to fly home on a red-eye late Sunday night, but ...

"Oh, yeah," Fleming said up in Section 109. "After we win the gold medal, I’m staying tonight for the party."

-- Gregg Bell

Commentary: Incredible final makes these best Winter Games

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — These were the best Winter Games in history. Just not in the way most of us expected.

What were the odds that two teams of mercenary, millionaire pros from the U.S. and Canada would breathe new life into those hopelessly romantic words that helped revive the modern Olympics more than a century ago? The ones about how competing honorably was even more important than winning?

But they made it happen, at least for one afternoon. Had the local heroes lost, everyone in this land of 33 million might have called in sick Monday morning. They might anyway, judging by the celebration that erupted right after rising star and soon-to-be-cast-in-gold icon Sidney Crosby pounced on a loose puck and slipped it underneath lunging U.S. goalie Ryan Miller to seal the hockey gold medal with a 3-2 win in overtime.

"It doesn’t even feel real," Crosby said. "It feels like a dream."

But as more than a few of his French-speaking, sometimes-contrarian countrymen are shouting to the rooftops still: "Au contraire!"

It no longer matters here what anyone outside Vancouver — or Canada, for that matter — thinks. Best games or not, the 600,000 residents of this jewel of a city on the country’s far western edge will be stuck paying off the debt for a decade.

And nothing will erase the tragic death of a young Georgian luger even before the torch was lit. Ultimately, that will be the Vancouver Olympics’ enduring legacy.

But there was never a more-fitting ending to any Winter Games than this one. The crowd in Canada Hockey Place was on its feet in a full-throated roar for the final minute of regulation, then again as alternating chants of "USA! USA!" and "Go, Canada, Go!’ echoed around the building to accompany the presentation of the gold and sliver medals. That’s respect.

It’s easy to be cynical about two teams of NHL all-stars donning their national colors for two weeks and putting forth one grand, no-holds-barred effort.

But these two squads already did that a week ago, in a preliminary-round game that was stolen by the Americans and still turned out to be the most-watched television program in Canada’s history. Who knew they could play harder still this time around, even with gold on the line?

"It certainly doesn’t feel good right now, but from where we came in August, when people were making fun of how many Johnsons and Ryans and everything else we had," U.S. forward Chris Drury said. "No one knew our names. People know our names now."

Man, do they ever. But that’s only one measure of how much this one mattered.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a hockey historian, stayed to the very end. Musician Neil Young turned up in the stands to watch the hockey version of his old group — not Crosby, Stills and Nash, but Crosby, (Eric) Staal and (Rick) NashActor William Shatner even beamed himself down to take in the game.

If nothing else, it’s going to be tough for those who played to come down.

Barely 24 hours after the medals were doled out, players on both teams were scheduled to be back in the NHL. They’ll be working and practicing alongside and against one another in different combinations. Some will be depending on former enemies as teammates for their livelihoods.

In some cases, teammates will become enemies once more. U.S. defenseman Brian Rafalski and center Paul Stastny, for example, will be on opposite sides of the Detroit-Colorado game Monday night. Making it more interesting still, Canadian coach Mike Babcock will be back at his day job, behind the Red Wings bench.

Yet the next time their paths cross, everyone who played in this game will be able to look one another in the eye and remember the magic they created. That will make even a meaningless NHL game, in the middle of a long, drawn-out season, something special.

"I just barely saw it," U.S. defenseman Brooks Orpik said about Crosby’s game-winner, "but I’ve seen him score many goals for us in Pittsburgh.

"It’s disappointing," he added, "but if we were going to lose, I’m glad he’s the guy that won it."

Rafalski understood what Orpik meant. Someday, the silver medal hanging from his neck might mean more than it does now.

"I’ll tell you," he said, "as time goes on."

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org

An exhuberant end to a bittersweet Olympics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — An Olympics that began with the death of a luger ended Sunday with an exuberant celebration of Canada — reflecting a determined comeback by the host country’s organizers and athletes.

A festive crowd of 60,000 jammed into BC Place Stadium for the closing ceremony, many of them Canadians abuzz over the overtime victory by their men’s hockey team earlier in the day to give the host nation a Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals.

