Jim Souhan: Games need a spark after stumbling out of gate

VANCOUVER — Rain kept falling in Vancouver on Saturday as the medal competition began at the Winter Olympics, turning this beautiful, atmospheric city into the set of Blade Runner.

To say these Games began under a cloud would be literal and redundant. A city and country eager to please their citizens and the world spent much of the week, and even part of their spectacular Opening Ceremony, embarrassed by problems ranging from tragic death to ominous symbolism.

On Friday, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after flying off the track during a training run, dampening a day dedicated to Canadian celebration and showmanship and raising questions about the track's safety and Canada's unwillingness to allow foreign countries to train extensively at their venues.

The Georgian athletes wore black sashes around their right biceps as they marched at the Opening Ceremony, which, despite spectacular choreography and technology, were marred by a mechanical glitch. Four Canadian athletes held torches to light four arms of the Olympic cauldron, but one arm failed to rise, leaving former Olympic speedskater Catriona Le May Doan to salute the crowd with her torch.

Across town, Krista Cattapan, a volunteer who attended the dress rehearsals for the ceremony, was sitting in a restaurant called "Chambar" when the arm malfunctioned. "Oh, no," she said. "Something went wrong. What a shame."

Weather is beyond the control of the organizers, but the International Olympic Committee took a risk when it chose Vancouver, the warmest city in the history of the Winter Games. While the city is perfectly suited to handling the logistics and demands of the Games, temperatures stuck in the 40s, a lack of snow in Cypress Mountain and either too much or not enough snow in Whistler altered schedules and limited training runs.

If there is a positive development for "Vanoc" -- the Vancouver Olympic Committee -- it is that the warmth could rekindle what was supposed to be the story of these Olympics. On Wednesday, Lindsey Vonn, the Burnsville native expected to become the face of the Games, announced that a bruised leg might keep her from competing, meaning she might go from being the face of the Games to the skin and shin of the Games, given her injury and her Sports Illustrated photo spread.

"I'm lucking out pretty heavily because of all the cancellations," she said on Friday. "Normally, I would be disappointed. But for my shin, I think, this is the best possible scenario."

Saturday in downtown Vancouver, protesters smashed department store windows and were turned back by local police as they marched on the hotel where International Olympic Committee officials are staying.

Connecting the dots between all of the problems facing the Vancouver Olympics doesn't mitigate the joy of the Games, though. Saturday afternoon, before the 5,000-meter speedskating competition, the Dutch brass band Kleintje Pils, wearing wooden shoes and dancing as they played, warmed up the crowd at the Richmond Olympic Oval -- even playing "We Will Rock You" with the trombone taking the lead.

Canadian speedskater Lucas Makowsky hasn't worried himself with the Games' troubles. "I've been trying to take things in, but it's been the Olympic competition that I've been focusing in on a lot more," he said after finishing 13th in the 5,000. "That's why I backed out of the Opening Ceremonies. I just wanted to make sure this would be the best experience for me, in terms of competition."

American speedskater Chad Hedrick offered only positives, even after finishing 11th in the race he won in Turin. "This is an awesome city, an awesome Olympics," he said. "Look at our village. I'm living for the next month in a million-dollar condo overlooking the city.

As he spoke, though, the rain kept falling, and you could almost hear Canadian jaws clenching.