White, Vonn, Davis win gold

White was so dominant that he had the gold wrapped up after his first run  A fearless Vonn hurtled down a treacherous Whistler mountain course to become the first American to win the women's downhill, one of the most spectacular and dangerous events at the Olympics.

Not to be outdone, Davis powered home over the final lap at the Richmond Olympic Oval to become the first man to win the 1,000M speed skating title at successive Olympics as the US soared to the peak of the medal standings.

The three victories gave the powerful team a total of five gold medals, ahead of Germany, South Korea and Switzerland, who each had three golds. Russia, Norway and Austria all opened their gold medal accounts on Wednesday while China won their second in Vancouver and Slovenia's Petra Majdic won the admiration of everyone with her brave third-place finish in the women's cross country sprint classic.

Majdic was urged by doctors to pull out of her event after she tripped and fell in a deep hole during a morning training run, badly bruising the muscles around her ribs.

She could hardly breathe but ignored the medical advice and got back on her skis and made it through to the final, which she finished in so much pain that she collapsed on to the snow and needed help just to get on the medal podium.