Team USA has yet to medal in the sport, either in the traditional course or now in short track.

There was good news for Canada. Denny Morrison won bronze in the men's 1,500 meters, his second medal of the Sochi Games.

Shani Davis? He wasn't even close. Davis faded badly over the final lap, finishing 11th in what could be the final individual event of his brilliant Olympic career.

Davis and the Americans were caught up in a debate over the high-tech suits they had never worn in competition, leading the team to switch back to the suits they had worn before at the Olympic trials and on the World Cup circuit.

The change didn't help. Davis was nearly a full second off the winner's time. Brian Hansen of Glenview, Ill., was the top-finishing American in seventh — matching the best performance by a U.S. speedskater at these hugely disappointing games.

"We have no medals, man. We have none," Davis said. "And the way things are looking, we might not get any. It's sad, because we've had a lot of potential, a lot of talent. It's terrible, a big, big, big disappointment."

Davis said the debate over the suits drained him mentally before he ever raced. He was essentially done after a poor showing in the 1,000, an event he had won in both Turin and Vancouver.

The other Americans also fared poorly. Joey Mantia of Ocala, Fla., finished 22nd and Jonathan Kuck of Champaign, Ill., was 37th out of 40 skaters.

C.J. Celski, Team USA's top hope in the short-track events, reached the semifinals before his Olympic dream ended. Celski and teammates Eddy Alvarez were eliminated in separate crashes.


PUTIN'S PRESENCE


No protests. No real problems.

But plenty of Putin.

Midway through the Winter Olympics, things couldn't be going much better for both Russia and its president, even if winter is actually missing from Sochi itself. The arenas and mountains are spectacular, the games have been peaceful and protest-free, and Russians seem filled with pride about their country's ability to put on a spectacle for the world to see.

Worries about terrorist attacks and fears that gay protests could overshadow the Olympics have faded as the world's best battle for medals on the ice and in the snow. Grandstands are mostly filled, television ratings are strong, and athletes haven't said a negative word about either Russia's laws or the food in the athlete's village.

Yes, a heat wave turned the snow a bit slushy and drew bathers to the Black Sea just steps from the main Olympic stadium. But weather is a factor at any Winter Games, and even Vladimir Putin can't do anything about that.

In charge of it all is the Russian president, who won the games with a personal plea and has so far treated them as his personal playground. Putin presided over the opening ceremonies, celebrated his country's first gold medal on ice with figure skaters, and watched stone-faced as the Russian hockey team lost an epic shootout Saturday to the U.S. in a tournament that means more to the country than 100 gold medals.

On Friday he even paid a visit to the U.S. team house, where he wore a pin that read "Happy Valentine's Day from Team USA" while chatting with athletes over a glass of wine.

If these are Putin's Olympics, he has spared no expense to put them on. They are the costliest ever, a $51 billion gamble that transcends sports as part of an effort to show Russia's resurgence as a world power.

Are they worth it? They just might be to some of the fans getting Russian flags painted on their faces earlier in the week as they waited to enter the figure skating arena.

"It is very special for us," said Diana Severyukhin, a Sochi-area resident who was attending the skating with her urologist father. "I'm proud of our country to be here."


RUSSIAN SKIER'S SPINAL INJURY


Olympic skicross racer Maria Komissarova of Russia had a 6½-hour operation on her broken spine after a training accident Saturday.

Komissarova broke the 12th dorsal vertebrae in her lower-middle back and was taken to a hospital near the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park for emergency surgery.

"The operation is over ... it's been successful," Russian freestyle ski federation spokesman Mikhail Verzeba said.

The International Olympic Committee was monitoring the situation. "Our thoughts are with the athlete and we wish her a full and speedy recovery," IOC president Thomas Bach said.

The Russian freestyle ski federation issued a statement later saying specialists participated in the surgery to insert a metal implant in Komissarova's spine.

Komissarova, 23, was conscious, and the federation said described her condition as "grave" but stable, adding that it was likely she'd need further surgery within weeks.

Jenny Wiedeke of the International Ski Federation said the accident occurred on a series of jumps near the top of the course and that Komissarova fell while exiting the third jump.

She was taken by sled to the medical services tent, and from there to the hospital. Team doctors decided to do the surgery immediately instead of transporting Komissarova down to Sochi.

Contributor: The Associated Press