Freestyle Skiing

At 160 centimetres, or a little more than five feet tall, in her sneakered feet, Jenn Heil does not look like a force to be reckoned with.

That is, not until she straps on her boots, skis and helmet and becomes a speeding, twisting mogul machine, one who carries Olympic-sized expectations on her slight shoulders as the woman who could win Canada's first gold medal in the 2010 Olympic games.

Heil - a freestyle skier who won a gold medal in Turin, becoming the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in moguls skiing - yesterday played down the significance of claiming a morale-building first medal in Vancouver.

"I've been working very hard over the last four years to be prepared. I know where I need to be, where my mind needs to be to deliver a great performance. So that's where I'm focused right now," said Heil, 26, who spoke at a team news conference in Vancouver, fresh from a training camp at Apex Mountain Resort in British Columbia's Okanagan region.

"In terms of winning Canada's first gold medal - I don't see any different value in who wins a medal, whether it's Day 1 or Day 7. I know how hard it is and how much effort goes into winning any Olympic medal."

Her teammates, however, have different ideas.

"My sense is that it is going to happen, and I would bet a lot of money on the first day," teammate Alex Bilodeau said with a grin in response to a question about the pressure of competing, and winning, on home turf. The women's mogul competition takes place on Feb. 13, the day before the men's moguls event.

"I don't have any pressure - I know somebody is going to do it before me," he added.

The five-man, four-woman Canadian moguls team are likely to be among the highest-profile athletes in the games, competing in a crowd-friendly event that marries blistering speed with spectacular jumps. Freestyle skiing comprises three events, moguls, aerials and ski cross, with all competitions slated to take place on snow-challenged Cypress Mountain near Vancouver.

Heil, a Spruce Grove, Alta., native who has battled knee problems as she's collected a series of Canadian and World Cup championships along with her Olympic gold medal, will be in the spotlight.

So will Kristi Richards, a 28-year-old from Summerland, B.C., who grew up in the B.C.'s Okanagan region and won two medals, a silver and a gold, in two days on the World Cup circuit in December.

Like Heil, Richards - who finished seventh in the 2006 Olympic Games - acknowledged that an Olympic competition in Canada brings with it added layers of excitement and hometown fervour.

"My favourite moment from Torino was standing in the gates and seeing my family in the crowd. For me, to imagine standing in the gate here at Cypress and seeing not only my friends, but my family and my sponsors and my support team - it just feels like a bigger family," Richards said.

"I get a lot of confidence and energy from that."

Heil, who took a break from competition from the 2006 Games, said the team has benefited from support over the past four years that includes extensive physical and psychological training.

And even though her teammates might be expecting a lot from Heil, they expect just as much from themselves.

"The breadth and depth of this group, as a Canadian Olympic team, is so strong, that it's taken a lot of pressure off," said Peter Judge, chief executive officer of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association.

"When we went into Calgary, we had only a couple of medal hopefuls, and the big story there was the battle of the Brians," he added, referring to the showdown between rival figure skaters Brian Boitano of the United States and Canada's Brian Orser. (In that competition, Boitano took the gold while Orser claimed silver).

"So you had very few hands carrying a lot of weight. Where in this group, you've got a lot of people, a lot of hands, carrying that same weight."

Canada's first gold possibilities

Canada is heading into its third Olympic Games as host nation, still looking for its first gold on home soil - or snow, in this case. There will be a few events in which Canadians could end that drought the first day at the 2010 Games: (All times Pacific)

10:45 a.m. - Men's ski jump - Traditionally the first medal event of the Games but Canada won't be a factor. Likely favourite will be Gregor Schlierenzauer, one of the "Austrian Eagles" who have dominated the World Cup circuit's top five.

11:45 a.m. - Men's downhill - Canada is without world champion John Kucera, but Manuel Osborne-Paradis, a two-time World Cup winner this season, veteran Erik Guay, fourth in Super-G at Turin in 2006 and long shot Olympic rookie Robbie Dixon give the home side a rooting interest.

Noon - Men's speed skating 5,000 metres - Denny Morrison and Lucas Makowsky carry the country's colours, but the Dutch, led by Sven Kramer, hold down three of the top-5 world Cup places.

1:00 p.m. - Women's 7.5-km biathlon sprint - Two Swedes, Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek and Helena Jonsson, battle for the top spot on the World Cup. Zina Kocher of Canada is 26th in sprint.

7:18 p.m. - Men's short track 1,500-metres - Charles Hamelin, Olivier Jean and Guillaume Bastille are Canada's best bets in this race.

7:30 p.m. - Women's freestyle skiing, moguls - Jenn Heil, who got Canada's first gold in Turin and Kristi Richards, who started the World Cup season strong then tailed off, are Canada's best bets. Heil, who won three in a row just before the Games on the World Cup circuit could have a date with history on Cypress Mountain. (All times Pacific)

James Christie