SOLDIER HOLLOW ? If Americans have a chance of winning a medal in cross country skiing ? which they haven't done since 1976 ? it could be today in the men's 30 km mass start.
That's why most of the nation's top cross country athletes planned to skip Friday's opening ceremonies and prepare for the men's 30 km and women's 15 km races instead.
It will be the first mass start race in Olympic history, and the men's race will feature a skier from Thailand, one from Cameroon and another from Kenya, who make up the entire Winter Olympic squads of their respective countries.
Those athletes are expected to finish near the end of the pack ? one promises to minimize the number of times he falls down ? in a field of Europeans that have dominated the sport for years. Sweden's Per Elofsson, last year's World Cup overall champion, is favored to win but will face stiff competition from a string of Norwegians, including three-time Olympic gold medalist Thomas Alsgaard.
If an American does medal today, it will be more surprising than the 1976 silver medal performance of Bill Koch.
That race shocked U.S. journalists who didn't even show up to cover it, but not European fans who had watched Koch compete all year long with the world's best.
Only one member of this year's U.S. men's team has ever finished in the top 10 at a major international event, but racing at home, and at the high altitude of Soldier Hollow, could prove an advantage for American athletes.
In fact, it was here that three-time Olympian Justin Wadsworth recorded the best U.S. finish since 1984 when he finished 8th in a 30 km World Cup race last year. Some Europeans have skipped races at Soldier Hollow, which sits just below the maximum elevation allowed for a cross country course, and others have called it one of the most challenging courses in the world.
"We're ready to rock and roll," Wadsworth said. "I'm going to try to put the hammer down and make the Euros feel some pressure."
Last week, Wadsworth and two-time Olympian Carl Swenson did just that when they beat Norway's Tor Arne Hetland in a sprint for the finish line of a 30 km race in Sun Valley, Idaho.
It was the second impressive performance for Wadsworth and Swenson in as many weeks. Both skiers finished in the top 10 at the Grand Prix in Boise Jan. 30.
On the women's side 18-time national champion Nina Kemppel will compete in the 15 km mass start.
E-mail: jhyde@desnews.com