The gaiety — capped by a boisterous rock concert — contrasted sharply with the moment of silence at the opening ceremony Feb. 12 for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old luger killed in a horrific training-run crash on the sliding track in Whistler just hours before that ceremony.

The speakers of honor on Sunday, chief Vancouver organizer John Furlong and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, each paid tribute to the young athlete.

"We are so sorry for your loss," Furlong said, addressing himself to the nation of Georgia. "May the legacy of your favorite son never be forgotten and serve to inspire youth everywhere to be champions in life."

Furlong then shifted to a more upbeat tone.

"I believe Canadians tonight are stronger, more united, more in love with our country and more connected to each other than ever before," he said.

He paid tribute to moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau, winner of Canada’s first gold medal at these games, and said of the final gold, won by the hockey team, "Our last one will be remembered for generations."

Rogge then pronounced the games closed, after describing them as "excellent and very friendly."

Neil Young, the durable Canadian folk-rock star, performed a lyrical version of his "Long May You Run" — and the Olympic flame faded away as he ended.

Canadian officials ensured an extra measure of poignancy at the ceremony by selecting figure skater Joannie Rochette as their flagbearer. Her mother died of a heart attack hours after arriving in Vancouver last weekend, but Rochette chose to carry on and won a bronze medal, inspiring her teammates and fans around the world.

"Yes, it’s been a tough week for me," she said before the ceremony. "But I walk tonight into that stadium with a big smile on my face. ... I accomplished my goals, and I want to celebrate with my teammates."

Her entire team was greeted with a mighty roar when they joined the fast-moving, informal parade of athletes into the stadium. Among the cheerleaders was Prime Minster Stephen Harper, wearing a Canada jacket.

The U.S. flagbearer was Bill Demong, a veteran of four Olympics who won a gold and silver medal in Nordic combined.

There were plenty of reasons for Canada and the United States to celebrate after 17 days of competition. The U.S. won 37 medals overall — the most ever for any nation in a Winter Olympics.

Canada, after a slow start, set a Winter Games record with 14 golds and sparked public enthusiasm in Vancouver that veterans of multiple Olympics described as unsurpassed.

The comeback by the Canadian athletes was mirrored by the resilience of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. It struggled with a series of glitches and weather problems early in the games, adjusted as best it could, and reached the finish line winning widespread praise for an exceptional Olympics — albeit one tinged with sadness.

Right from the start of the closing show, there was a spirit of redemption as the producers made up for an opening-ceremony glitch in which one leg of the Olympic cauldron failed to rise from the stadium floor. On Sunday, the recalcitrant leg rose smoothly and former speedskating medalist Catriona LeMay Doan — who missed out on the opening-night flame lighting because of the glitch — got to perform that duty this time.

Later came the traditional handover ceremony, during which the Olympic flag was lowered and presented to the hosts of the next Winter Games in 2014.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson handed over the five-ringed flag to IOC president Jacques Rogge, who passed it on to Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, Russia. That was followed by the Russian national anthem and a presentation about Sochi featuring opera, ballet, ice skating and giant glowing spheres called "zorbs."

Other key moments in the closing:

—The awarding of medals for the men’s 50-kilometer cross-country ski race, won by Petter Northug of Norway.

—The swearing-in of two new members of the International Olympic Committee chosen by their fellow athletes — U.S. hockey player Angela Ruggiero and British skeleton racer Adam Pengilly.

—The singing of the Olympic anthem by renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner.

—A tongue-in-cheek revue of Canadian icons and symbols, featuring singing-and-dancing Mounties, tabletop hockey players, dancing canoes and flying moose and beavers.

—A segment in which Canadian actors — including William Shatner and Michael J. Fox — made fun of national stereotypes.

Fox, who has Parkinson’s disease, received a huge ovation.

"I lived in the U.S. for 30 years," Fox said. "But if the U.S. is playing Canada in hockey, I’m sorry, I’m wearing a maple leaf on my sweater."

-- David Crary

U.S., Canada shine atop Winter Games medals tables

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The U.S. got the medals. Canada got the gold.

In a remarkable show of depth and talent by the North American neighbors, the United States won the overall medals race at the Vancouver Olympics with 37 — the most ever by any country at the Winter Games.

Canada, thanks to a thrilling overtime win Sunday over the U.S. in the men’s hockey final, captured the most gold medals — 14, breaking the record for any Winter Olympics.

