Mike Celizic

SESTRIERE, Italy - Call it Black Sunday, the day the sky fell in on the U.S. Olympic Team. And nothing the team can do during the next two weeks can make up for the opportunities already lost.

The United States has already missed enough opportunities in its best events to be almost certain that it will not meet its own goal of equaling or beating the record 34 medals it won four years ago. That is the reality of Black Sunday.

Nobody saw it coming, even though there was warning enough on Gray Saturday, when the clouds began to gather at the women’s freestyle moguls event. The deepest team the American women has ever had was led by 2005 World Champion Hannah Kearney, and expectations were as high as Bode Miller the night before a race. Kearney would win gold, and one of her teammates would probably join her on the podium.

But Kearney missed a jump, got hammered in the mogul field, and was out of the event before the qualifying round was over. Her teammates could do no better than eighth in the finals. One certain medal and one bonus prize were wiped off the team’s medal chart.

Okay, it’s the Winter Games, and things happen. Not to worry, because on Sunday, the American men were going to take on the Kandahar downhill course in Alpine skiing’s most glamorous event. Bode Miller was the defending World Cup Champ and teammate Daron Rahlves, who had the fastest time in practice, were sure to get at least one medal between them.

But even as the men were riding the lift to the start house for the downhill, Michelle Kwan, the face of American figure skating and a one-woman ratings machine, was holding a press conference in Turin to announce that she was withdrawing from the Games because of a nagging groin injury.

And then disaster really struck. Miller, who had been spotted by an employee of Reuters downing beers at midnight in a Sestriere bar, butchered the bottom of the downhill course and skied himself out of a medal, while Rahlves, who had skipped his second training run because he felt so good about himself, was never in contention, finishing a distant tenth.

To rub salt into the wound, the downhill went to a Frenchman — a very good Frenchman — Antoine Deneriaz.

Piling onto all of that, short track speedskating star Apolo Anton Ohno lost in the semifinals in the men's 1,500 meters. He was only the defending champion in the event.

In a couple of hours on just the second day of competition, Team USA lost its biggest drawing card, the biggest race and had to watch the French celebrate.

WINTER OLYMPICS More on Michelle Kwan Injury forces skater to withdraw Readers voice strong support for Kwan Spotlight now on Cohen, Hughes Bondy: Kwan never great Olympian Opinion: Missed golds define career Commentary: This was Black Sunday WP: Now Kwan has time to find true self   Video: Kwan talks with Costas about decision   Video: Kwan says she has 'no regrets' Vote: Kwan's mistake? | Legacy? | Highlights MORE FIGURE SKATING COVERAGE

Worse was the news coming from the snowboarding halfpipe venue, where Shaun White, the 19-year-old wizard with the cascading mane of red hair, crashed on the first of his two qualifying runs and faced the possibility of not making the finals of the event.

White was merely the surest bet in the entire Olympics. The rest of the world had already etched his name on the gold medal and set its sights on silver. That’s how dominating the man called the Flying Tomato is in his sport. And now, if he crashed again, he faced missing the finals altogether.

Slide show   Pictures of the Day Check out Sunday's best Olympic images.

Thank the lords of the rings that White is more resilient and resourceful than his Olympic teammates. The kid who swept all five events in the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix backed off the throttle a bit on his second qualifying run, made the finals with ease. White then went out and showed that there actually is at least one American at the Games other than speed skater Chad Hedrick who can do what he’s supposed to do when the spotlights are shining on the biggest stage in sports.

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