Olympic Capsules: Another Olympic flub by Jacobellis; U.S. hockey wins

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Lindsey Jacobellis had to do it. Flying through the air toward the finish line, she reached down and grabbed her snowboard, a stunt similar to the showoff move that cost her a gold medal four years ago.

This time, it was all she could do to salvage something following another Olympic flub.

Jacobellis wobbled after landing a jump early in a snowboardcross semifinal, couldn’t regain control and clipped a gate, ending her medal chances.

She threw up her arms helplessly, then dropped her hands onto her helmet in anguish. Once she regained control of her emotions, she charged down the run and finished with a flourish.

In Turin, she got a silver medal as a consolation prize. This time, it’ll only be a picture of her two-handed "truck driver grab."

"I mean, it’s a bummer," Jacobellis said. "But ... I was like, ‘Still can have some fun in some way."’

The United States ended up getting shut out of medals Tuesday, falling into second place in the overall chase, stuck at eight while Germany reached nine.

There was some good news for the red, white and blue: the men’s hockey team won its opener, the women’s hockey team dominated again and there’s a lot to look forward to Wednesday, when headliners Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno all will be in action.

Vonn’s shin still hurts, but she got another day off Tuesday as a heavy snowfall closed the course, forcing the men’s super-combined event to be pushed back to Sunday.

Canadians were excited Tuesday because their two favorite sports cranked up: hockey and curling.

Excitement filled the arena when Sidney Crosby and the boys took the ice, but things turned tense when Canada and Norway played to a scoreless tie after one period. Jarome Iginla got the scoring started early in the second, and it was like a dam bursting. Iginla and Dany Heatley scored twice, and Crosby had three assists on the way to an 8-0 victory over a club lacking a single NHL player.

Canada’s love of hockey is well known. And curling, too, is beloved.

Yep. The atmosphere in the 5,000-seat arena was reminiscent of a Duke-North Carolina basketball game. There were even scalpers. (Seriously.)

"It’s just so much fun to be a part of," Canada’s skip Kevin Martin said, following a 7-6 victory sealed on the final throw.

Yet it wasn’t a great day for Vancouver organizers. They had to deal with lots more weather issues, timing blunders in biathlon, a spigot going off and spraying water onto the luge track just before the eventual bronze medalist went down and the realization they goofed by putting up a chain-link fence to keep everyone away from the outdoor cauldron.

Well, at least the ice-cleaning machines worked Tuesday, leaving no need for the extra Zamboni that was trucked in from Calgary just in case.

U.S. MEN’S HOCKEY: Bobby Ryan scored late in the first period, and David Backes and Ryan Malone added goals in the second period. Ryan Miller was solid in the net, although he was forced to put tape over the words "Miller Time" painted on his mask. (However, he was allowed to keep a tribute to a late cousin.)

"This is a fairly quiet team, which kind of surprises me. But quietly confident," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "We are a chemistry experiment that’s going to take some time."

Despite the lack of NHL talent and household names outside of Switzerland, the Swiss club is considered dangerous — largely because of goalie Jonas Hiller.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY: Jenny Potter came to Vancouver with five goals over three previous trips to the Olympics.

After just two games in Vancouver, she’s already scored six times. She’s averaging a hat trick, although that probably is more of a reflection on the competition.

Her latest three-goal-game came in a 13-0 rout of Russia, clinching a spot in next week’s playoffs. The Americans took just two shots in the final period to avoid making this any more humiliating for a young Russian team missing its starting goalie.

SNOWBOARDCROSS: With Jacobellis out of the finals, Maelle Ricker easily won Canada’s second gold of the Vancouver Olympics.

Jacobellis won the consolation race to go down as the fifth-place finisher.

ALPINE DELAYS: The snowstorm left Vonn as happy as a kid getting a snow day from school. She needed the time off after a bumpy training run Monday. She could’ve skipped another training session, but this avoided a decision and meant her foes couldn’t get any work in, either.

"I’m definitely getting antsy," Vonn said.

Dry weather is forecast for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Of the four Alpine races scheduled so far, only the men’s downhill has been held.

"The situation is challenging," race director Guenter Hujara said. "But we are quite optimistic. We still have quite a few days in reserve. We will use them if necessary."

FIGURE SKATING: You know that NBC commentator Dick Button? His claim to fame is being the last man to repeat as Olympic champion, back in 1948 and ‘52.

Russian Evgeni Plushenko might soon wear that crown.

Plushenko won the short program and will go into the free skate Thursday night in a tight race with American world champion Evan Lysacek and Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi.

No American has won the gold since Brian Boitano in 1998, and no Japanese skater has ever won the men’s gold.

CURLING: U.S. men curlers better start sweeping faster. Or slower. They need to do something different after losing both of their openers Tuesday: falling 7-5 to a strong German squad and then losing 6-5 to Norway in an extra end.

"It’s one of those weird deals where you’re very close," U.S. skip John Shuster said.

The Americans are ranked fourth in the world.

The U.S. women blew a three-point lead and lost 9-7 to Japan.

SPEEDSKATING: The ice-cleaners worked!

The South Koreans keep cleaning up, too, with Lee Sang-hwa winning the women’s 500 meters. That makes two gold and a silver in four events at the big oval for a nation that had never won a Winter Olympic gold in any sport except short track

"All my friends won medals, so I had a little bit of pressure," Lee said. "I was a little bit worried."

How big of an upset was this? Well, either German world-record-holder Jenny Wolf or China’s Wang Beixing had won the eight World Cup races this season. In the biggest race, though, Wolf got silver, Wang bronze.

LUGE: Tatjana Huefner gave Germany its ninth women’s singles luge gold in 13 Olympic competitions. With Felix Loch’s winning the men’s event, Germany has swept gold for the sixth time, something no other nation has ever done.

Top U.S. hopeful Erin Hamlin, the 2009 world champion, was 16th.

BIATHLON: Both events were marred by problems with the officials who were in charge of timing. Three women were sent out late and two men went out too early, including American Jeremy Teela.

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

Bjorn Ferry won the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit, giving Sweden its first gold medal in biathlon in 50 years. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen had a chance to add to his record medal collection, but missed his last two shots and wound up seventh. Teela was the top U.S. finisher at 24th.

Magdalena Neuner of Germany and Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia finished 1-2 in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit, a reversal of their finish in the 7.5-kilometer sprint. Sara Studebaker was the top American, finishing 46th.