Indeed, Canada won more gold at these games than it had at any previous Olympics, winter or summer. The host country finished third in total medals with 26, its best ever Winter Games.

Even though Canada fell short of the overall lead — the brash pre-games goal of its $117 million Own the Podium program — the result was cause for national jubilation.

"Canada’s athletes came to these games not with a swagger but with a confidence they could do what they set out to do," said Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee. "What they have done over the course of these past two weeks — they’ve inspired an entire nation to believe in themselves."

The U.S. total of 37 medals exceeded all expectations — and marked only the second time in the 21 Winter Olympics that Americans had won the medals count, the other coming at Lake Placid in 1932.

"It’s hard to imagine we could have done much better," said Scott Blackmun, the new CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "Our athletes have done a phenomenal job."

Germany, which won in Turin four years with 29 total medals and 11 golds, finished second this time, winning 30 medals, 10 of them gold. Norway — the all-time Winter Games medals leader — was fourth with 23, including a gold won by Petter Northug on Sunday in the 50-kilometer cross-country ski race.

Of the also-rans, perhaps the best showing was by South Korea, which won 14 medals on the strength of its skaters — three more than its previous Winter Games high.

If there was a prominent loser, it was Russia, which will host the next Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. The Russians had only three golds among its 15 medals, won no golds in their usual stronghold of figure skating, and finished sixth in the standings — the only time they have been out of the top five since the Soviet Union first competed in the Winter Games in 1956.

Unquestionably, the big story of the medals race was the U.S.-Canada surge, which Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Rudge hailed as "tremendous."

"The International Olympic Committee world is very Eurocentric," he said, recalling a meeting he attended last year where European sports officials were expressing concern about inroads being made by other regions’ sports programs.

"I thought, ‘We and our friends in the U.S.A. may show you a few things in Vancouver — and lo and behold it worked out that way," Rudge said.

Indeed, several medal-winning U.S. athletes said they felt relaxed competing in Canada and well-supported by fans from both countries.

"It felt like a home game for us," said speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno. "I think that’s probably why we’re doing so well."

"In a little way it was sort of like a North American Olympics," said Bill Demong, who won a gold medal in Nordic combined. "There were just so many enthusiastic fans from the States, and also I think Canadians and Americans rooting for each other’s teams quite a bit since we are neighbors."

Demong — an Olympian since Nagano in 1998 — marveled at the progress the U.S. team had made in performance and the whole infrastructure that supports the athletes.

"At Nagano we felt like one of the outsiders," he said. "Now we’re here to win."

Ohno said success will breed a new set of challenges.

"Anytime you have a target on your back, or anytime you are looked at as the leader of the group, as I feel the U.S. clearly is, it makes it very difficult," he said. "But our athletes — the young and the older veterans — are always up for the challenge."

Canadian officials were delighted not only by their gold-medal haul, but by their athletes’ numerous fourth and fifth place finishes. According to their figures, Canada and the U.S. led all nations at these games in top five finishes with 49 each.

"We’re beginning to build a base," said Roger Jackson, the chairman of Own the Podium. "As we go forward — both in United States and Canada — we will have a far more competitive challenge with each other."

"We were in the same boat 20 years ago — no resources, facilities. Now we have all that."

Chambers, the Canadian Olympic Committee president, noted with a smile that victory has a price — at least $1.5 million that will be paid out in bonuses to the Canadian medal winners.

"It’s a lot of money that we very much enjoy spending," he said.

Twenty-six countries earned at least one medal in the Vancouver Games, tying the record set four years ago in Turin.

However, Australia was the only country from the Southern Hemisphere to win medals — with three in freestyle skiing. Thirteen nations from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean were among the 82 competing in these games, but the all-time shutout streak for those regions continued.

-- David Crary

After Vancouver, now it’s Russia’s turn in 2014

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — From the Pacific coast to the shores of the Black Sea. From the peaks of western Canada to the Caucasus mountains of southern Russia. From gleaming North American skyline to palm-fringed resort in the former Soviet Union.

Do svidanya (goodbye) Vancouver. Do vstretchi (see you) in Sochi.

