Good as Gold. (News).

Americans cheered at the Winter Olympics last month. U.S. athletes had hoped to win 20 medals--the previous U.S. record was 14. But the athletes went home with an amazing 34 medals--10 of them gold (see graph, p. 22).

The U.S. produced many heroes in the 19th Winter Games. Figure skater Sarah Hughes, 16, surprised the world with a dramatic gold-medal performance in her first Olympics.

Flying down an icy course, Vonetta Flowers and Jill Bakken captured gold in the women's bobsled. Flowers made Olympic history as the first African-American competitor to win a medal at the Winter Games. The U.S. also captured gold, silver, and bronze in the men's half-pipe snowboard event.

But the Games were marred by controversy. Some athletes tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. And many people expected Canadian figure skaters David Pelletier and Jamie Sale to win gold after a flawless routine in the pairs competition. But the judges ranked the Canadian pair second to the Russian team of Anton Sikharulidze and Yelena Berezhnaya.

After many complaints and a hasty investigation, the International Olympic Committee said that one of the event's judges had been improperly influenced in her decision. So Pelletier and sale were given duplicate gold medals and shared first place with the Russians.

Meanwhile, American Apolo Anton Ohno won gold in the 1,500-meter short-track speedskating event-only after South Korea's Kim Dong Sung was disqualified. Sung crossed the finish line first, but a judge ruled that he had blocked Ohno.

The Salt Lake City Games are history. Now it's on to the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece, and the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.