VENUE WIPEOUT: Another 20,000 folks planning to watch events on Cypress Mountain are out of luck.

Wet, warm weather has wiped out the general-admission, standing room area for watching snowboarding halfpipe, ski cross and snowboard parallel giant slalom. The tickets, which cost $48 to $62, are being refunded, along with the 8,000 tickets already refunded for watching snowboardcross from the same spot.

All told, the 28,000 tickets to be refunded will cost organizers around $1.44 million, which is a negligible portion of their $249 million ticketing revenue.

"The snow is washed way to the point where people can punch through and potentially step in a place where there’s two big straw bales," said Caley Denton, vice president of ticketing and consumer marketing for VANOC. "We’ve had people going down to their knees."

TV RATINGS: The Winter Olympics are a big hit for NBC, drawing 15 percent more viewers through the first four nights than the 2006 Turin Games.

"We are really thrilled by the performance of the Olympics," said Alan Wurtzel, NBC Universal’s top research executive.

Tuesday’s Vancouver Olympics developments

NO GOLD AGAIN: Lindsey Jacobellis veered off course and was disqualified in snowboardcross, giving Canada’s Maelle Ricker a clear path to the gold. Four years ago, Jacobellis lost the gold when she fell while celebrating her lead too early, and got only the silver.

GLITCH GAMES: These Olympics are rapidly becoming known for their problems — from the torch malfunction in the opening ceremony to failing ice resurfacing machines at speedskating and timing foulups at biathlon. Warm weather has shredded the schedule in the mountains and caused the voiding of 20,000 standing-room tickets at snowboarding when fans fell between bales of hay under melting layers of snow.

CLOSE FINISH: Japan’s curlers rallied from a three-point deficit to spoil U.S. skip Debbie McCormick’s Olympic return, beating the Americans 9-7 in a dramatic finish that was so close it required an official measurement. A U.S. curler said the margin was a half-inch.

MEDALS LEADERS: Germany took the lead with nine overall medals, three of them gold, while the United states had eight total, with two golds. France has seven overall, two gold. Both South Korea and Switzerland have three golds each. Host Canada has five total medals, two of them gold.

OPENING ROUT: Jarome Iginla and Dany Heatley scored twice as heavily favored Canada defeated Norway 8-0 in its highly anticipated hockey opener.

NORTHERN HIGH-LIGHTS: Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea won the women’s 500-meter race, giving her country a sweep of that event. Before Vancouver, South Korea had never won a Winter Olympics gold in any sport other than short track. ... The U.S. women’s hockey team routed Russia 13-0 in a preliminary round game. ... Germany’s Tatjana Huefner won the luge to give her country its ninth women’s gold in 13 Olympic competitions. ... France’s Vincent Jay won the bronze in the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit, hours after his girlfriend, Marie Laure Brunet, won the bronze in the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit. ... The young U.S. men’s hockey team defeated Switzerland 3-1 in its opener.

Ricker takes gold for Canada in snowboardcross

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia — She did it again! Looking to redeem herself after giving away a victory four years ago in Italy, Lindsey Jacobellis’ return trip to the Olympics was even worse.

Early in her semifinal race on the snowboardcross course Tuesday, she lost her bearings on a jump, wobbled and skittered to try to regain her balance. Instead, she barreled through a gate and veered off course. Disqualified.

The most decorated, successful and dominant rider in the world didn’t even make the medal round that was later won by Canada’s Maelle Ricker.

"I do so many competitions a year," Jacobellis said, coming in for an interview more than an hour after the race. "It’s unfortunate the rest of the world only sees this race, or four years ago. So I guess I don’t have a great track record for the general public."

Four years ago, she was alone in the lead, the gold medal all but hanging around her neck, when she celebrated by shooting over the second-to-last jump while doing a fancy grab of the board — a method grab — that left her on her back, in shock, needing to gather herself and get across the line to salvage the silver.

This time, she dusted herself off and looped back onto the course to the finish. Riding alone, and knowing everyone was watching a finish that meant nothing, she did a much safer grab with both hands.

She stuck the landing this time, but it didn’t matter.

"I just felt like doing a nice, fun truck-driver grab, and that’s the spirit that it is," she said. "I mean, it’s a bummer, but then it came off and I was like, ‘Still can have some fun in some way."’

The real fun, though, was saved for Ricker, who easily defeated Deborah Anthonioz of France in the final. Olivia Nobs of Switzerland won the bronze.

Even in Canada, where they were celebrating their second gold medal of the Olympics, very few thought the story would end this way. Not so surprising that Ricker won, but shocking that she didn’t have to beat her main rival with the gold on the line.

"I don’t know what happened to Lindsey in the semifinals," Ricker said. "We both had a really close start going into the first and second corner, and I don’t know what happened."

Not that she was complaining. Ricker is the top-ranked rider in the world this year, who had her own making up to do because of that 2006 Olympic final.

Long before Jacobellis hot-dogged her jump, fell and blew her huge lead, Ricker lost her balance and went flying off the course and into the netting. She had to be taken off the course on a stretcher with a concussion. Four years later, she says she doesn’t remember much from that day but felt like there was some unfinished business to take care of. What better place to do it than at Cypress Mountain, in her hometown of West Vancouver.

"Definitely it was a huge motivating factor to work that much harder," Ricker said.

With Jacobellis out of the way, the final was a breeze.

After Helene Olafsen of Norway wiped out early in the race, Ricker took a huge lead on Anthonioz — think Jacobellis and her massive lead in the 2006 final — and did nothing to mess it up.

Moments earlier, in one of the most cruel ironies of the day, Jacobellis enjoyed a similar finish. But that was in the fifth-place race, the race that the semifinal losers are relegated to — and certainly not one Jaco thought she’s be participating in on this day.

In the immediate aftermath of her mistake four years ago, Jacobellis tried to play it off, said she was grabbing the board for stability, no big deal. Called out by her coaches and teammates, she quickly changed her tune and said that, yeah, she might have been doing too much there.

But, hey, that’s snowboarding.

Pretty much everyone inside that world forgave her, told the outsiders not to take themselves so seriously. And she went on dominating, winning the last three Winter X Games to bring her total to six, renewing sponsorship deals and talking about how silver wasn’t all that bad a color.

The Olympics are a much bigger audience, though, and this was her time to show the people outside her own world that she could deliver on the biggest stage. On her mother’s birthday, no less, a date she’d circled on the calendar for a long time as the day she could set the past aside.