As the Vancouver Olympics come to a close, the focus turns across the world to Russia’s first Winter Games in 2014 — taking the Olympic movement to a new territory and a new set of challenges.

"We are next," Sochi organizing chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said. "The bar has been well and truly raised."

The Russian city’s first big moment in the global spotlight comes during Sunday night’s closing ceremony, with the Olympic flag handed from the mayor of Vancouver to the mayor of Sochi.

The world will get a first taste of what Sochi has to offer during an eight-minute segment featuring Russian sports stars, music and dance performers and giant glowing spheres called "Zorbs."

"This is a historic event for Sochi," Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov said. "We understand it is a huge responsibility for Sochi and for Russia and we can’t let anyone down."

After the showbiz, the hard work will continue back home as organizers continue to prepare for an event that has the prestige of Russia and its leaders — including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — on the line.

Ever since Sochi was awarded the games by the International Olympic Committee three years ago, questions have been raised: Can Sochi complete its massive construction projects on time? Will the funding hold up? Will the games be safe in a city near the separatist Abkhazia region in neighboring Georgia?

Putin, Russian president at the time, was instrumental in Sochi securing the games when he traveled to Guatemala City in 2007 and personally lobbied IOC members. He and current President Dmitry Medvedev remain centrally involved in making sure the games are a success.

"It’s so important for Russians that they will not allow it to fail," senior Canadian IOC member Dick Pound said. "Whatever has to be done will be done."

Sochi, established as a summer resort under Josef Stalin, is a city of about 500,000 people in Russia’s Krasdonar region. Olympic organizers hope the games will serve as a catalyst in turning the area into a year-round world-class destination for Russians and foreign tourists alike.

Organizers say the games will feature the most compact layout in Winter Games history, with a cluster of ice arenas situated along the Black Sea coast and snow and sliding venues a half-hour away in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains. A new rail line is being built to connect the two clusters.

"You can swim in the warm Sochi sea, and after 24 minutes on a train, you can change clothes and go skiing in the mountains," Pakhomov said.

First, Sochi has to build virtually all of its Olympic facilities from scratch. "Literally from nothing," Chernyshenko said.

All venues are now under construction, with 16,000 workers busy on "what is probably the biggest construction site in the world."

Sochi promises that all venues will be ready two years in advance to allow for the holding of Olympic test events. The first trial run will take place a year from now with a European Cup event in Alpine skiing. More than 70 test events are planned in 2012 and 2013.

The cost of the Olympic infrastructure project is put at $7 billion.

"All the money is allocated and we don’t see any risk for a shortage of finance," said Chernyshenko, who has a separate operating budget of $1.8 billion.

Russia is also spending billions more on other non-Olympic projects, including renovation of the Moscow-Sochi railway line.

Despite the global economic downturn and fluctuating oil prices, Sochi has managed to raise record sponsorship revenues, surpassing $1 billion in domestic deals so far. The IOC has closely monitored Sochi’s preparations and is happy with the progress, although Jean-Claude Killy, who heads the IOC’s coordination for Sochi, has repeatedly warned there is no time to waste.

The construction and design of Sochi’s boblsed and luge track will be under scrutiny following the high-speed training crash that killed Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the day of Vancouver’s opening ceremony.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has written Chernyshenko asking him to ensure the track is safe. The Russian said plans already called for the track to be 6-9 mph slower than Whistler’s.

"We will learn from this tragedy," Chernyshenko said. "We will do all we can do guarantee the safety factor."

Security is also an issue on a wider front. Sochi is located in a volatile region, just north of the border with Abkhazia, where Russia has thousands of troops. Russia defied the West by recognizing Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia, as independent after its war with Georgia in 2008.

"Sochi has been the safest city in the country, the summer residence for the president and prime minister," Chernyshenko said. "This is a rather calm city. The government is doing everything to protect this region from any risk."

Sochi brought a team of 150 observers to Vancouver to watch and learn. One key lesson so far: Have contingency plans in place for the kind of weather problems that caused havoc at the snowboard and freestyle venue at Cypress Mountain.

"We are already thinking seriously about Plan B if the weather doesn’t cooperate," Chernyshenko said, citing plans for new technology and snowmaking techniques.

