Through the first week, 23 nations won medals, including nontraditional winter competitors such as Australia and China. Estonia had three golds.
Such is the predicament facing American athletes with a week of competition remaining in their big test, trying to prove that they can be a consistent force in the snow and on ice. Their task has been filled with ups and downs.
For Hannah Kearney, a favorite in the women's moguls, that meant wobbling down the hill and failing to qualify for the final. She insisted it was "not the end of the world," then melted into tears.
But more than a third of the medals are yet to be presented -- many for events in which the U.S. is expected to contend for a place on the podium. The Americans are within reach of 25 medals.
Miller still has two more races, ski team officials say. Sasha Cohen is still a favorite in women's figure skating.
Even Jacobellis recovered from her internationally televised embarrassment.
After falling to the snow, she hurriedly pushed herself up and glided across the finish line in her snowboard cross final.
"The good news out of that was everyone didn't pass me," she said. "Only one person passed me, so I got the silver."
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Testing their medals
The United States has won five fewer medals in this year's Winter Olympics than it had at the same point in Salt Lake City in 2002.
U.S. medal count after nine days of competition
2006
Gold - 7
Silver - 4
Bronze - 2
Total - 13
2002
Gold - 4
Silver - 7
Bronze - 7
Total - 18
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Source: Times reports
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Half empty
U.S. skier Bode Miller is among the Olympic disappointments so far. He again failed to medal Saturday, crashing into a gate and going off the course in the super-giant slalom.
1. Miller veers off line in a section of the course known as Acqua Minerale, or "mineral water."
2. He plows into a gate and goes outside the blue lines marking the course.
3. Miller struggles on one ski to regain his balance before abandoning the race.
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Sources: Torino 2006; Via Lattea; 3D Data courtesy of Intermap Technologies Inc.; Associated Press; AFP Getty Images
