The Americans landed at the XXI Winter Olympics on Wednesday, winning gold in spectacular fashion in the women's downhill for the first time and dominating the men's halfpipe snowboard.
U.S. athletes Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White delivered stunning triumphs in their respective sports, justifying all of the hype that has surrounded them.
Still, Canada's athletes refused to lay down and die, winning another medal and positioning themselves for more.
Marianne St. Gelais grabbed a silver in the 500-metre short-track speed skating despite the arrival of comedian Stephen Colbert and his distracting circus of Yankee-come-lately ice-racing supporters.
It was a fabulous 20th birthday present for the Quebec woman that increased Canada's medal count to six.
"I'm just so happy," she said afterwards as she skated in celebration with the Canadian flag draped over her shoulders.
Her boyfriend, fellow Canadian short-track skater Charles Hamelin, beamed: "I don't think you can get a better present, but maybe one day in the near future I'll give her a ring."
The day clearly belonged to the Stars and Stripes and the loud-and-proud Americans erupted in celebration early.
Under staggeringly beautiful skies, their sweetheart got the party going with an amazing and courageous victory in the marquee women's alpine event.
Vonn, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and a veritable blond bullet, blasted down the mountain like a bat out of hell.
No one could touch her.
Others found the course too intimidating.
Georgina Simmerling, the
20-year-old from West Vancouver, did not even venture down as several competitors skidded out of contention or crashed spectacularly.
In particular, Sweden's Anja Paerson wiped out on the final jump of her medal-contending run, causing the crowd to collectively gasp.
The 28-year-old was airborne for an awesome 60 metres before slamming into the slope and skidding 300 metres toward the finish line.
The veteran skier managed to limp off, with help.
Britt Janyk, the perky local favourite, didn't even come close in spite of her much touted edge of having grown up on the slope and being intimate with Franz's run at Whistler Creekside.
"I would have loved to have been sitting on the podium," Janyk said wistfully afterward.
It was not to be.
She finished sixth -- which sounded more respectable than it was -- more than two seconds behind Vonn, which is a lifetime in this sport.
The American, who is a veritable Wayne Gretzky of skiing, won by a whopping margin, beating a teammate by half a second and the third-place finisher by almost a second and a half: astounding in an event where victories usually are marked in fractions of a heartbeat.
World attention had been focused on Vonn because she was feared lame from a recent shin injury. That proved ludicrous, in hindsight.
Emily Brydon, of Fernie, finished 16th and was sorely disappointed. She plans to retire after this season.
"You put a lot of heart and soul into it, so yes, there were tears," Brydon confided later.
Regardless of her finish, Janyk was overjoyed to have had the chance to compete in the Olympics in front of friends and family in a ski area her father helped build.
He was at the bottom to give her a hug and congratulations, while her mother was working as a volunteer weasel.
A great result for the 29-year-old, a great experience. That she didn't mount the podium was irrelevant.
If not another glittering medal for Canada, chalk up another golden moment.
On Wednesday, the focus began to settle solely on the athletes instead of the weather and logistical glitches. Grumbling about warm temperatures and other peripheral griefs were pushed back by the podium-earning performances.
White won his second gold with a heart-stopping acrobatic performance in the men's halfpipe.
He won his first gold at 19 in Turin, but he took the breath away from Cypress Mountain crowds last night with a final run that featured a stunt no one else can perform -- the double McTwist 1260.
It was over after he landed that trick.
Canadian rider Justin Lamoureaux finished seventh.
At other venues, Canadians continued on the medal hunt.
The women's curling team, captained by Cheryl Bernard from Alberta, suffered a scare in their second duel with Japan, silencing the usually raucous pro-Canada crowd with sloppy play.
Nevertheless, in the final end, they pulled it out to win 7-6.
It was a different story at Thunderbird Arena, where the women's hockey team continued to thrash all comers.
Sweden had been touted as a contender. It was a rout. The women pummeled the Swedes 13-1.
The question now is whether anyone can stop the women's juggernaut.
And late Wednesday, thousands turned out at BC Place Stadium to cheer as the gold medal was draped around the neck of Maelle Ricker, winner of the snowboardcross Tuesday.
She received a thunderous ovation.
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