Another priority for Sochi is recruiting volunteers. Vancouver organizers brought in about 25,000 volunteers, who won rave reviews for their smiling hospitality. Russia doesn’t have a tradition of volunteerism, but is recruiting volunteers from all over the country.

"The games are about people and the human factor," Chernyshenko said.

The biggest challenge might be in replicating the way Vancouver celebrated these games, with festive crowds in the streets and arenas packed with cheering fans. IOC officials said it’s the best Winter Olympic atmosphere since the magical 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

"The Canadian atmosphere here is electric," Chernyshenko said. "That is exactly what we want to reach in Russia. We will do it with a Russian touch, a Russian look without the stereotypes."

Sochi organizers can only hope for improved performances from Russian athletes, who bombed at these games with just three golds and 15 total medals going into the final day. The Russians stood 11th in the gold-medal standings — the only time they have been out of the top five since the Soviet Union first competed in the Winter Games in 1956.

Canadian athletes thrilled the host nation by winning the most gold medals in Vancouver, although the U.S. clinched the most overall medals.

The Russian medal flop may account for the absence of Medvedev, who had been expected to come to Vancouver for the final days of the games. His plans apparently changed after the Russian men’s hockey team — expected to make Sunday’s final — was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Canada.

Before the Olympic flag left Canada on its journey to Russia, Vancouver’s organizing committee offered a word of advice to the next hosts.

"Develop a good thick skin and don’t shy away from criticism," spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said, "because it’s healthy and it makes you better at what you do."

-- Stephen Wilson

Tragedy, glitches and glory at star-crossed games

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — These Olympics will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

For every golden moment, there was a glitch. Opening day of an electrifying hockey tournament taking place in Vancouver was also the day 20,000 tickets had to be canceled for Cypress Mountain.

Even the games’ emotional high point — a figure-skating bronze for Canada’s Joannie Rochette, whose mother had died four days earlier — was tinged with sorrow.

And it all began, of course, with the worst news imaginable.

Son of a Soviet-era slider, pride of a spruce-nestled ski town half a world away, member of an almost laughably small Olympic delegation, Nodar Kumaritashvili shot down the luge track at nearly 90 mph.

Athletes had suggested the course at Whistler was so fast it tempted fate, and Kumaritashvili himself was terrified of it. He raced anyway. "I will either win or die," he told his father.

He lasted 49 seconds before the track claimed his life. The start of a star-crossed Olympics.

The Vancouver Games opened with grief, and they end under a shadow as everlasting as those cast by the hooded assassins of Munich and the midnight thunder of Atlanta.

Kumaritashvili came to rest on a metal walkway that runs along the track, one foot awkwardly propped on the wall of the course. His sled skidded to the finish line. It was a death in the Olympic family.

"May you carry his Olympic dream on your shoulders, and compete with his spirit in your hearts," Vancouver organizing committee chief John Furlong said at the opening ceremony.

It wasn’t much later that the games suffered their first glitch — nothing compared with the luge tragedy, but also a lasting symbol of these Olympics. The indoor cauldron at BC Place malfunctioned, spoiling perhaps the most climactic moment of any games.

An outdoor cauldron, meanwhile, was blocked by an unsightly chain-link fence. Complaints that it made for lousy photographs led organizers to open a rooftop viewing plaza and replace part of the fence with clear plastic.

Weather played havoc with the schedule. It was alternately too mild, too wet, too foggy or too snowy, forcing one postponement after another. "Wouldn’t mind racing already," tweeted ticked-off American skier Ted Ligety.

Human error marred the games, too. On a single day at the biathlon, a Swedish woman was held up at her start gate for 14 seconds, and two of the men went off too early. Officials later corrected for the errors.

"It is embarrassing," said Norbert Baier, the technical delegate of the International Biathlon Union. "Why do we have this incompetence?"

And in men’s speedskating, a gaffe of historic proportion: Sven Kramer of the Netherlands cruised to what would have been easy gold and an Olympic record time in the 10,000 meters — but was disqualifed because his coach sent him into the wrong lane at the end of the back straightaway.

If Kramer needs consolation, all he has to do is look at the gold he won in the 5,000. He managed an Olympic record there, too — one that actually stuck.

Elsewhere, competition provided a welcome distraction. Lindsey Vonn, she of the most famous shin at the Olympics, skied to gold in her signature event, the downhill, and picked up a bronze in the super-G. She failed to finish three of her five races, but the haul was fine by her.

