VANCOUVER, B.C. - Suspense is ramping up over which of Canada's athletes will be the first gold medallist for the host team at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
On Monday, athletes had time between their arrival in Vancouver and their dispersal to various competition venues to address, deflect, tackle or outright avoid the query: Will you be the first?
It will be a significant achievement because no Canadian has ever won gold at a Games their country hosted. Not in 1988 in Calgary. Not in 1976 in Montreal.
The first medals of the 21st Winter Olympiad will be awarded Saturday. Canadian candidates to break the gold jinx that day start with Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., in the men's downhill that morning in Whistler. Then, short-track speedskater Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., competes in the 1,500 metres in the afternoon while moguls skier Jennifer Heil of Spruce Grove goes at night on Cypress Mountain.
The inaugural gold could also come from a dark horse like downhiller Robbie Dixon, who grew up skiing the Whistler mountain with Osborne-Paradis, but has yet to post eye-catching results during his career.
Canadians may also have to be content Saturday with lesser medals, or none at all, and wait until later in the Games for the motherlode.
Heil's teammates Alex Bilodeau, who competes Sunday, doesn't think Canada will wait that long for the first gold.
"It's going to happen and I would bet a lot of money on the first day," he said with a chuckle during a news conference. "I don't have any pressure. I know somebody is going to do it before me."
Momentum counts for Canada at an Olympic Games. The host team has the opportunity to win most of its medals during the final five days of the Games. But a gold on opening day would tide Canada over until that happens.
No Canadian male has ever won the glamour event that is the Olympic men's downhill. Osborne-Paradis, who turned 26 on Monday, anticipated getting a birthday pie in the face from his teammates that day before turning his attention to Saturday's race.
"I believe I can win a gold medal," said Osborne-Paradis, who has two World Cup wins this season. "We've got to have all the ducks in a row. You need the good weather, the right start number and then you need to have the best run."
Hamelin, also 26, has finished in the medals in three of four 1,500-metre World Cup races this season, including one victory. The Ste-Julie, Que., native wants an Olympic medal in an individual race and the men's 5,000-metre relay in Vancouver.
"When I make a final, my goal is always to win," Hamelin says.
Heil, 27, jump-started the Canadian team four years ago in Turin, Italy, with a gold medal on the first day of competition. Canada went on to win a record 24 medals at those Games.
"I know after I won my medal in Torino, I was getting out of a taxi in town and (players on) the women's hockey team were trying to get into the taxi," she said Monday. "They said they had waited to watch my run before going out and training on the ice.
"They said it gave them a huge boost of energy, so for sure we're all going to be feeding off each other's performance."
If Heil prevails again Saturday, she would be only the second Canadian after speedskater Catriona Le May Doan in 1998 and 2002 to defend her Olympic gold medal.
"I really made the decision to be here in Vancouver because I wanted to be better than I was in 2006," she said. "My joy will be going out there and having a fantastic performance."
No one athlete will have to carry the weight of their country on their shoulders in Vancouver, which makes Canada chances of winning gold better, according to the head of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. Peter Judge was a freestyle coach at the 1988 Games in Calgary and recalled the meagre medal prospects Canada had there.