Instead of becoming the biggest American success story in the Winter Games' premier competition, figure skater Sasha Cohen stumbled to a silver medal Thursday night in the ladies' long program, joining a long list of U.S. athletes who have tripped, skidded or otherwise failed to meet high expectations at these Olympics.
In first place at the start of the night, Cohen lost the gold medal after falling on her first jump attempt and putting her hands on the ice on the next -- all in 45 seconds -- as the crowd at the Palavela groaned. That allowed Japanese skater Shizuka Arakawa, who began the night in third place, to win the gold, the first medal for Japan here. Reigning world champion Irina Slutskaya, in second at the start of the night, fell once and had to settle for the bronze medal.
Instead of rescuing an Olympics marred in the United States by low television ratings, poor performances and backbiting and grouching among its athletes, Cohen added to the U.S. disappointment even while adding to the medal tally.
"Of course I'm shocked and disappointed," Cohen said, "but you've got to take what life gives you and move on from it."
Those sentiments have been echoed by many U.S. athletes over the past two weeks. From a strictly numerical standpoint, the Turin Olympics appear to be a success for the U.S. team. The United States stands in second place overall in medals won, with 20, and fourth in golds, with seven. Germany leads in both categories, with 24 and nine.
But the U.S. team won't come close to matching the record-setting 34 medals it claimed at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
And by and large, the Games haven't lived up to the advance billing NBC gave them. NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said in a conference call this week that the ratings were down 20 to 25 percent from the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, which were shown on CBS and suffered because of the 14-hour time difference and an uninspiring performance by the U.S. team, which won only 13 medals.
"The Winter Olympics have always had an enormous amount of unpredictability," Ebersol said. "You're dealing with ice or snow here. People fall down, they get disqualified, they crash, et cetera."
Each one of those things happened in the first few days for the U.S. team. Six hours before the Opening Ceremonies, Zach Lund, a gold medal favorite in skeleton, was sent home for a testing positive for a banned substance -- even though the Court of Arbitration for Sport determined that he did not intend to cheat. Two days later, figure skater Michelle Kwan, a focal point of NBC's promos, departed after her first practice because of an injury. That night, short-track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno slipped in the semifinals of arguably his best event, the 1,500 meters.
"Maybe it's a little disappointing, but I look at this as the best competition in the world," said James Easton, one of the three U.S. representatives on the International Olympic Committee. "You can't expect to be the best in everything."
Sportmanship, however, shouldn't be quite as elusive as it has been. Skier Bode Miller, who appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines in the weeks leading up to the Games, hasn't won any medals here and has either refused to talk to the media, or made statements that have been portrayed as whiny or ungracious.
One of the United States' most inspiring stories was marred by a contentious rivalry between U.S. speedskaters Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis, who became the first black athlete to win an individual gold at any Winter Games. After Davis claimed silver and Hedrick bronze in the 1,500-meter race, the two began verbally sniping at each other at the end of a postrace news conference.
"The skaters aren't nearly as close as they used to be and I think that hurts the team," U.S. Speedskating President Andy Gabel said before the Games.
U.S. goalie Chanda Gunn refused to shake hands with her opponents after Sweden's ice hockey team upset the U.S. women in the semifinals. The team went on to its worst international finish in history when it claimed a bronze medal.
Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis lost a sure gold medal after a showboating gaffe several yards from the finish line in the inaugural women's snowboard cross final. The U.S. men's hockey team failed to advance to the medal round. The "Curl Girls," as the medal contending U.S. women's curling team is called, went 2-7 and tied for eighth.
There have been a handful of stirring stories. Snowboarder Shaun White, known for his exciting moves and mane of wild, red hair, won a gold medal and many fans. Speedskater Joey Cheek surprised many by winning gold and silver medals, then donating his U.S. Olympic Committee prize money for each -- a total of $40,000 -- to a charity that helps children in the Darfur region of Sudan, sparking hundreds of thousands of dollars in matching donations. Ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto charmed with their good looks and energetic skating in winning the first U.S. medal in ice dancing in 30 years.
But those moments have been undermined by poor behavior and disappointing performances.
After her two early gaffes, Cohen, 21, skated well but admitted she was pleasantly surprised to end up with any medal at all. But the fact that others also faltered did little to ease the frustration of her flubs on a triple lutz and a triple flip. Had she merely avoided falling, she could have won.
U.S. youngsters Kimmie Meissner, 16, and Emily Hughes, 17, also fell while attempting jumps, preventing them from moving up in the standings. Meissner dropped from fifth to sixth. Hughes, whose sister Sarah won the Olympic gold in 2002, remained in seventh.
In the Olympics' marquee event, Cohen had the chance of a lifetime. She dealt with a similar finale in 2002, falling from third to fourth in the long program after a shaky performance. In that case, Sarah Hughes sailed from fourth to the gold.
"I tried very hard," Cohen said. "I was in a good state of mind. Ultimately, physically I wasn't executing the way I needed to."
