Vonn, Bjoerndalen set for glory as Olympics return to Canada (Feature)

By John Bagratuni Jan 27, 2010, 5:04 GMT

Hamburg - The Olympics return to Canada for the Vancouver Winter Games, and the hosts are determined to win gold medals and not leave them for the likes of Lindsey Vonn and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.

Canada failed to get a gold at the 1976 summer edition in Montreal and the 1988 Games on snow and ice in Calgary.

But this time around they have plenty of contenders ranging from the beloved ice hockey teams to moguls ace Jennifer Heil.

The 2006 champion Heil can kickstart the Canadian team with a gold on the opening day of competition of the February 12-28 Games. The men's hockey team could round it all off with gold on the final day.

'I competed on Day One in 2002. I competed on Day One in 2006. And honestly, I'm looking forward to it. It's all I know and I really can't wait to be out there,' Heil recently told The Star newspaper.

While there are plenty of other stars around such as the US ski queen Vonn and Norway's biathlon king Bjoerndalen, Canadian success would end a mixed path since Vancouver was elected host in 2003 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Founded in 1886 by gold diggers, the Pacific Ocean port with a population of 600,000 (2.2 million metropolitan area) is constantly ranked highly in 'most liveable cities' polls.

But the residents took a long time to warm up to the Olympics.

Exploding costs dominated the headlines, most notably for the Olympic Village in Vancouver. The world economic crisis added to the woes but IOC boss Jacques Rogge promised that his body will help balance the operative budget of 1.7 billion US dollars.

The crucial security issue has also led to high costs, with a security force of some 15,000 out to make sure that the 16-day Games are safe for athletes, officials and fans.

But the mood is now positive, with IOC boss Jacques Rogge expecting 'absolutely magnificent' Games and organizing committee VANOC boss John Furlong saying, 'We have done our best, tried hard to keep our promises. Our country is excited.'

VANOC expects to sell all 1.7 million tickets as 2,600 athletes from up to 90 countries are set to compete in 86 events. That marks a new record as 2,508 athletes from 80 countries who competed in 84 events 2006 in Turin.

Like Turin and the two previous editions, the Games are split in two.

The ice events are in Vancouver and Richmond, freestyle and snowboard in nearby Cypress Mountain, while snow sports and sliding take place in the famous resort of Whistler, reachable in 90 minutes from Vancouver via the new 'Sea to Sky' highway.

Vonn has dominated women's alpine skiing since 2008 and is the overwhelming gold medal favourite in the downhill and super-g.

'I have been dreaming of a medal since I was a young girl. I hope I can medal at the Olympics,' Vonn told German Press Agency dpa ahead of the season.

Bjoerndalen is the most successful winter sport World Cup athlete with more than 90 victories, and can challenge fellow-Norwegian Bjoern Dahlie for best Winter Olympian if all goes well.

Daehlie has eight gold and four silver, while Bjoerndalen won four golds in 2002 alone for a 5-3-1 tally.

'Bjoern is a unique athlete but I will try to pass him,' said Bjoerndalen, who aims to help Norway rebound from just one gold in 2006.

Germany, a power in biathlon and sliding events, topped the last three winter medal tables, but the US was on top in the Olympic events last year at world championship level with 14-4-9, ahead of Norway (10-8-5), Germany (9-14-3) and Canada (6-7-13).

Vonn, snowboarder Shaun White, short-track skater Apolo Ohno, speed skater Shani Davis or the Nordic combined team led by double world champion Todd Lodwick are part of a powerful US team.

Other potential Vancouver stars include young Swiss skier Carlo Janka, Norwegian cross-country star Petter Northug and Austrian ski-jumper Gregor Schlierenzauer, while world champion Kim Yu-Na of South Korea seeks gold in the blue riband women's figure skating.

Injured downhill world champion John Kucera of Canada heads a long list of absentees which also includes German speed skater Claudia Pechstein over doping rules violation.

Cheaters in Vancouver are to be deterred by a record 2,000 drug tests around the Games, and police raids are also not ruled out (like 2006 on Austrian team members) if the IOC is suspicious.