WHAT DOES IT DO FOR AN ENCORE? UNPRECEDENTED 34-MEDAL HAUL HAS U.S. EAGER FOR 2006.

Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - Twenty was the public goal. Twenty-six was the secret target.

Thirty-four U.S. medals at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games was the stunning reality.

``We had a plan,'' USOC president Sandy Baldwin said. ``We worked on it for seven years. This is not serendipity, and it is so rewarding to see it pay off.''

Even taking into account home-country advantage, fan support and sheer luck, no one saw this avalanche of precious medals coming. Not even the rosiest of USOC optimists, of whom Baldwin was one. ``I thought 26 was possible,'' she said, ``but so many things can happen.''

Now that Salt Lake 2002 is over, and the U.S. has 21 more medals than its previous best winter showing (13 in 1998 and 1994), even USOC officials were left groping for explanations of how so much went right and often settling on intangibles such as character and personality.

``I suspected this would be a special team from the moment I began meeting with athletes and living in close quarters with them,'' said Dwight Bell, chief of mission, who lived in the Athletes Village. ``I don't think anybody knew just how special it would be, not just in terms of medals won, but in terms of effort, in sportsmanship and in doing their best.''

Others suggested it was almost an accident of timing, of momentum sparked by two surprise silver medals, those of Derek Parra in speedskating and Shannon Bahrke in moguls skiing, on the first day of competition.

``After that, it seemed like there's been this snowball effect,'' Parra said. ``Every athlete has been behind each other.'' And so have American fans. ``To go into a venue and hear that `U-S-A' chant is just an unbelievable feeling,'' Parra said.

Every nation that has staged the Winter Games has seen a net gain in medals from the previous Olympics. But the previous biggest bump was seven (France, at Albertville 1992). To go from 13 to 34 is staggering.

Factors suggested by U.S. officials, athletes and careful observation, on the final day of the Games: --The maturation of athlete-support programs put in place on recommendation of the so-called Steinbrenner Commission, formed after the eight-medal disaster of Calgary in 1988. ``That was when we said, `What the heck is going on?'' Baldwin said. ``After that, we began focusing on athletes and coaches. ... In some sports, especially endurance sports, it will take six years to get there. So the plan has been to help our athletes and coaches for whatever length of time it takes to reach the podium.''

The various support programs, from outright USOC grants to favorable part-time working arrangements with sponsors such as Home Depot, allowed the U.S. to field a veteran team.

--The mainstreaming of the U.S. Winter Olympics team. Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans had never won a Winter medal; here, they were part of six, led by Mexican-American Parra's gold and silver in speedskating. ``I think it really shows anything is possible, no matter where you come from in this country,'' Parra said. ``We are all Americans. If you really believe in yourself and you have people behind you that support you, you can fulfill your dreams.''

--U.S. achievement in the newer, nontraditional sports on the Winter menu. Americans won 14 medals in sports (five in snowboarding, three each in short-track speedskating, freestyle skiing and skeleton) that did not exist as recently as Calgary. Those successes masked U.S. failure in sports such as Alpine skiing (two medals, of 30 available).

--Home-venue advantage. The U.S. won eight medals in speedskating and another eight in the sliding sports, compared to two and two in 1998. American athletes had far more access to the venues used here - Utah Olympic Oval and Utah Olympic Park - than did their competitors, and it seemed to make a difference. Yanks won three medals in bobsled, after going 46 years without winning any. ``It's a leg up to get used to the Olympic ice day in and day out,'' Parra said before Salt Lake 2002.

--A slide toward mediocrity by Russia and some other former East Bloc nations, where athletes often are underfunded. The Russians once dominated the Winter Games, but they finished fifth with 16 medals, and athletes complained that no young stars are coming up since the breakup of the Soviet Union more than a decade ago.

--Americans and other Western nations, such as medals-leader Germany (with 35), have access to the latest breakthroughs in sports medicine and take advantage of them. Meanwhile, the chemists who once churned out Soviet cross-country skiers and East German speedskaters are unemployed. Said Baldwin: ``You have to support athletes, you have to support coaches and you have to support sports medicine.''

OK, but what have you done for us lately? What is to keep Salt Lake 2002 from being a quadrennial blip, and the U.S. medals count from plummeting back into the teens by Turin 2006, when sponsor support for foreign Games might be tepid?

Baldwin and USOC chief executive officer Lloyd Ward said they already are working on that.

``While our Olympians have been performing on the field of competition, we've been hard at work off the field,'' Ward said, referring to sponsorship. ``We're finding that the interest from our sponsors transcends where the Olympics are held. There is a tremendous amount of support for what we have to do. It will be a challenge, but we'll be in the game.''

Baldwin said: ``I think a dream is wonderful, but a dream has to have a plan. We start working on the next competition tomorrow.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Speedskater Derek Parra got the U.S. off to a quick start with two surprise medals, including a gold in the 1,500 meters.

Itsuo Inouye, Associated Press

Box:

(1) U.S. MEDALISTS

(2) EVENT-BY-EVENT MEDAL WINNERS