"I have the gold medal that I came here for, and I couldn’t be happier," she said.

At the speedskating oval, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick shared the podium — Davis with a gold and a silver, Hedrick with a silver and a bronze. This time, unlike in Turin, they actually looked like they could stand each other.

If you wanted drama, you had to look to the figure skating rink. American Evan Lysacek won gold, but without even attempting the celebrated quadruple jump — drawing open contempt from Russia’s defending champion Evgeni Plushenko, who took the silver.

In fact, Russia went home without a figure-skating gold of any kind, the first time that’s happened since 1960. Russia’s overall Olympic performance was so dismal that members of parliament back home were calling for sports officials to resign.

Not exactly a happy family for a nation that hosts the next Winter Games, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014.

South Korea’s Kim Yu-na was no drama. Only Queen. Her breathtaking routine — five minutes of twists and twirls, a routine called one of the greatest of all time — was more than good enough for gold.

U.S. skier Bode Miller, party boy of Turin, finally got his gold medal — and went home with a silver and a bronze, too. In fact, the U.S. — not the usual suspects like Switzerland, Sweden or Germany — dominated the mountain, even taking gold in a Nordic event for the first time.

On the halfpipe, Shaun White already had his gold medal, not to mention celebrity status, in the bank. For an encore, he advanced his sport and unleashed the Double McTwist 1260 — two board-over-head flips inside 3½ twists. What’s next, the movies?

"Only action-packed ones," he said. "Slo-mo running. Flying off buildings."

There was more: Apolo Anton Ohno became the most decorated American Winter Olympian ever, racking up his eighth lifetime medal — though he went home without a gold in Vancouver. And American hockey produced its greatest game since the Miracle on Ice.

The U.S.’ 5-3 hockey win over Sidney Crosby’s Canadian team in both teams’ last preliminary match was the most-watched sporting event in Canadian history, and sparked an outcry in the U.S. that the game was relegated to cable, not aired on NBC.

Only one thing could top it — the gold-medal rematch, scheduled for Sunday.

In all, the United States went into the final day with 36 medals, including nine golds. America was guaranteed to capture the most hardware at the Winter Games for the first time since 1932, at home in Lake Placid, N.Y.

As for the host nation, which invested $110 million before these games with the goal of dominating the medals stand? They never did own the podium, but they owned the top step.

And how Canada cheered. For Alexandre Bilodeau, who bounced down the moguls course to give Canada its first gold in three Olympics on home soil, ending a drought that lasted 34 years and stretched across six provinces, from Montreal to Vancouver.

For the women’s hockey team, which tore through the tournament and celebrated with cigars and booze on the ice. They later apologized — and apologizing, one Olympic TV host here said, is almost inherently Canadian.

For the men’s curlers at Vancouver Olympic Center, where fans clanged cowbells and burst into song. The same sport gave us the most recognizable athletes of the games — Team Norway, with its garish, diamond-patterned pants, an online hit.

Only in Canada could a sport that literally requires looking at rocks for three hours become a party destination.

Canada went into the final day with 13 golds, more than any other nation. But the loudest cheers were for a bronze — for Rochette, the figure skater whose mother died in Vancouver during the games and who still managed to skate for a medal.

"I just thanked my mother for the strength she could give me," Rochette said. "I don’t know if she was there with me, but she definitely raised me up to have strength."

There were two doping violations — hockey players, a Russian woman and a Slovakian man, both for stimulants contained in cold medication, neither deemed worthy of more than a reprimand. That was one more than in Turin.

Organizers praised the people of Vancouver for embracing the games, and suggested the glory of Olympic competition should be considered separately from the tragedy on the games’ first day.

But even IOC chief Jacques Rogge conceded the young luger’s death would forever be linked to the Vancouver Games — just as the massacre in 1972 was to Munich and the park bombing in 1996 was to Atlanta.

The days that followed were not pretty. The international luge federation blamed Kumaritashvili’s tactical handling of the course, not the track itself, for the death. Georgia’s president, Mikhail Saakashvili, saw it differently: "No sports mistake," he said, "is supposed to lead to a death."

