A week into the 2006 Torino games, members of the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding and Speed-Skating teams have already reached the pinnacle of Olympic stardom.  On the flipside, what was once anticipated as surefire gold has fallen into nothing but thoughts of what could have been in multiple events.

Starting on the positive side, both the men’s and women’s snowboarding teams dominated the half-pipe, carrying on the tradition from the 2002 Salt Lake City games. Though not sweeping the podium as they did four years ago, men’s team members Shaun White and Danny Kaas 1080’d their ways to gold and silver medals, respectively.

Shaun White, nicknamed the Flying Tomato for his fire-red hair, got his first taste of Olympic gold this year at only age 19.  And he didn’t only beat the competition, he completely annihilated it with a score of 46.8, just over 3 points short of perfect. I remember watching White drop into half-pipes with legend Tony Hawk as he began his professional skateboarding career at age 13 and thinking to myself “13? This kid is going to be something amazing.” Now only 6 years later, he’s exchanged the wood for snow without missing a beat. Smooth doesn’t come close to explaining how fluid this kid is. The ease with which he twists his body a full 3 revolutions while grabbing the tail of his board thirty feet above the ground, only to land and do it again off the other lip of the half-pipe is jaw-dropping. Not to take anything from Danny Kaas’s achievements, but White is far and away the best snowboarder in the world right now, and will possibly be the best story of this years U.S. Olympic team. If you have never seen him in action, you are truly missing out on one of this countries greatest young stars.

The women’s snowboarding team also placed two on the podium, with Hannah Teter taking gold and Gretchen Bleiler silver. While I saw both medal winning runs, and both were very good, they are still stuck in the shadow of the men‘s amplitude, unable to go as high or as big.

Now to the disappointments.

Undoubtedly the biggest letdown thus far comes from Bode Miller in downhill skiing. After the 60 Minutes interview in which he admitted to skiing wasted on multiple occasions, the magnifying glass on Miller intensified. He entered the Olympics with aspirations of nothing short of gold. What he got? A less than mediocre performance landing him off the podium in fifth place. Reports cited Miller drinking at a pub until the late hours of the night the eve before his run. I’m not one to judge another’s personal habits, nor will I do so in this case. But this is the greatest stage in the world for any winter athlete. Intiution seems to dictate that if Bode felt that way, he would have been preparing the night before, not imbibing. After his run, Miller was said that “fifth place was a confidence booster.” To quote his Nike commercial that began as the Olympics kicked off, “Knowing you pushed yourself harder than anyone else in the world is what makes you successful.“ Using his own words as a basis to judge Miller’s performance, he did not come anywhere near to practicing what he preaches. Maybe if he got on the podium I and many others would feel differently about his antics, but he didn‘t. Not even close. He still has opportunities left to redeem himself in 3 events, and with Michelle Kwan now out, he will be under greater scrutiny than any other U.S. athlete in Torino. With as good as Miller is at what he does, he needs to mirror his perceived image and become the success that he dictates himself as being.

Second only to Miller has to be number one ranked speed-skater Apolo Anton-Ohno’s inability to pass the qualifying round of 1500 meter speed skating.  Back in 2002, this kid was the biggest hype in the country after winning gold and appearing on countless magazine covers and TV interviews. And the worst part is, he slipped and fell while trying to pass the leader when he was in second place with only one turn left. Evidently no one told him that the TOP TWO qualified for the finals. He got greedy, and slipping along with him were aspirations for back-to-back gold in his best event.  While Ohno has 3 events remaining, this one will be tough to shake off. But he’s a professional, so hopefully he does so successfully and comes back later this week with a vengeance.  At least the next time around when he feels greedy, Ohno can just look down at the wound from slicing his hand on the leaders skate in the 1500m and remember what happens when you try to force opportunity.

With the U.S. leading with 4 gold medals and in 3rd place only behind Norway and Russia in total medals, the U.S. team is looking good for this early in the games. Now if the rest of our stars step up to the level of competition in which they are competing, we might have a chance to edge the European nations in Olympic hardware.

Craig Joseph attends West Virginia and can be reached at craig.joseph@atomicsportsmedia.com