Painful first weekend, in more ways than one
By Jim CapleTORINO, Italy -- Our men's curling team smoked the defending gold medalists Monday morning, beating Norway 11-5.
That aside, the past couple of days contained some of the worst moments for U.S. Olympic hopefuls since the release of the movie "Ice Castles."
The bad news began Saturday morning, when Michelle Kwan hurt a groin muscle during a practice session. The pain grew worse during the day until she was forced to call in a doctor around 2 a.m. The prognosis was not good. Kwan withdrew from the Olympics Sunday, ending her quest to win a gold medal.
"She's a real loss to all of the United States Olympic Committee, to the United States of America and, I think, to the world," USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said, laying it on as thick as an ice dancer applies makeup.
At about the same time Kwan was choking back tears at a press conference, Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves were simply choking on the downhill course at Sestriere. The alpine team was billed as among the best in U.S. history, with Miller appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek, as well as had an appearance on "60 Minutes,'' all within a week. Miller and Rahlves were both expected to medal in the downhill; instead, they finished fifth and 10th respectively.
"It would have taken a hurricane wind to get me into first," Rahlves said afterward.
But at least they're healthy and ready to go for their next events. Lindsey Kildow, a favorite in the women's downhill, crashed during a training run Monday morning and was evacuated to a Torino hospital by helicopter. Initial reports indicated her legs were not broken, but it's unknown whether she'll be able to compete in Wednesday's downhill.
And, oh yes -- amid all this -- short-track skater Apolo Anton Ohno caught his hand on a skate and failed to qualify for the finals in the 1,500.
Add it up and you've got the withdrawal of the team's most recognizable athlete, the crash of the top female skier, the disappointing performance of the top two men in the premier skiing event and another ridiculous outcome for one of the most glamorous athletes on the team.
That thud you heard was either NBC's ratings or Ohno hitting the ice again.
The good news for the U.S. is the Olympics have just begun, and there are still plenty of events for the team to get things going. Most notably, the U.S. snowboarding team is already as good as expected. Shaun White and Danny Kass took gold and silver, respectively, in the men's half-pipe Sunday, and Hannah Teter and Gretchen Bleiler duplicated the feat Monday.
The U.S. has high hopes in the old-school events, as well. Long-track speedskater Chad Hedrick won gold in the 5,000 on Saturday and wants to match Eric Heiden's record of five gold medals. Shani Davis is another strong medal contender.
Sunday's downhill was disappointing, but there are still plenty of alpine events to go. Miller and Rahlves go in the combined Tuesday, while Julia Mancuso remains a good medal possibility on the women's side. And Kildow may come back, as well.
Kwan may be figure skating's biggest name, but she was considered a dark horse even if she had been healthy. Sasha Cohen is the top American woman and she's healthy. And the Americans may even win a medal in ice dancing.
So, even though the first weekend had its problems, the United States is still a little better off than, say, the Virgin Islands. It lost its lone athlete, Anne Abernathy, also known as Grandma Luge, when she crashed in a training run Sunday and broke her wrist.
And hey, our men's curling team is on a roll.
Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com
