Olympic Games 2010

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry met at a selection camp for an under-18 team -- or so Perry recalls. Getzlaf thought it wasn't until after the 2003 draft, in which the Ducks chose him 19th and Perry 28th, that they began forming the bond that led to having their names engraved on the Stanley Cup in 2007 and on Team Canada's roster for the Vancouver Olympics. After a moment's thought, Getzlaf decided Perry was right. "He made that team and I didn't," the rangy center said, "so that's why he remembers it."

Tears again filled the house that two days ago held so much pain. Only this time, they were tears of amazement, of wonder, of joy. This time, a figure skater wept gold, Korea's Kim Yuna setting a world record in both points and strength of standing ovation, spinning into history with an Olympic championship that will reverberate from Seoul to Los Angeles. Did you see it? Could you feel it? The breeze from hundreds of Korean flags that filled the Pacific Coliseum is still whipping through these Pacific Rim streets.

Men's slalom, the last Olympic Alpine event, also provides last chances for Bode Miller and the Austrians. Miller, the sport's enigmatic icon, has already won three medals at the Vancouver Games, three more than the entire Austrian men's team. Winner of the gold in the super combined, the silver in the super-G and the bronze in the downhill, Miller was last seen last Tuesday skiing back to his condo after skiing out of the giant slalom. As for his chances in Saturday's slalom, think back to Dave Kingman's strikeout-to-home-run ratio.

There was skidding, sailing, a man flying off the edge of an icy track, his body crumpling on a metal walkway, a lifeless leg dangling in the air. There was a glittering floating grizzly, a snowboarder flying under giant glowing rings, beaming athletes marching under giant wool hats. Death came to the Olympics. Life came to the Olympics . It all happened on the same day Friday, the quadrennial winter celebration sliding out of the starting gate in staggering, breathless uncertainty.

The women's giant slalom was finally put to bed Thursday as Julia Mancuso tried to put a few rumors, and her emotional Olympic experience, to rest. Mancuso had no real shot at Whistler to defend her gold medal. Hope ended Wednesday when she finished 18th in her first run. Mancuso was flagged off course during her run and forced to restart after teammate Lindsey Vonn crashed in front of her. Poor weather postponed the second run to Thursday morning, which gave Mancuso time to transition from fuming to philosophical.

On a makeshift stage 100 feet from Vancouver's False Creek (which isn't really a creek) and a mile from Granville Island (which isn't really an island) stepped Stephen Colbert, a man who has turned making a mockery of things into a major Olympic snort. "We love you, Dave Letterman!" shouted a wise guy as Colbert prepared to start the show. Irreverence was the rule, not the exception, Wednesday morning in the first of two giant outdoor shows Colbert is taping here in Vancouver.

It was nearing midnight when he walked into the room, a kid in a black newsboy cap and checkered scarf, all red hair and childish smile, the class clown home from the high school dance. Somebody asked Shaun White to describe his ability "in a nutshell." White immediately started moving his hands around his face in mock terror. "Oh, no!" he said. "I'm in a nutshell!" Somebody else asked him about the best parts of the Olympics. "Honestly, it's about getting our gear," he said.

Lindsey Vonn caught a bad break last week when a shin injury suffered during slalom training in Austria seemingly jeopardized her chances for achieving Olympic glory at the Vancouver Games. Don't worry: Gray skies are going to clear up? Strangely, Vonn certainly hopes not. Her good break came Thursday when the Whistler weather got worse. A day after she openly wondered if she would be able to compete in these Olympics, a grungy amalgam of snow, rain and fog forced the cancellation of Vonn's anticipated downhill training run. And that bought her precious healing time in an effort to recast herself as Alpine's multi-medal contender.

As soon as Steve Petrie arrived at Cypress Mountain, high above the city, a hint of panic set in. It was early January, and Petrie needed a whole lot of snow to build a halfpipe for the Vancouver Olympics snowboard competition. All he got was rain. "It rained and rained and rained," he recalled. "We were watching all the snow melt away." Which makes the last two nights semi-miraculous. After weeks of fretting -- not to mention complaints from riders -- Petrie's creation produced stirring performances in both the men's and women's finals.

The race to be host of the 2010 Winter Games is on in earnest. Voters in a referendum at Vancouver, Canada, favored seeking the Games. Bidders in Salzburg, Austria, released a poll showing public backing; and an International Olympic Committee task force gave high marks to Pyeongchang, South Korea. The import of the developments, according to a number of IOC officials, is that what had been seen as a two-way race -- between Vancouver and Salzburg -- has become a three-way competition.