The Canadians have the home-ice advantage.
Apolo Anton Ohno will feel right at home, too.
The American short track star should have a hefty cheering section of family and friends at the Vancouver Olympics, a mere two-hour drive north of Seattle, the city where he was born, raised and first developed a love for skating with wheels under his feet rather than blades.
``It's like a coming-home games for me,'' Ohno said.
If all goes according to plan, the guy with the flowing hair, soul patch and nifty dance moves will become the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian in history right in his own backyard, skating past Eric Heiden and Bonnie Blair.
The 27-year-old Ohno already has tied Heiden for the most medals by a male athlete with five (of course, Eric the Great won nothing but gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Games), and he's one behind Blair, who captured five golds and a bronze over the span of three Winter Olympics.
After coming away from Salt Lake City and Turin with two golds, a silver and two bronzes, then adding a victory on a less-slippery surface in ``Dancing With the Stars,'' Ohno is setting his sights even higher at these Olympics. He'll again be skating in all four events - three individual races, plus the team relay - and sees no reason why he can't make the podium in every one.
``My love and desire and passion for the sport has actually gotten stronger. I think I enjoy the sport much more now than I ever did,'' he said. ``I'd like to medal in every single distance. That'd be a dream come true.''
But Ohno faces tough competition from a perennial nemesis, the powerful South Koreans, as well as the actual home team.
The Canadians are led by Charles Hamelin, who seems to have the necessary speed, bravado and stand-out-from-the-crowd style (shaggy hair and beard are his preference) to become a seminal figure for the Maple Leaf-waving crowd, much as Ohno inspired U.S. fans to don fake soul patches when the Olympics were held in Salt Lake City eight years ago.
The 25-year-old Hamelin ranks among the top three in the world at all three distances, and his presence on the relay makes Canada a strong medal contender in the team event. As if that weren't compelling enough, his younger brother Francois and girlfriend, Marianne St.-Gelais, also made the Olympic team, while his father, Yves, is the program director.
``It was a friend of my brother's that convinced me to give it a try,'' Hamelin told The Canadian Press in a recent interview. ``To my great surprise, I fell in love with the sport from the beginning.''
Hamelin and Ohno likely will be battling up front with Lee Jung-su, the latest in a seemingly unending supply of great Korean skaters. Lee, who just turned 20 in November, is No. 1 in the world at both the 1,000 and 1,500 and has plenty of support from a team that has four skaters in the top 10 of the overall standings.
On the women's side, China dominates.
Wang Meng and Zhou Yang of China hold down the top two spots, with Wang an overwhelming favorite in the 500 after sweeping all four World Cup events in the lead-up to Vancouver. The 24-year-old also is ranked No. 1 in the 1,000, while Zhou - only 18 - leads the 1,500 standings on the strength of two World Cup wins.
The Americans have a serious medal contender of their own, Katherine Reutter. She's solid at all three distances, ranking second in the 1,000, third in the 1,500, eighth in the 500 and third overall behind the two Chinese stars.
``She's had a lot of very, very good races,'' Ohno said. ``She trains very, very hard. She busts her butt, man, every single day. You have to respect that. She's very focused, and I think she's got a lot of great chances to medal at these games.''
If Reutter comes through, she'll be the first American woman to claim a short track medal in 16 years. She's already won a pair of World Cup races this season - the first golds of her career - and left behind that homesick teenager who failed to even qualify for the Olympic trials four years ago.
``My first couple of years, I was a crybaby,'' said Reutter, a 21-year-old native of Illinois. ``I called home crying literally just about every day.''
In the wake of her disappointing performance, she switched her training base from tiny Marquette, Mich., to Salt Lake City.
``I feel like I've really kind of found my niche,'' Reutter said. ``I'm much more comfortable in the city.''
She also seemed comfortable getting the celebrity treatment, appearing on ``The Colbert Report'' not long after the show's host, Stephen Colbert, stepped in to raise funds for the financially strapped U.S. speedskating program. Reutter got in on the fun, letting Colbert autograph her thigh when she appeared on his show.
``When Colbert first began sponsoring us, we wondered if he would make fun of us and this would turn into a joke,'' Reutter said. ``But he's really given us a lot of respect to go out and do the best we can. We all need to realize that we skate in tiny circles wearing spandex. That can be humorous at times. But it's been a really good fit. He's a really generous guy to come help us out.''
Another American to keep an eye on in Vancouver is J.R. Celski.
A rising star on the men's team, Celski suffered a gruesome injury at the U.S. championships in September when he crashed into a barrier and his right skate blade sliced open his left thigh down to the bone. The wound has healed. The mental scars are still there.
``It's getting better, but it's still a little iffy when I go around those corners,'' Celski said. ``I'm trying to stay positive when I go fast now, but it's a little difficult. I'm not going to lie.''
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AP Sports Writer Doug Alden in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
