By Barry Svrluga

updated 8:43 p.m. ET Feb. 11, 2006

SESTRIERE, Italy - The 20th Winter Olympics don't begin until Friday, and even then it's merely the lighting of a torch and a few stanzas from Pavarotti during Opening Ceremonies. The first Alpine ski race here in this mountain village isn't until Sunday, when the men's downhill competitors will point their skis toward the bottom of the Kandahar Banchetta course and, less than two minutes later, will soar over the final bump toward the finish line, where some 7,000 fans will pack the temporary stands.

But Thursday afternoon, when the only crowd noise was the false kind -- pumped through the speakers at the base of the mountain -- there was already the air of competition. "The downhill," said the United States' Steve Nyman, "is not just a one-day event."

Indeed, for Nyman and two other American men -- not to mention a handful of skiers from Austria, the sport's heavyweight -- the next two days will determine how extensive their Olympic dreams can be. In a scenario that would have been unthinkable in the dark days of the mid-1990s, when just cobbling together a worthy team was a difficult task, the U.S. ski team appears to have at least five men who deserve to compete in an Olympic downhill. Yet there are only four spots.

Thus, in effect, the racing starts Friday, during the second of three downhill training runs. Daron Rahlves -- who blistered the course here during Thursday's first run, posting the day's fastest time -- has one spot secured, and might be the race favorite come Sunday. Bode Miller, whose unpredictable nature could make him a favorite for either first or 40th, holds another. And Friday, the fastest among Nyman, Marco Sullivan and Scott Macartney will secure the third spot. The two remaining athletes will ski off for the final chance on Saturday, and the other will be left out.

"You want that spot," Nyman said. "You got to get that spot. I'm definitely bringing what I can every single day. There's no wasting time here."

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Such competition is routine for the Austrians, who have three of the world's best downhillers -- Michael Walchhofer, Fritz Strobl and legendary two-time Olympic gold medalist Hermann Maier -- already in the field for Sunday's race. But as many as five other men, led by Klaus Kroell, are vying for the last slot. Unlike the Americans, the Austrians won't choose their participant based solely on training times. Rather, the coaches will gather after Friday's second training run and select the chosen one. The process is significant considering that one of the men left out might well be capable of winning a medal on a given day.

For the Americans, though, the situation is more unusual. The U.S. men have just one downhill medal in the past five Olympics -- Tommy Moe's gold in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. The American men's total medal haul in all Alpine events in that time: four. The competition for the final downhill spots here shows that, finally, the team isn't pinning all its hopes on just one skier.

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"This team is deep," said first-time Olympian Ted Ligety, who will race the downhill in the combined event. "And that pushes everyone, because you always know someone might be coming up behind."

Of the three men skiing for the final spots Friday, the most pressure would appear to be on Sullivan, a 25-year-old Californian who has no guarantees of competing in any other race. The pressure of the race before the race could wear on anyone.

"If you know Marco," Macartney said, "he's never really on edge. He's pretty mellow."

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Sullivan was the slowest of the three contenders in Thursday's first training run, when he admittedly was just trying to feel out the course. Nyman was the second-fastest American behind Rahlves, followed by Miller, Macartney and Sullivan, who was 29th overall. But very few would remember that he was the top American 2002 Olympic downhiller at Salt Lake City -- when he finished ninth -- and is a bit of an underdog after missing two straight seasons with injuries. Pressure? What pressure?

"I kind of feel like I have the most to gain, actually," Sullivan said. "I've got nothing to lose. If I don't get the spot, I'm just here to hang out. If I do get the spot, I'm an Olympian."

But isn't he an Olympian just by virtue of being here?

"I don't know," he said, and he looked at his red U.S. ski team jacket, smiling. "I got the coat. I'm not giving it back."

Whether he lays similar claim to an Olympic starting position will be determined in the coming days.

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