justin olsen

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The 2010 Winter Olympics began with tragedy when a young luger going 89 mph flew off the world's fastest track and died in a crash hours before the Opening Ceremonies.

The bleak mood was exacerbated by a caldron malfunction, the host country's early losses, too little snow on Cypress Mountain and too much fog in Whistler.

But like a slalom skier zig-zagging through gates, the Sea to Sky Games found rhythm that built to the dream climax of Canada vs. the United States in Sunday's men's hockey gold-medal game.

By the time the Games come to a breathless close, the magnificence of the athletes' performances in an equally magnificent setting will provide the abiding images of the warmest Winter Games in history.

There was redemption for Bode Miller in the mountains and the coronation of Kim Yu-Na in the city, acrobatics by Shaun White in the halfpipe, and rumbling rides by the United States' ``Night Train'' down the bobsled track for a gold medal.

The United States, always a summer powerhouse and usually a winter wimp compared to much smaller countries, was on the verge of winning the medal count for the first time since the 1932 Lake Placid Games, when it won 12 medals, in part thanks to last-minute changes to speedskating rules that favored the home team.

The United States was assured of winning at least 36 medals, breaking its own record haul of 34 at the Salt Lake City Games and tying Germany's record, also from 2002.

``Back in Nagano we felt like we were a small country at the Olympics; we felt like outsiders,'' said Nordic combined athlete and four-time Olympian Billy Demong, who won the first Olympic gold medal in the 86-year history of the sport for the United States. ``Now we're here to win.''

CANADA'S LATE SURGE

Canada, nimbly surging and juking like a short-track speedskater, salvaged its pride with a late rush to 13 gold medals to tie the Soviet Union (1976) and Norway (2002) for the most gold medals won at a Winter Games.

The host country, capable of winning 27 medals, did not reach Canadian Olympic leaders' projected goal of 30, and the $110 million ``Own the Podium'' program was being lambasted as ``Blown the Podium'' and threatened with funding cuts, but a victory in the hockey showdown would erase any other disappointments and the sour taste of losing to the young American team 5-3 in the preliminary round and set the Winter Olympic record for gold medals.

The champagne-swigging Canadian women's hockey team beat the United States 2-0. And in curling, Canada's other national passion, the men's team beat Norway for the gold Saturday night.

The $620 million cost of the Games, expected to leave British Columbia with a budget deficit, was protested with a mock ``Poverty Games'' and the erection of a ``Homes Not Games'' tent city in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, the poorest postal code in the country. But recession woes didn't dampen festivities on the packed streets of Vancouver, the largest city to host the Winter Games.

Danger was ever-present at these Games, starting with the death of Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili, which forced officials to shorten the luge run on the fast track. Crashes continued throughout the skeleton and bobsled events.

The snowboardcross and skicross course was no less forgiving and neither was the slope at Whistler Creekside, site of numerous wipeouts because of its length, variable snow and tricky visibility.