"Sometimes you can’t control the things that you want to, and you just have those in boardercross sometimes," she said. "I’ve had a great career and I’ve been really dominant in it and sometimes I fall into funks where things like that happen."

Earlier in the day, after two brutal rounds of qualifying that sent more than half the riders tumbling, Jacobellis acknowledged she was having difficulty with a slushy, slippery course full of ruts, courtesy of rain and warm weather that has plagued Cypress all month.

She wasn’t the only one who struggled. The 2006 bronze medalist, Dominique Maltais of Canada, couldn’t stay upright for either of her qualifying runs and didn’t make the final 16. Ricker fell on her first run and had to pick her way carefully through the rutted-up course on her second to guarantee her spot in the heats.

Jacobellis was one of the few to make it through both runs unscathed, a testament to her technical ability, to say nothing of her resolve.

Once the main event begins in snowboardcross, the riders are grouped in fours, and two people advance from each round.

So, even though Jacobellis was paired with Ricker in the semifinal, it figured they would both make it to the medal round, then could duke it out for the championship.

They were almost shoulder to shoulder on the jump where it all unraveled.

For a brief moment, it looked as if Jacobellis might manage to stay upright coming out of the jump. She reached her hands out, wobbled. For a second, it looked like she was back on track. But she lost control again, veered across the course and ran into the outside of the gate.

"My board just finally caught up and then it, like, threw me in a direction through the panel," she said.

She raised her hands in the air, draped them across her head.

Yep. That just happened. Again.

"So I just said, ‘Well, nothing you can do about it now,"’ Jacobellis said.

-- Eddie Pells

U.S. tops Swiss 3-1 in men’s hockey opener

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — So much for a lack of Olympic experience. After a workmanlike win over Switzerland in the opener, the U.S. men’s hockey team is suddenly loaded with it.

Bobby Ryan scored late in the first period, and David Backes and Ryan Malone added goals in the second to help the youngest collection of American hockey players since the NHL began supplying talent for the 1998 Nagano Games top Switzerland 3-1 on Tuesday.

This group of Americans has an average age just above 26.

"I’m sure some of these guys were nervous," U.S. general manager Brian Burke said. "This is the big stage. This is Broadway."

The roster boasts three players who have been previous Olympians. After a slow start through a chess-match opening period, the Americans turned talent and physical play decidedly in their favor.

That and a three-goal lead helped the jitters go away.

"Once I scored, I was able to settle down and come back into my own a little bit," the 22-year-old Ryan said. "You definitely don’t want to come from behind early. To get the lead, I think it settled the game down quite a bit for us."

The United States avoided a repeat of an opening-game letdown. During the 2006 Turin Games, the Americans began with a 3-3 tie against Latvia and never challenged for a medal.

Ryan Miller, considered the key to the U.S. chances to reach the podium, made 14 saves. He turned aside the handful of scoring opportunities the Swiss created and complied with rules barring corporate sponsorships by covering the words "Miller Time" on his mask.

His only blemish came with 10:15 remaining when a pass attempt by Roman Wick struck the goalie’s outstretched stick and tantalizingly trickled behind him for a power-play goal.

"The boys did a good job in a tight first period," Miller said. "Both teams were feeling it out. We created really well in the second."

With only goalie Jonas Hiller and defenseman Mark Streit as regular NHL players, Switzerland put up some early resistance but couldn’t sustain it. Hiller, Ryan’s teammate on the Anaheim Ducks, stopped 21 shots. He faced only two in the third period.

In the appetizer before host Canada faced Norway, the Americans coasted to victory after a fast-paced start. Outside of a few missed connections on some passes, there was no clear evidence they had only one practice before Tuesday.

Many fans were decked out in red Canada jerseys, but there was plenty of support for the U.S. and Swiss teams. The biggest cheers were reserved for American forward Ryan Kesler of the hometown Canucks, and Mike Eruzione, who captained the U.S. to Miracle on Ice glory in 1980.

Just when it seemed Switzerland might get even at 1, Miller fought off a bouncing puck between his pads and got a rush started the other way. Backes streaked down the left side, cut inside of defenseman Yannick Weber, and used a backhand-to-forehand shift to beat Hiller at 5:52 of the second.

The Americans needed only 2:08 more to make it 3-0 as Malone found a rebound of Ryan Suter’s shot and slipped it between Hiller’s pads for a power-play goal.

"I thought we might have a chance, but in the end, we just weren’t solid enough," Hiller said.

Ryan helped set up his goal by digging the puck free during a scrum along the left-wing boards. He then darted to the middle and fired a rising drive that eluded Hiller’s glove with 1:01 left in the first.

"It gave them a lot of confidence, and it kind of like took us down a little bit," Hiller said.

Ryan, best known for being the player chosen No. 2 behind Sidney Crosby in the 2005 NHL draft, shook off the effects of an earlier hit from behind by Streit in the corner of the Swiss zone. Ryan was still muttering about the crunching blow on the bench.

With this tournament being held on an NHL-sized rink as opposed to the traditionally wider Olympic surfaces, U.S. captain Jamie Langenbrunner hit Streit twice during the game’s first shift.

"He is going to be out there 30 minutes a game probably and you want to make it as hard on him as possible," Langenbrunner said. "It’s definitely a different game. Plays happen quick and you have to be sharp. We have some tightening up to do and get a little bit smarter, but we’ll get there."

The U.S. wasn’t penalized until Joe Pavelski was sent off for hooking at 4:49 of the third. A roughing call against Suter set up Wick’s goal.

"They have speed and they play physical, but I felt we played physical," Streit said. "We had some good hits. We didn’t step back."

Four years ago, Switzerland earned surprising victories over Canada and the Czech Republic and could pose an upset threat this time in longtime coach Ralph Krueger’s last year at the helm of the national team.

The U.S. will play Norway on Thursday, and Switzerland will have a rematch with Canada.

NOTES: Boston’s Tim Thomas dressed as the backup to Miller over Los Angeles G Jonathan Quick. ... The Americans’ only Olympic loss to Switzerland was during the 1948 St. Moritz Games. The U.S. is 7-1 against the Swiss, outscoring them 66-19, including a 29-0 victory in 1920.

-- Ira Podell

U.S thrashes Russia 13-0 in women’s hockey

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The only mom on the U.S. women’s hockey team is teaching her youngsters to be respectful and generous to opponents who don’t have as much talent.