The luge track was shortened for competition, and the course altered, but officials said the changes were to soothe athletes’ emotions, not make them safer. Later in the games, on the same track, overturned bobsleds became a common sight.

And across the world, in the heartbroken Georgian town of Bakuriani, was another mother of another Olympian. Dodo Kumaritashvili joined the lone other luger on the Georgian team as her son’s body arrived back home.

She threw herself on the flag-draped casket and cried: "Why have I survived you?"

Olympic officials, their hearts heavy and their Vancouver Games now history, could be forgiven for asking the same. But the memories survive, the haunting and the proud.

-- Erin McClam

With Miller, Vonn leading the way, U.S. rules Alpine

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Four years ago, Bode Miller’s washout of a Winter Olympics symbolized where the United States stood in the Alpine skiing hierarchy.

Pegged as the big thing heading into the Turin Games, Miller finished only two of five races, faring no better than fifth place. Ridiculed for its "Best in the World" slogan, the U.S. team left Italy with a grand total of two Alpine medals.

This time, the Americans truly were the best. By far.

Their eight medals represent the highest total for U.S. skiers at any Olympics, and twice as many as any other country collected over the past two weeks. Who led the way in Whistler? Miller, of all people. Not only did the guy win three medals — gold in the super-combined, silver in the super-G, bronze in the downhill — but he also, by all accounts, pushed and prodded teammates to follow his go-for-broke style.

"We weren’t scared," the 32-year-old from Franconia, N.H., said proudly. "We didn’t back down when the moments were there. In the seconds where you want to lift off the gas to be a little safer, everybody just stomped back down on it."

One measure of how good the U.S. was: This time around, it’s Lindsey Vonn who gets saddled with the label of being the star who didn’t live up to the hype — and her "failure" consisted of "only" winning one gold and one bronze. That would have counted as a major success in 2006.

But the two-time World Cup overall champion didn’t come close to the outsized expectations heaped upon her leading up to these Olympics, all those NBC commercials, all that talk of winning four or five medals and of being Vancouver’s answer to Beijing’s Michael Phelps. Then again, that talk came before Vonn arrived in Canada with a badly bruised right shin, worrying she might not be able to ski at all.

Aided by various remedies — from taking common painkilling pills to wrapping her leg with an Austrian curd cheese that supposedly reduces swelling — and extra time to heal thanks to the too-warm, too-wet weather that delayed the start of competition, she won her signature event, the downhill, and paired with Julia Mancuso of Squaw Valley, Calif., to give the U.S. its first 1-2 finish in any Olympic Alpine event since 1984.

Vonn, who lives and trains in Vail, Colo., added a bronze in the super-G, but she also skied out in three of her five races, including a spill in the giant slalom that broke her right pinkie and battered her back.

"I have that gold medal," she reminded the world before departing, "and despite everyone else’s expectations, my goals were simply to win one medal. And that’s what I did."

The only woman who won two Alpine golds is Germany’s Maria Riesch, who happens to be Vonn’s best friend. There were other impressive performances: Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal matched Miller with three medals, one of each color; Sweden’s Anja Paerson recovered from a scary fall in the downhill to win a bronze in the super-combined the next day for her record-tying sixth career Alpine medal; Mancuso, Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl, Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic each won two medals.

Aside from her two silvers, Mancuso stirred up some buzz on the hill by complaining that Vonn overshadowed her American teammates. The other U.S. medal was the most surprising of all — a bronze in the super-G for the undersized, unheralded Andrew Weibrecht of Lake Placid, N.Y., who only once before placed as high as 10th in an international race of any significance.

The only U.S. skier considered a real medal contender who did not win one was 2006 combined champion Ted Ligety of Park City, Utah.

He’s only 25, like Vonn and Mancuso, so all three probably will still be on the scene at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, as will Weibrecht and younger skiers who made their debuts at Vancouver, such as Will Brandenburg, 10th in the super-combined.

Whether Miller will be around is anyone’s guess, although he’ll be 36 by then. He sure seemed rejuvenated this time, talking about "energy" and "excitement" and "passion" and being "inspired" by teammates. Unlike at the Turin Olympics, when he stayed on his own in an RV, tuned out the races and partied hard, Miller lived and trained with the rest of the team.

