As the clock ticks down to Vancouver, the Canadian speed-skating squad is hoping to bring home a record number of Olympic medals in February.
But in order to pull off that feat, one or two skaters are going to have to pick up the slack from Cindy Klassen, the darling of the 2006 Turin Games, who will compete in fewer events this time around.
Brian Rahill, Speed Skating Canada's high-performance director, said expectations for the team are high - and the pressure is palpable. But he figures the long-track and short-track squads can beat their 12-medal performance from the 2006 Olympics. At those Games, Canada brought home eight medals in long-track and four in short-track.
"I would be disappointed if we don't match it or improve it," Rahill said.
But making up for the Klassen factor will have to be a priority. The Winnipeg long-track skater won five medals in Turin, including gold in the 1,500-metre event. Her four individual medals and another in the team pursuit are a Canadian record for a single Olympics.
But Klassen will compete in just two or three events next month - the 500-metre and 3,000-metre races (and possibly the 5,000-metre event which is still to be decided) - as she tries to come back from double knee surgery.
"The thing we have to remember," Rahill said, "is that we got 12 medals in Turin, but four of those [individual medals]were from an exceptional athlete, Cindy. And there's no guarantee that's going to happen again." Canadian speed skating has come a long way since the 1988 Calgary Olympics, where the hometown squad was arguably an underdog, even with Gaétan Boucher on the roster.
In Vancouver, the speed skaters are projected to win at least a third of Canada's medals, given the depth and strength of the long-track and short-track programs.
"The expectation is constantly there now for this program to deliver world class performances and be successful," Rahill said. Ottawa's Kristina Groves, who will skate in five long-track events, will shoulder the heaviest workload. Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., will skate in four and is also a long-track medal favourite on the women's side.
On the men's side, Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C., who will compete in four long-track events, will contend for the podium, along with Red Deer, Alta.'s Jeremy Wotherspoon, who is returning to form after battling injuries last year.
Canada's 12 medals in Turin were a significant leap forward for the program, building on a nine-medal performance in Salt Lake in 2002 (six in short track, three in long-track) and nine in Nagano in 1998 (six in long-track, three in short-track).
The goal for Vancouver is to continue that momentum.
Groves, who will skate in five events for the second straight Olympics, said the talent on the team is more abundant now than ever. Younger skaters, such as Winnipeg's Brittany Schussler and Regina's Lucas Makowsky, have emerged as possible medal threats in long-track over the past few years.
"Of the Olympics I've been to, this is one of the strongest teams we've ever put together, and one of the deepest teams," said Groves, 33.
"In past Olympics we've definitely had medal hopefuls and medal winners. But I think we have many [contenders]farther down the list now and that's pretty exciting. I think there's a good chance for the whole team to do pretty well."