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Bittersweet day for U.S. favorites
By Jody Genessy
Deseret News Olympic specialist
WEST VALLEY CITY — Michelle Kwan, the U.S. women's hockey team feels your pain. Thursday was just a hard day to be a favored American female athlete on ice skates.
For Team USA, the bittersweet moment — emphasis on the bitter part — came with a silver lining. Kwan got bronze. But therein lies the problem, it was supposed to be golden.
"It's definitely disappointing," said Andrea Kilbourne of the U.S. "It's been our goal to win gold."
It almost seemed their destiny, too.
They played Canada in hockey, but the U.S. women were big-time favorites. They had won 35 games in a row coming into Thursday's gold-medal showdown. Speaking of their northern neighbors, the Americans had smacked them around on the ice eight times in a row.
Until it counted.
Canada put the United States on an emotional roller-coaster ride Thursday in its 3-2 victory. The underdogs seized an early lead, made an unbelievable goal with one second left in the second period, held on for dear life and, finally, got to hear "Oh, Canada" after they'd been decorated with gold medals.
"It's definitely heartbreaking," said U.S. forward Natalie Darwitz.
The Americans had a hard time hiding their disappointment.
During the ceremony moments after the contest, many Americans cried. Their expressions went from being stone-faced to only slightly grim when the medals were placed around their necks.
"Our goal was to go out and win this tournament," said U.S. star Cammi Granato, who won gold in 1998. "It's a little bit of a stinger when you don't achieve your goal. . . . You have a numb feeling."
The hard part, Granato explained, is that it's easy to feel like you let people down.
"You think that you're disappointing your family and friends," she said. "But when you are able to think more rationally, you know that's not true."
That is, perhaps, why their faces were a bit brighter — even a few smiles — after they met in the locker room following the loss.
"We can't be too disappointed, because we put everything out there," said U.S. center Jenny Potter. "We got the silver medal, and a lot of people would love to trade places with us."
Maybe, on this rough day, even Kwan.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com
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February 22, 2002
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