"He’s an unbelievable athlete, he’s an unbelievable skier. He’s got tremendous experience. Everything’s possible," U.S. men’s coach Sasha Rearick said. "But I didn’t venture into this thing with Bode to just win medals. I ventured into this because Bode had the opportunity to come back to the team and be a positive team member."

The medals did come, though.

The old U.S. team record for Alpine medals at one Olympics was the five in 1984. And consider this: Americans brought home a total of five Alpine medals from the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Games combined.

"I don’t think anyone was expecting this," said Marco Sullivan of Squaw Valley. "It was ‘The Lindsey Vonn Show’ coming in, and now it’s turned into ‘The U.S. Ski Team Show."’

Here’s the other thing no one was expecting: Austria’s problems.

The country with nearly twice as many Olympic Alpine medals as any other, the country that ruled skiing at the Turin Games with 14 medals, picked up only four — and zero by their men for the first time at an Olympics they entered.

Ligety rubbed it in, poking fun at himself and the Austrians by writing on Twitter: "i may not have had the best olympics, but at (least) i won as many medals as the austrian men’s alpine team."

-- Howard Fendrich

Olympic sliding touched by tragedy

WHISTLER, British Columbia — When the final Olympic race was over, a stillness shrouded the Whistler Sliding Center.

The last curve, No. 16, was silent.

The ambulance that carried Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili’s body was parked just a few feet away from the memorial, still there and replete with wilting bouquets of flowers, flags from Canada and Georgia, four burned-out candles, three stuffed mascots and a commemorative silver Olympic medallion, all wrapped around the steel support pole that took his life.

That is sliding’s legacy at these Olympics.

Kumaritashvili’s death, an accident some insist could have been prevented, overshadowed the sliding events and brought unwanted scrutiny to luge, skeleton and bobsled, fringe sports that have long craved global attention, but not this scorching spotlight.

Organizers built the $104 million sliding complex and its track to be the world’s fastest, a technically challenging circuit that would test the world’s best sliders and produce sizzling speeds over ice. It was immediately deemed treacherous and terrifying.

"Right from the go, this track had a stigma about it, ‘this dangerous, dangerous track,"’ said Canada’s Kaillie Humphries, who won gold in women’s bobsled with teammate Heather Moyse. "It’s a mental game. I think a lot of people are just mentally afraid."

Crashing is commonplace in sliding sports. Death is not.

When Kumaritashvili was thrown from his sled in the final "Thunderbird" curve and flung into a steel beam on the track’s edge, everything about these games changed. There was concern it would happen again, and a comment by U.S. bobsledder Shauna Rohbock that the track was "stupid fast" put those unfamiliar with sliding’s fundamental dangers on edge.

There were crashes, though not an inordinate number, raising safety issues and opening debate over what to do next with Whistler’s track.

Some athletes have recommended radical changes, particularly in turns 11, 12 and 13, a section that proved impassable for several top two- and four-man bobsleds. Others want stricter qualifying guidelines to keep the Olympics only for the best of the best.

On Saturday, before USA-1 driver Steve Holcomb beat German icon Andre Lange and steered the Americans to their first gold medal in four-man since 1948, a few of Canada’s top sliding athletes defended their home track, which is scheduled to host a World Cup bobsled race in November and the luge world championships in 2013.

Their stance: Whistler is no different than anyplace else.

"If you go into 12 in Altenberg (Germany) late, you are done," Canadian luger Jeff Christie said. "I mean done. You are going to be on your face. In Lake Placid, 13, 17 or 12, you have to drive perfect. In races, there’s crashes. It’s quick here, and the crashes look bigger.

"If you make a mistake, it’s not going to tickle you, it’s going to teach you."

The lessons learned here will hopefully prevent a tragedy like the one that killed the 21-year Kumaritashvili, who had taken 26 practice runs — 16 from the top — of the Whistler track. In his wake, officials slowed down the racers by moving the starting line down the mountain for the luge events.

However, the decision was criticized by some of the women competitors, who felt the track was safe to begin with.

"I know it was a tragedy, but I wish they would have consulted the athletes," U.S. luger Julia Clukey said after Germany’s Tatjana Huefner won gold, her country’s ninth in the event in 13 Olympics. "I understand because of the seriousness of what happened — but if it was for safety reasons, I think they should have asked the athletes."