Jenny Potter is also putting on a dynamic goal-scoring exhibition that will have all the kids wanting to be like her someday.

Potter scored three goals to set an Olympic record with her second straight hat trick, and the United States routed Russia 13-0 Tuesday in another preliminary-round laugher.

Potter is sizzling in her fourth Olympics, with a tournament-leading nine points in two games. She even got both of her hat tricks within the first 32 minutes of one-sided wins over Russia and China before leading the Americans’ gradual slowdowns later in the game.

"It’s not about running up the score," said Potter, the oldest player on a team featuring 15 Olympic rookies. "It’s about treating your opponent with respect and still working on what we need to be successful against Finland (on Thursday)."

Less than six minutes into the Americans’ five-goal first period, Potter scored a picturesque short-handed goal, nimbly slipping the puck between defenseman Alena Khomich’s legs and breaking in alone on goalie Anna Prugova while Khomich tumbled to the ice. The goal said everything that anybody at UBC Thunderbird Arena needed to know about the gulf in experience and resources between North America and the world.

"All we were trying to do was keep everyone involved and playing," said four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero, who scored her second goal of the games. "We still had things we could work on while still respecting our opponent."

Captain Natalie Darwitz tied another Potter record with five points against the hapless young Russians. Twin sisters Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux also were among 10 goal-scorers for the Americans, who followed up their 12-1 opening win over China with another exhibition of their skill and depth over two dominant periods before cooling it down in the third.

American coach Mark Johnson is no stranger to the U.S.-Russia rivalry after scoring two goals in the Miracle on Ice game at Lake Placid six days shy of 30 years ago, but the only miracle in Vancouver was that the score wasn’t even worse.

"We don’t want to embarrass ourselves," Johnson said. "I said it before, but it’s a situation where I’m very uncomfortable. Our message between periods was to be respectful, to remember they’re also fulfilling a dream to be at the Olympics."

Jessie Vetter made seven saves for the Americans, who led 12-0 after two periods before taking just two shots in the third. Still, those who criticize the parity in women’s hockey got a bit more fuel: After Canada outscored its first two opponents 28-1, the Americans have a 25-1 differential.

The Russians took a long list of minor penalties while simply trying to keep up with the faster, stronger Americans, and the U.S. capitalized with an Olympic-record seven power play goals — many within the first few seconds of the man-advantage.

"Because the Americans are so fast, we had to do something," forward Ekaterina Smolentseva said. "We had to body-check, and that got us penalties. That wasn’t part of the plan."

Starting late in the second period, the U.S. team cycled the puck, made extra passes on the power play and even made substitutions while in the offensive zone — but seemingly each time they flung a puck at the net, Russia’s goalies couldn’t handle it.

So the Americans took it a step further in the third period, taking just one shot in the first 16 minutes. The mostly Canadian crowd began to cheer whenever the Russians managed puck possession or anything resembling a rush, but they couldn’t connect.

After a 5-0 first period, the Americans could start thinking ahead to Thursday’s meeting with Finland, the only preliminary-round game carrying a serious challenge. Their only remaining worry was injury — and Julie Chu promptly blocked a shot with her thigh, although the three-time Olympian eventually skated it off and kept playing.

The Russians didn’t help themselves by playing their two backup netminders against the mighty Americans instead of top goalie Irina Gashennikova.

Darwitz’s power-play slap shot put the Americans up 9-0 before the midway point of the second period. After Darwitz’s short-handed goal 3:10 later, Prugova was replaced by Mariya Onolbaeva — and Potter completed her hat trick 46 seconds later.

Even when the Russians made plays, they went horribly wrong: Lisa Chesson’s slap shot for the Americans’ 13th goal was tipped in by Khomich, who somehow batted the puck out of the air and past Onolbaeva.

"All we wanted out of the third period was to be the best passing team, and we did that," said defenseman Caitlin Cahow, who scored in the first period.

The Americans played without forward Erika Lawler, who bruised her ankle in a tumble into the boards Sunday against China. Johnson expects Lawler to play Thursday.

-- Greg Beacham

Returning hero: Plushenko wins short program

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Game on, guys.

Reigning Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko posted a monster 90.85 points early in the men’s short program Tuesday night, daring the competition to beat it. World champion Evan Lysacek and Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi came pretty darn close, setting up the most riveting men’s final since the "Battle of the Brians" in 1988 — the last time the Olympics were in Canada.

Lysacek is just .55 points behind Plushenko with Takahashi another .05 back going into Thursday night’s free skate. Those margins are so small, the three may as well be tied.

"Easy? That’s competition and it is never going to be easy," Plushenko said. "If somebody says today, ‘I am not nervous’ or ‘I skate easy,’ or ‘I am not tired,’ I don’t believe him."

This men’s competition has been widely anticipated, its field stocked with enough talent to carry two Olympics — four world champions, including Plushenko, who came out of retirement to try to become the first man to win back-to-back gold medals since Dick Button in 1952.

Plushenko set the tone with a majestic program almost worthy of beating his world record from last month’s European championships. While Turin runner-up Stephane Lambiel, former world champ Brian Joubert and Canada’s great hope Patrick Chan weren’t up to the challenge, Lysacek and Takahashi made it clear they’re not about to hand over that second gold to Plushenko.

Lysacek was pumping his fists even before he began his final spin. When his music finished, he threw back his head and dropped to his knees, sliding across the ice and burying his head in his hands. He looked a bit dazed by what he had done as he saluted the crowd.

"That’s kind of out of character for me. I couldn’t help it," Lysacek said. "But I had a really good time."

Lambiel is fifth, followed by three-time U.S. champion Johnny Weir and Chan. U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott had another big collapse and is 15th. Joubert’s fall was even more shocking and he’s 18th.

"I actually had fun tonight, and that’s something I haven’t been able to say for a long time," said Weir, who quit for a few weeks last spring after bombing so badly at the U.S. championships he failed to make the world team. "I felt like I really showed my heart."

Plushenko capped one of the most dominant stretches in the sport with the gold medal at the Turin Olympics. With bum knees and nothing more to prove, the Russian retired. But his new wife urged him to return and, at 27, he might just be better than ever.

As he took the ice, longtime coach Alexei Mishin pumped his fist, as if to tell his star pupil, "Knock ‘em dead!"

Not that Plushenko needed any reminders.

