Lindsey Jacobellis, Bode Miller, Ted Ligety: Team USA Looks to Add to Medals

Four days into the Vancouver Olympics, the United States sits atop the medal count with eight total medals—two gold, two silver, and four bronze.

For a second straight day, America’s best medal chances are in snowboard cross and alpine skiing. Medals will also be awarded today in women’s speedskating, men’s and women’s biathlon, and women’s luge.

Yesterday, it was Seth Wescott defending his men’s snowboard cross title from four years ago as he edged out Canada’s Mike Robertson for the gold medal by less than the length of a snowboard.

On the slopes, Bode Miller returned to the Olympic medal podium for the first time in eight years as he finished third in the men’s downhill, less than a 10th of a second from winning the gold medal.

Today, Lindsey Jacobellis offers America its best medal hope in the women’s snowboard cross, while Ted Ligety and Bode Miller are podium contenders in the men’s combined alpine skiing event.

For those who watched the 2006 Torino Olympics, it is hard to forget Jacobellis.

With one jump to clear before the finish line and not a competitor in sight, she had all but clinched snowboard cross gold. When she opted to perform a celebratory grab of her snowboard in the air that went awry just yards from the finish line, she found herself on the ground scrambling to claim one of the most disappointing silver medals in Olympic history.

Tonight, after four long years, she will finally have her chance to make amends for that poor decision. Jacobellis is one of the favorites in the event once again, but there are far from guarantees in her unpredictable sport.

She will need to navigate through a qualifying, a quarterfinal, and a semifinal before even having the chance to compete with three others for the title of Olympic champion.

Crashes and wipeouts are already inherent in the sport, but poor snow conditions in Vancouver have made the course particularly treacherous and all 16 races contested on the men’s side yesterday witnessed at least one fall.

Maelle Ricker of Canada and Helene Olafsen of Norway are also among the favorites, but Jacobellis will have to contend with the course and herself as much as the competition if she is to make amends for Torino.

Bode Miller takes to the slopes for the second straight day in the men’s combined. The combined event consists of two slalom runs and one downhill run with the total time of the three runs determining placement.

Miller took silver in the event eight years ago at the Salt Lake City Olympics, and his medal-winning performance in the downhill yesterday showed that he may be in form unlike four years ago when he was held without a medal.

The combined event, however, takes three solid runs and Miller is known as an aggressive skier. He will have to stay on his feet and pass through all the gates three times if he wants a chance at his first Olympic gold.

His overlooked U.S. teammate, Ted Ligety, however, is the defending gold medalist from Torino. Ligety will be out to prove that his surprising gold in Torino was not a fluke. Unlike four years ago, Ligety comes into Vancouver with the pressure of being seen as a top medal contender.

Miller and Liegty will both be challenged by a deep field that includes Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic and Austria’s Benjamin Raich. Both are veterans with Olympic medals to their credit.

There are four other medal events taking place today in Vancouver—women’s biathlon pursuit (10K), men’s biathlon pursuit (12.5K), women’s 500 meters long track speedskating, and women’s luge—but American medal hopes are dim in all four.

Starting position in the biathlon pursuit events were determined by performance in the sprint events that were held two days ago. The only American woman to qualify for the pursuit by finishing in the top 60 of the sprint was Sara Studebaker. She will start 45th, 2:10 seconds behind the leader, and is not likely to contend for the medals.

The men’s pursuit is likely to be unpredictable with many of the favorites starting at the back of the field after rain midway through the sprint event made for poor snow conditions so that the first 15 to 20 athletes to go out on course had an extreme advantage and ended up atop the standings that will determine the starting order for today’s pursuit.

The American men qualified three athletes for the pursuit.

Tim Burke came to Vancouver with hopes of becoming America’s first medalist in biathlon. After placing 47th in the sprint, however, he will have his work cut out for him today and will start 2:47 seconds behind the leader.

As a result, Jeremy Teela, who benefited from an early starting time in the sprint and finished a surprising ninth for the best Olympic finish ever by an American biathlete, may have the better chance of reaching the podium. He would have to shoot an error-free round and have the ski of his life, however, to even have a chance of making the podium.

In the women’s luge, 2009 world champion Erin Hamlin was expected to contend for a medal. After the first two of four runs were completed yesterday, however, Hamlin sat in a disappointing 15th place, just one spot ahead of fellow American Julia Culkey, and left herself with almost no chance of moving up into the medal picture today.

Elli Ochowicz and Heather Richardson will lead the U.S. women in speedskating’s 500 meters. Neither one is considered likely to medal, but the sport’s shortest distance is also its most unpredictable.

While Jacobellis, Ligety, and Miller may be the Americans only legitimate medal contenders for day five in Vancouver, a number of American athletes could set the stage today for medals in the next two weeks with their performances today.

Men’s figure skating begins with the short program tonight, which leads up to the long program and awarding of medals on Thursday.

All three American skaters have the potential to reach the podium. Evan Lysacek boasts the most Olympic experience and success after finishing fourth in Torino, but American Timothy Abbott is the defending U.S. champion and the always eccentric Johnny Weir is likely to steal the show if not ultimately one of the medals.

A spot on the podium cannot be won tonight, but it could certainly be lost.

The U.S. men’s hockey team also begins its Olympics today against Switzerland in group play as the U.S. women’s team looks to build on its 12-1 victory over China on Sunday with a win over Russia.