United States Athletic Teams

As Danell Leyva picked up speed on the high bar, letting go and catching it almost faster than the mind can comprehend, Leyva's stepfather and coach, Yin Alvarez, could barely stay on the ground. Alvarez twisted and turned and kicked up his feet, gathering as much momentum as Leyva, and when the routine was over, completed with just a small hop on the landing, Alvarez picked up Leyva and carried him on his back in joy. After 18 total rounds of competition at the national championships two weeks ago and Thursday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose in the first of two nights of the U.S. Olympic trials, Leyva has taken a commanding lead in the men's gymnastics all-around competition.

First came the goal, then came the celebration. Then came the tears. After lifting the U.S. soccer team to the most dramatic – and one of the most important – victories in its history Wednesday, Landon Donovan broke down briefly at a postgame news conference. "I've been through a lot in the past four years," Donovan said. "I'm so glad it culminated this way. It makes me believe in good in the world and if you try to do things the right way it's good to see it get reward."

Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa -- American goalkeeper Tim Howard , who suffered an unspecified rib or chest injury when he collided with forward Emile Heskey during Saturday night's 1-1 tie with England, is still being monitored. "He is currently receiving treatment and our trainers are closely evaluating his progress," a U.S. spokesman said Sunday evening. "He will be evaluated again in the morning to determine if any tests will be required." Howard was caught in the ribs by Heskey's boot in the game in Rustenburg and needed pain medication at halftime in order to continue.

O Canada, did it ever fill the arena, everyone singing, players with their thick arms draped around one another, fans weeping into their giant red jerseys, surely one of the loudest anthems ever. You know what? Let Canada sing. It earned it. It needed it. The joy, the relief, the redemption, and, of course, the farewell. On the final day of Canada's official duties as Olympic hosts, its national sport survived America's national grit Sunday, winning the gold-medal hockey game over the United States in overtime, 3-2, in front of a bouncing sea of braying red. The winners celebrated with the game's best ice dancing, nearly two dozen men locked in a jumping, board-rattling embrace.

Their game, their gold, but the Olympic hockey finale between Canada and the U.S. belonged to history before the roars triggered by Sidney Crosby's overtime goal had faded by so much as a decibel Sunday. Crosby, whose silence the previous two games had led a nation to brood, took a pass from Jarome Iginla and rifled a shot through the legs of U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller 7 minutes 40 seconds into overtime, giving Canada a 3-2 victory in the last event of perhaps the last Olympic tournament that will include NHL players.

By midday Thursday, reality consumed speedskater Jen Rodriguez. Relative improvement, not medals, measured success in these Olympics. In Friday's team pursuit, the U.S. women were set to face Canada, the top-ranked team in the world. "If we can get out of the first round, we may have a chance to do something good," the four-time Olympian said as she left the ice. "It's going to be extremely tough." Maybe it's only when the gung-ho platitudes subside that the unlikely occurs.

They pictured themselves here, playing for an Olympic gold medal, even if few others shared their vision or recognized the power of their unshakable cohesiveness. But not for an instant did anyone connected with the U.S. Olympic hockey team expect to score six times in the first 12 minutes 46 seconds of their semifinal against Finland on Friday and barge into Sunday's final with a 6-1 rout. "The first 14 minutes, we were all over them," forward Ryan Kesler said. "If you had asked anybody in our locker room if we'd be up 6-0 after the end of the first, we'd all look at you crazy.

At the end, and this may be the very end, Apolo Anton Ohno circled the Pacific Coliseum ice with a smile, tears welling and an unprecedented eighth Winter Olympics medal secured. It just took a few minutes longer than expected. He had No. 8 in hand after the men's 500-meter race earlier Friday, but he also had that hand on the hip of a competitor on the last turn of that race. That got him disqualified, leaving only the chaotic 5,000-meter relay in which he could add to the stack of hardware he had accrued.

What do you do if you get kicked out of a neighborhood pickup game? Go start another one with another team. That's just about what veteran snowboarder Chris Klug did after he was dropped from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn.'s program last year. He formed a team with four others. It's a do-it-yourself parallel giant slalom team. "I still wanted to continue," Klug said this week. "I had some unfinished business. It turned out to be a real blessing in disguise."

On a day filled with crashes, Steve Holcomb drove his Night Train smoothly down the track and into first place at the halfway point of the four-man bobsled competition, raising hopes of ending a 62-year gold-medal drought for the United States. With two strong pushes, Holcomb twice lowered the track record, and he led Canada's Lyndon Rush by .40 of a second and Germany's Andre Lange by .44 of a second. "It's a great lead to have, obviously. It kind of takes a little pressure off. Even if we do make a little mistake . . . we still have a little padding," Holcomb said.