Plushenko’s jumps were impressive, as always. His quadruple toe loop-triple toe combination was performed with more ease than some skaters can manage on a single jump. His triple axel was executed with perfect control, so much so he showed off a little, changing his edge back and forth to produce a sassy swerve — in time to the music, no less.

While his spins still aren’t in the same category as Lambiel’s, they were much improved from four years ago. His combination spin was perfectly centered and done so fast he’s lucky the gold charms on his necklace didn’t go flying into the crowd.

But the best part of his program is still his showmanship. Nobody loves the limelight quite like Plushenko, and he reveled in it Tuesday night, looking deep into every camera he passed. His seductive body language and bedroom eyes matched his passionate "Concierto de Aranjuez" perfectly, and he even flirted with the judges a bit.

Those transition marks that caused such a firestorm last week? They were appropriately lower than the rest of his component marks. Plushenko does a bunch of big tricks in a row early in his program, and he needs to generate a lot of speed to pull them off. There’s no room for intricate steps, and his scores reflected that.

"I don’t care today about transitions and the scoring system. I did a clean program and that’s important to me," Plushenko said. "This is my third Olympic Games and I skated not bad. I’ll take any result in the Olympic Games."

When Plushenko finished, he drew an imaginary sword, kissed it and then put it back in its sheath. In case the crowd — and maybe his competitors, too — didn’t get the message, he did it two more times before leaving the ice.

But this fight isn’t over — not by a long shot.

As the reigning world champion, Lysacek is the United States’ best hope for a gold medal since Brian Boitano won that famous battle at the Calgary Games. That’s a lot of pressure to put on his slim shoulders, and coach Frank Carroll grabbed him around both arms to give him a last-second pep talk before he went on the ice.

Lysaseck responded superbly. His "Firebird" program was powerful and spellbinding, a perfect mix of athleticism and artistry.

Every single one of his jumps was done with silky smoothness, his landings so secure the tracings could have been the work of a master etcher. His intensity was almost intimidating, and his interpretation would put any virtuoso to shame. His leg kicks, dramatic arm movements — everything was done on a note, making his music as much a part of his program as any technical skill.

"I had some pressure coming in as a reigning world champion and I felt it. I also had a monkey on my back thinking of my short program four years ago in Torino," said Lysacek, who was 10th in the short in 2006 after botching two jumps. "To be able to go out and silence all of that really felt good."

Takahashi’s program was completely different than Plushenko’s and Lysacek’s, but no less compelling. It was high-octane from the second he stepped on the ice, so jam-packed there was barely time to breathe, let alone rest. His footwork and spins were innovative, proving there IS room for creativity in the current judging system.

Had he included a quad in the program — he’s more than capable of doing them, and likely will have one in the free skate — he could have been ahead of Plushenko and Lysacek. His component mark — the old artistic score — was more than a point and a half better than Plushenko’s.

Lambiel, runner-up to Plushenko in Turin, is in fifth after only doing a double axel and botching his quad. But even with this tough field, don’t count the two-time world champion out of the medals hunt. He won the silver at Europeans after being in the same spot after the short program.

"Yes, a gold medal is possible. Nothing is impossible," Lambiel said. "I know my skating and I know myself."

Just 19, Chan is Canada’s latest hope to — finally — win a gold medal in men’s figure skating. But he cost himself big, stepping out of the landing of his triple axel, slipping during one section of footwork — though he covered it up nicely — and then taking a deduction for finishing after his music.

"This is the Olympics, you can’t afford any mistakes and that’s a perfect example," Chan said.

-- Nancy Armour

Halfpipers ready to show risk is worth reward

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Snowboarding was at a crossroads, and Shaun White knew it.

The decision by competition officials two years ago to raise the walls on the halfpipe from 18 to 22 feet gave riders a blank canvas.

The way the world’s most famous snowboarder looked at it, the sport could go one or two ways.

One option — admittedly the safer one — was to pack more dizzying spins into a run.

Where some saw danger, White and his high-flying buddies saw possibility.

Higher walls meant bigger jumps and more air time. Why spin when you could flip and spin?

"With the other direction you’re sacrificing a certain style other snowboarders have in being creative," said the defending Olympic gold medalist, who will go for a second gold Wednesday night on Cypress Mountain. "It’s cool to see that that’s the direction that we’re going, the creative route and kind of expressing your own strengths of snowboarding."

Even if that creativity carries considerable risk.

Star Kevin Pearce — one of the sport’s biggest innovators — was seriously injured in December when he crashed while practicing a double-cork. The mold-breaking move requires riders to go board over head twice in one jump.

Pearce remains in a Colorado hospital and it’s unclear when — or if — he’ll be able to ride again.

While the snowboarding community has rallied in support of Pearce, with many riders sporting stickers on their regular boards that read "I ride 4 Kevin," his injury has done little to slow down the envelope pushing.

Pearce’s double-cork inspired American Danny Davis to pursue the trick, and he did it three times in the same run to beat White in a competition last month.

That caused White to cancel a vacation and head straight to the halfpipe, where he spent several painful days perfecting the trick he hopes will bring him a second gold: the Double McTwist 1260.

The gravity-defying move requires White to pack 3½ spins inside of two head-over-heels flips. He posted scores of 49 and 49.5 — within a point of perfection — when he unveiled it in Utah in January.

White calls the trick his best friend and his worst enemy. A week after scorching the pipe in Park City, he narrowly avoided disaster when he smacked his face on the lip of the pipe while trying to land the Double at the end of a practice run at the X Games.

The accident left White with a raspberry on his cheek, but it also left him unbowed. He shook it off and headed straight back to the top of the mountain. And won the contest.

"You get an injury and somebody that goes down and crashes and it just really shocks people," White said. "I think I can speak for everyone in saying that’s just a part of what we do. We fall, get back up and we try it again. It’s the best part of our sport. You can take a crash and come back and succeed over it and it’s just the best feeling you can have."

Getting back up has been Torah Bright’s deal for the past several months. Oft-injured — she banged her head during training twice in three days at the X Games — the Australian is the lone female rider who tries a double cork trick.

If she can pull it off in the women’s competition Thursday, she’ll have the best chance to prevent more American domination. Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler have two Olympic golds and a silver between them and are expected to be on the medal stand again.

"My strategy has been to control what I do, and not worry about the rest," said Clark, who flies higher than any of the women.

White, meanwhile, would be heavily favored even if he left the Double McTwist back in the States, but feels on obligation to keep propelling the sport forward.

