U.S. has owned medal podium

VANCOUVER, British Columbia --- Losing a hockey game to the United States was embarrassing enough.

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Now Canada is raising the white flag -- giving up on its brash goal of winning the most medals at the Vancouver Games.

The U.S. remains on course for a historic medal haul, with a chance to take home the most hardware at the Winter Games for the first time in almost 80 years.

But Canada's Own the Podium program is in tatters. And a surprising, demoralizing loss to a young American team in ice hockey -- a sport Canada invented -- is only making the pain deeper.

"Woe Canada: U.S. sticks stake in our hearts," read the headline in Monday's Vancouver Sun.

"It was very disappointing," said George Assaf, a Vancouver firefighter who was wearing a Canada hockey jersey as he took photos of the Olympic cauldron Monday. "The Canadians didn't play up to their standards. But I'm still hopeful we'll pull it out in the end."

With one medal event left on the 10th day of competition Monday, the U.S. led the overall medal count with 24 -- three more than Germany. The U.S. and Germany were tied for the most golds with seven each.

Canada had just four golds and nine medals overall, a disappointment for a country that spent $117 million over five years to give extra support to athletes and dominate the medals stand. On Monday, they conceded defeat.

"We'd be living in a fool's paradise if we said we're going to catch the Americans and win," said Chris Rudge, chief executive of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has been careful not to make medal forecasts, boast about the success so far or take pleasure from Canada's failed attempt at medal supremacy.

The United States hasn't topped the medals table -- gold or overall -- at a Winter Olympics since the 1932 Games in Lake Placid. The Americans could also challenge their record of 34 total medals from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

"Certainly it would be a bonus, but we're not focused on that outcome," said Mike English, the USOC's director of sports performance. "We're focused on the athletes' performance, not medals."

The Americans are assured of at least a silver medal in women's hockey after beating Sweden 9-1 in a semifinal game. The U.S. will face either Canada or Finland in Thursday's final.

And the U.S. also has good medal prospects in the coming days in Nordic combined skiing, short-track speedskating, freestyle aerials and Alpine skiing.

Even the U.S. men's hockey team has legitimate medal hopes -- after Sunday's unexpected 5-3 win over Canada, they will go into the quarterfinals as the top-seeded team.