Playing it cool puts Goebel in position for a medal

AP Sports WriterSALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Sitting next to President Bush at the opening ceremony was really cool, and it's been a hoot hanging out with the speedskaters and the bobsledders.

Timothy Goebel sounded like the ultimate rookie when he said he was more interested in fun than medals at the Olympics.

He just might be on to something with his relaxed 'tude. His third-place finish in the short program was the best of the three Americans, and he goes into Thursday night's free skate just 4 1/2 minutes away from an Olympic medal.

An unexpected Olympic medal.

"I'm thrilled," Goebel, a native of the Chicago suburb of Rolling Meadows, Ill., said after practice Wednesday. "I still have a shot at getting a medal. It's not something that I'm thinking about, but it's there, it's something that could happen.

"If I end up with a medal, that's really cool. If not, hey, I've still had a really good experience."

The United States hasn't won a men's medal since Paul Wylie's silver in 1992, and Goebel is the only one who can end the drought. Michael Weiss is in eighth place after having to skate first in the short, and six-time U.S. champ Todd Eldredge is a disappointing ninth.

The Americans haven't won the gold since Brian Boitano in 1988, but Goebel is a long shot for that. Alexei Yagudin won the short program, and he'll add a gold medal to his three world titles if he keeps skating the way he has been.

Yagudin's main rival, fellow Russian Evgeny Plushenko, is back in fourth after a disastrous short program, but don't count him out. Not only can he still win a medal, but he has an outside chance at the gold if he wins the free skate and someone other than Yagudin finishes second.

"A lot of guys up there look good, and Plushenko's right behind them," Eldredge said. "It's definitely going to be an interesting competition for those guys."

Though Goebel won the U.S. title in 2001 and has done well internationally, he wasn't the American expected to challenge for a medal. The "Quad King" may be the best jumper in the world -- he'll do three quads in his free skate -- but he still has a ways to go with his artistry.

At nationals last month, Goebel lost to Eldredge even though Eldredge didn't attempt a quad.

"I was not expecting to be in this position," Goebel admitted. "I really didn't envision myself being this high with all the other medals contenders here."

But here he is, and he's having a blast. Much like Tara Lipinski four years ago, Goebel is trying to soak up the entire Olympic experience. He stayed in the athletes village the first few days, only moving to a hotel Monday night to prepare for competition.

He's become buddies with some bobsledders and members of the U.S. speedskating team. A few of the speedskaters were there to cheer Goebel on Tuesday night, and he planned to return the favor as short-track began Wednesday night.

He sat next to President Bush at the opening ceremony -- he would have handed his phone to Bush, as fellow skater Sasha Cohen did, but his mother didn't pick up when he called. And he's spent plenty of time in the game room.

He plans to do much, much more beginning Friday, when his competition is over.

"Once my work is done," he said, "I'm free to play."

Don't look for Goebel to disappear after Salt Lake City, though. Just 21, he's sticking around for the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

"I love competing," he said. "For some sick reason, I like all the pressure and the adrenaline and the whole thing. That's really what I love to do, so why would I give that up?"

Besides, he's already figured out how to handle the Olympics.

"Any time you go into competition saying, 'I have to get a medal, I have to win,' not only do you have the pressure of performing well, but you don't know how everyone else is going to skate," he said. "To put that pressure on top of everything else, it's just not worth it."