"I’m pretty excited about the new tricks," he said. "I think it’s the way the sport was headed and I’m just happy to be in a bit of a driving seat for it."

If White lands his trick cleanly in one of the two runs all riders are given for finals, he’s almost assured of grabbing his second gold medal. If he doesn’t, there are a handful of challengers who can step in.

American and "Dancing with the Stars" alum Louie Vito is one of the few riders who can do back-to-back double corks, while Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov, dubbed "IPod," finished second to White at the X Games.

"There’s always a lot of riders we haven’t even really seen ride as much as we normally do," Vito said. "I’m sure there’s going to be someone from another country who is going to come up and put down the hammer."

For the last four years, that rider has been White.

With his floppy red hair, his unique style and ability to summon the sickest jumps whenever necessary, the 23-year-old nicknamed "The Flying Tomato" has become the sport’s first true crossover star. White has his own clothing line and video game and is seemingly at ease in the spotlight.

He’s comfortable carrying the burden of bringing the sport to the masses and understands snowboarding is under the "magnifying glass" because of the stage the Olympics provides.

The safety questions that popped up after Pearce’s injury will only intensify if something goes wrong on Cypress Mountain. White admits he was fortunate at the X Games to escape relatively unharmed.

Yet, to him, the risks are worth the reward. He and the rest of the best riders in the world didn’t come to the Olympics to hold back.

"I would just say that the sport, I don’t think, has gotten more dangerous, it was dangerous to begin with," he said. "You drive around in a car and that’s pretty dangerous. ... It’s just part of what we do."

-- Will Graves

Vonn ready to make ’10 Olympic debut in downhill

WHISTLER, British Columbia — It’s finally time for Lindsey Vonn’s Olympics to begin.

After so much speculation about her badly bruised right shin, detailed discussion of treatment with painkillers and Austrian curd cheese — yes, cheese — and delay upon delay because of bad weather, Vonn will make her Vancouver Games debut in Wednesday’s downhill.

"I’m definitely getting antsy," she said.

As a two-time reigning overall World Cup champion entered in all five Alpine events, Vonn is pegged as a contender to win multiple medals, and is the favorite for gold in the downhill.

It’s her best event, and she has won five of six World Cup downhills this season.

"She certainly feels that she has a chance to win the downhill," her husband, Thomas, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "She feels like, although it’s going to be extremely painful in the run, that she can still fight through it and put down some of her best skiing."

Vonn was drawn Tuesday night to race 16th, generally considered the ideal starting spot for the speed events, because she’ll get to ski before her chief rivals. Among them are Vonn’s best friend, Germany’s Maria Riesch, the only other woman to win a downhill this season; Sweden’s Anja Paerson, owner of five Olympic medals; and Canada’s Emily Brydon, who knows this hill well.

Other challengers could include Vonn’s U.S. teammate Julia Mancuso, the 2006 Olympic giant slalom champion; Switzerland’s Nadia Styger, who beat Vonn by a hundredth of a second on this course two years ago; and Canada’s Britt Janyk, who grew up in Whistler.

"Lindsey is the fastest skier out there," said Patrick Riml, Canada’s head women’s Alpine coach, "and the goal is to beat her."

Riml is rather familiar with Vonn’s skill and determination, because he used to coach the U.S. women’s team. He and Vonn’s opponents expect nothing less than her best Wednesday, no matter the state of the sports world’s most famous shin.

"She’s skiing," Paerson said, "and that makes me know that she’s in good shape."

Vonn did stay off the slopes completely Tuesday to rest her leg, which her husband said had a bit of a setback and was "throbbing" a day after she was the fastest woman in the first part of Monday’s split training session.

"It was definitely sore today, much more sore than it had been in a couple days," he said. "The full-length downhill run yesterday definitely took its toll."

That’s why Vonn probably wouldn’t have taken part in the downhill training run that was scheduled for Tuesday but was called off because of an overnight snowstorm.

Still, there was good news. Even though she was bothered by the shin, Monday’s practice proved that "she knows her leg will hold up at those speeds, and that she can be fast even if it’s painful," said Thomas Vonn, who serves as a coach and adviser to his wife.

"I was able to ski the way I wanted to," Lindsey Vonn said. "It was really painful, but I made it down, and I guess that was a real positive step."

Not just for her, but also for NBC, which made the 25-year-old who lives in Vail, Colo., one of the centerpieces of its Olympic promotion and must be thrilled to be able to show her speeding down the mountain at last — albeit on tape delay, several hours after the race is over and the results are known.

Vonn was hurt Feb. 2, when she tumbled and slammed the top of her right boot against her shin during pre-Olympic practice in Austria. She stayed off skis for more than a week — it was tough just to walk for a few days — and then sat out while wet and warm weather wiped out nearly every training session and postponed what was scheduled to be the first women’s Alpine race, Sunday’s super-combined.

"It’s been a lot of hurry-up-and-wait with all these cancellations," she said. "But, you know, with my injury, that was the best possible scenario for me, getting that time to heal."

That said, she is ready to race. U.S. women’s coach Jim Tracy went through a video session with Vonn on Monday night to go over sections of the course she needs to pay particular attention to Wednesday.

Not that there appeared to be a whole lot of room for improvement. In Monday’s training, Vonn finished the more demanding portion of the day’s two runs in 1 minute, 30.75 seconds — 0.39 seconds faster than the next-fastest skier, Mancuso. Later, skiing the much shorter bottom section, Vonn finished in 18.52 seconds, good for 20th and 0.73 seconds behind Paerson.

Vonn awoke Tuesday feeling the effects of all that bouncy terrain, which makes her boot bang against that swollen shin of hers. So no skiing for one day. Instead, the plan called for more treatment, some working out and maybe watching a movie.

"She’ll for sure be racing tomorrow," Thomas Vonn said Tuesday. "There’s no question."

-- Howard Fendrich

All these years later, Miller complicated as ever

WHISTLER, British Columbia — New medal. Same old Bode. Or is it?

Depends on whether you listen to what others say or what Bode Miller himself says.

Before heading off to collect his bronze from the men’s Olympic downhill Monday, the ever-enigmatic Miller sounded off on so many subjects, the way he so often has.

Never a dull moment with this guy.

He talked about how he "relaxed a bunch of my animosity toward the commercialism of the Olympics from the last time. I can’t personally change that stuff as much as I’d like to."

He made an off-the-cuff reference to the whole Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan brouhaha in 1994 to illustrate his oft-repeated point that medals aren’t everything.

