Today marks the first day of competition in short track speed skating. Events include the heats in the women's 500m, the semis in the women's 3000m relay, and the finals of the men's 1500 m.
Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski are both contenders in the 1500m(Ohno won the event in 2002). If Ohno medals, he will tie Bonnie Blair as the most decorated American Winter Olympian (Ohno currently has six medals).
Hannah Kearney leads the American women on the moguls course to kick off Vancouver's freestyle skiing competition at Cypress Mountain. Heather McPhie, currently 2nd in the World Cup standings will also contend for gold. 2002 Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke and Michelle Roark will also figure into the medal contention. The United States won its only gold in the event's Olympic debut in 1992.
California-raised moguls skier Shannon Bahrke, competing at her third Olympics, became the first American medalist of the Salt Lake Games when she won silver in 2002.
Today is the first day of speed skating competition, featuring the men's 5,000m race. Chad Hedrick won the event in Torino but is not expected to repeat that performance as Dutch skater Sven Kramer is practically a lock to win.
Trevor Marsicano, and Shani Davis are outside contenders.
Today is the final of the 95m hill event in ski jumping. No Americans are expected to contend for a medal.
The top American competitor is Anders Johnson.
In Torino, Tony Benshoof was .153 seconds from a bronze medal. But during his third Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010, the Minnesota native finished a frustrating eighth place.
2007 National Champion and 2008 Junior World Championship silver medalist Chris Mazdzer finished 13th in his Olympic debut in the 2010 Vancouver Games.
He remembers the feeling. In 2002, Apolo Ohno was racing in front of a home crowd that was in need of a happy ending. His USA uniform is a reminder.
| GAMES |  |  |  | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver '10 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 37 |
| Torino '06 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
| Salt Lake City '02 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 34 |
| Nagano '98 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| Lillehammer '94 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