"You don’t want to go the Tonya Harding route of winning medals," Miller said. "If you wanted just strictly to win medals, you could go through a whole long start list of racers and just go to their house in the offseason — break a leg here, pull out a shoulder socket there — and you’d probably have a whole bunch of medals."

When a French translator interrupted one of Miller’s answers during a news conference, he groused, "You guys are making it more complicated than it has to be."

In a more informal chat with reporters, Miller was asked if he’s curtailed his nightlife habits since his no-medal, plenty-of-partying trip to the Turin Games four years ago.

"The Olympics just started," he said with a smile. "You got to give me some time."

His teammates, his agent, even his rivals, say Miller seems to be a different guy this time around.

If so, maybe it’s because Miller considered retiring six months ago. Maybe it’s because he’s now the father of a toddler. Maybe it’s because there is less attention, fewer sponsor commitments, not as much "minutiae," as Miller called it.

He’s rooming and hanging out with other U.S. skiers, for one thing, instead of setting himself up in his own RV, the way he did in Italy. He’s pushing others in training.

He’s at these Olympics for his own reasons, rather than trying to live up to expectations or requirements of sponsors.

This much is certain: As a favorite four years ago in Turin, Miller flopped. As something of an afterthought this time around, he flourished. With a controlled run down a choppy slope Monday, Miller finished behind Switzerland’s Didier Defago and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal at the Vancouver Games for his U.S.-record third career Olympic Alpine medal.

Asked what’s changed most about him since 2006, Miller replied: "It doesn’t feel like anything. I’m pretty steady, actually. I’ve been about the same since as long as I can remember."

But he also tried to explain his success Monday by saying of the last Olympics, "I wasn’t emotionally very involved in the races. I was treating them very cold and clinical." Now, in contrast, "I let myself go more."

To U.S. teammate Marco Sullivan, Miller seemed oddly silent riding the lift to the mountaintop for Monday’s race.

"I don’t think we said a word to each other," Sullivan said.

Later, hanging out in the athletes’ lounge as race time approached, other skiers were surprised by Miller’s mood, too.

"It was fascinating," said Liechtenstein’s Marco Buechel, who is at his sixth Winter Games and has known Miller for years. "He said he was nervous. I’m like, ‘What?! Nervous? You? I never saw you like that."’

Miller insisted it’s true: He had a case of the jitters. No matter that this is all so very been-there, done-that for someone who burst onto the scene with two silvers at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

"That was the feeling I’ve been searching for, and I let it build up. I was real nervous before I went, but excited-nervous, not anxiety-nervous," Miller said. "Normally as an athlete, a veteran of 400 World Cup races, you kind of repress that stuff. ... I used to crash all the time because of it. But I think that’s part of why I wanted to come back."

It’s why he decided to rejoin the U.S. Ski Team after training and competing independently for the past two years. It’s why he decided to return to the Olympics after his disastrous, distraction-filled trip to Turin, where he generated far more buzz with his late-night antics than with his skiing prowess.

"Sometimes his focus wanders," said Sullivan, "and, obviously, today he was very focused."

After the postrace flower ceremony, after the doping test, after the news conference and other interviews, Miller headed down the mountain. There are more races to come — although Tuesday’s super-combined was postponed because of too much snow overnight — and he once again must be part of any conversation about contenders.

"He is ski racing because he wants to ski race," said Miller’s agent, Lowell Taub, "and I think you see that in the performance."

-- Howard Fendrich

Revelers say Whistler cops are killing the buzz

WHISTLER, British Columbia — It’s Saturday night at GLC, and DJ Kid Koala is scratching up a storm. Cheers go up as Olympic mascots Quatchi and Miga burst in and hit the dance floor with clubbers in knit caps and baggy snowboard gear.

A typically lively Whistler scene, but something’s a little odd: There’s plenty of space at the bar and no need to elbow your way around. Outside, people wait in a long line in the driving rain.

As the Olympics kick off, the vibe at many of Whistler’s premier party spots is strangely subdued. And in a town where joints on the bar patio can be as common as jugs of beer, the famous cannabis culture has definitely gone underground.

Club managers and revelers say police inspections as often as every hour and a draconian enforcement of crowd regulations are cramping the style of this boisterous ski resort, host to Alpine and sliding events at the 2010 Games.

"This is the biggest party that the world throws," said Nicole Althoof, manager of the Savage Beagle. "In Whistler, we’re known for having a great time. We should be living up to our name."

The clubs say local authorities are preoccupied with protecting Whistler’s image as the world watches. Police say the increased inspections are because more clubs have been exceeding capacity lately, not because of the Olympics.

While acknowledging people feel safer when police are around, Althoof said the constant sight of uniforms in her establishment and the need to worry about regulations has been a big downer, both for herself and her patrons.

After all, how do you let loose when there are cops in the room?

Whistler became famous for its weed culture in 1998, when favorite son Ross Rebagliati tested positive for marijuana at the Nagano Olympics and his snowboarding gold medal was stripped. It was later reinstated — after he claimed he had merely been exposed to pot smoke at a party in Whistler.

During these games, people here say their buzz is being seriously harshed.

Whistler’s normal police force of about 30 has been more than doubled for the games, with reinforcements sent in from throughout British Columbia. Clusters of officers are on just about every street corner.

"Usually in Whistler you won’t even see a cop," said Daniel Donnelly, a 20-year-old snowboarder in a grungy rainbow poncho. "It’s weird right now."

Authorities extended the hours that establishments are allowed to stay open during the games by a half-hour — to 3 a.m. for clubs and 2 a.m. for restaurants and pubs.

Whistler police Staff Sgt. Steve Leclair insisted the crackdown stems from recent overcrowding busts. Asked whether the extra monitoring was an attempt to keep a lid on rowdiness during the games, he said: "Definitely not. Unequivocally, no."

Still, he acknowledged concerns about public inebriation. There were 20 arrests in Whistler for public inebriation from Friday through Monday, about the same as the weekend before.

"When you’re adding alcohol to an environment, that’s what causes a problem. It’s not two sober guys walking down the street that may get into a fight, but two drunk guys."

Locals say the authorities are being extra-vigilant to make sure the town gets through the games without blemishes on its image.

"It is such a beautiful spot," said Ryan Kenney, 24. "They are bringing in massive amounts of people, and they don’t want Whistler to get a scratch, because it’s such a polished place."

-- Joji Sakurai

Olympics prove popular with TV viewers

NEW YORK — NBC desperately needed some good news in prime time and, so far, the Olympics have provided it.

Through four nights, household ratings for the Vancouver Olympics are up 15 percent over the 2006 games in Turin, Italy, the Nielsen Co. said. NBC was privately expecting an increase in ratings, since Olympics based on this continent that include live events in prime time do better than overseas games, but the Vancouver Games have done especially well.

The strong numbers won’t offset NBC’s expected loss of more than $200 million on the Vancouver Games, but ad sales executives say enough customers are responding that the company could make millions more, perhaps tens of millions more, than anticipated.

"The fact of the matter is we are really thrilled by the performance of the Olympics," said Alan Wurtzel, NBC Universal’s top research executive.

There’s still time to go, and NBC’s success so far in working past unexpected changes to the prime-time shows — postponement of Alpine skiing events and Monday’s odd delay of speedskating competition because the ice indoors wasn’t ready — could catch up.

Yet the early success of the Olympics mirrors a counterintuitive trend: Ratings for big events on broadcast television have been soaring even though viewers have many more entertainment options.

The opening ceremony in Vancouver on Friday drew 32.6 million viewers despite its somber mood due to the death of a Georgian luger in a practice run. That was up from the 22.2 million who watched the first night in Turin, Nielsen said.

"I was really surprised at how well the opening ceremony did because there really wasn’t that much chatter about it," said Brad Adgate, an analyst for Horizon Media.

The next two nights both had larger audiences than any night in Turin, Nielsen said.

That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to people who had been following broadcast trends.

The Super Bowl just set a record for most-viewed U.S. television event of all time, with an audience of 106 million people. NFL conference championships hit viewing levels not seen since the 1980s. World Series games, on average, had six million more viewers last year than in 2008. The Grammy Awards zoomed to 26 million viewers, up from 19 million in 2009. Golden Globes ratings were up 14 percent.

"There are very few big events that enable people to share an experience anymore," Wurtzel said. "There are very few things that people can come in the next day and talk about. I really believe that people are looking for that kind of experience."

Episodic television used to provide it — "Who saw last night’s "Seinfeld" or "Cheers?"’ But that rarely happens anymore, he said.

The Olympics, he said, are the ultimate reality show.

There are other factors to explain the increased ratings: The proliferation of high-definition television makes watching sports at home that much more appealing. Nielsen is also measuring viewership on digital video recorders, which it didn’t four years ago, said Sharianne Brill, a TV analyst formerly of Carat USA.

"People are just home more," Brill said. "Weather has been a factor; there have been a lot of storms. People are unemployed and less likely to go out, and the Olympics provide quality family entertainment."

By showing more thrilling, X Games-inspired events like snowboarding, NBC also is pulling in younger viewers to the Olympics. Viewership among men aged 18 to 34 was up 19 percent through the weekend, Nielsen said. Among people aged 18 to 24, viewership is up 48 percent.

NBC on Tuesday also unveiled new measurements designed to convince advertisers of the advantage of being seen on the Olympics. For example, Google searches of "We Are the World" leaped tenfold right about the time NBC previewed a remake of that video on Friday night, Wurtzel said.

-- David Bauder

Notebook: Canadians show their passion for hockey at opener

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — It’s a half hour before the Canadian men’s hockey team opener against Norway, and David Ash has already worked up a sweat in Section 101 of Canada Hockey Place.

Ash is someone not hard to spot whether you’re inside the arena or happen to be watching the game on TV. He’s the 60-something-year-old guy who’s wearing a Team Canada jersey, has an Olympic flag draped around him like a cape and is wearing a white hockey helmet with a red goal light flashing on top.

And Ash is busy going up and down the stairs handing out one Canadian flag after another, until nearly everyone in the section — and even dozens across the aisle — have a flag.

"Hang tight," Ash tells a reporter as he goes for another load of flags, sweat dripping from his nose.

"I want to get a mass section is what I want," Ash said.

Ash runs a professional sports and concert tour business in Regina, Saskatchewan, and brought enough flags to repeat the scene at every Team Canada game.

The Vancouver Games have attracted the nation’s attention since they opened on Friday. But to many of the country’s hockey nuts, the Olympics didn’t officially open until the first puck was dropped at center ice shortly after 4:30 p.m. PST.

The red-jersey-wearing, flag-waving fans arrived early, with thousands gathered outside at the bottom of the arena steps at 3 p.m. waiting for the gates to open.

Once let in, they cheered everything, from the team taking the ice for pregame warmups to the team leaving the ice. They booed when the video board above center ice showed a small contingent of Norwegian fans, then cheered when the focus was back on Canadians.

"This is great," said Melissa Jones, wearing a Canada T-shirt, waving a flag and watching Ash in fascination. "I’m coming to the next game and helping him out."

EIGHT ISN’T ENOUGH

The U.S. delegation went into Tuesday with eight medals, already one-third of the way to its total haul in Turin.

At day’s end, the Americans were still stuck on eight.

Five events were up for grabs, a total of 15 medals, and the Americans didn’t come any closer than Lindsey Jacobellis winning a consolation race for fifth place in women’s snowboardcross.

Germany got four to vault to the top of the medals race with nine.

Germany and South Korea also came out of Tuesday will three golds, matching Switzerland for the most. The Americans are stuck on two.

The good news for the United States is that headliners Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno are competing Wednesday.

UH-OH, OSLO

The Norway men’s cross-country team’s worst Olympic result ever has left the ski-crazed nation filled with angst.

With screaming headlines, newspapers on Tuesday decried as a national tragedy the stunning failure of superstar Petter Northug and his teammates in the Vancouver Games’ 15-kilometer race. Northug, the World Cup leader, placed 41st, and no Norwegian made the top 20.

"A collapse, a fiasco, a flop, a miss, a scandal," sports columnist Truls Daehli wrote in Norway’s largest daily, VG.

"Norway’s worst Olympics cross-country team in years," was the headline in the newspaper Dagbladet.

Even NBC’s Al Michaels got in a shot: "So far Norway’s big stars have failed to live up to expectations. Back home, they are already calling it a fiasco. Can you imagine what is going on as we speak on sports talk radio in Oslo?"

Northug won three gold medals at last year’s world championships and has been dominating cross country. At his first Winter Games, he’s under enormous pressure to deliver Olympic gold.

The top Norwegian in Monday’s race, Tord Asle Gjerdalen, finis