America placed fourth in the gold medal tally behind host country Russia, Norway and Canada with just nine golds, but came in second with its overall medal haul. The country's poor show in the speedskating, hockey and figure skating has been blamed for its rankings drop, with this year's medal haul about 20 percent lower than the 2010 Vancouver total.Yet despite Russia's dominance, American officials argue this was one of America's best Games ever. 'I couldn't be more proud of our Olympic team,' U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst said.A bronze in the four-man bobsled on a day Russia put an exclamation point on its games gave the U.S. 28 medals in Sochi, putting it behind just the host country in total medals.But Norway won more gold than the U.S. (11-9) and the 28 total medals were nine less than Americans won in a record-setting performance four years ago in Vancouver.That total - five less than won by Russia - would have been far less if U.S. athletes didn't win nine medals, including five gold, in sports that made their debut in these games.To make matters worse, Canada won more gold medals than its much bigger neighbor for the second Olympics in a row.'We came here to compete,' said Alan Ashley, managing director of sport performance for the USOC.'We came here with a great team and they've done a great job. Things don't always shake out exactly the way you think they're going to, but the surprises are sometimes way more surprising than the disappointments.'Among the disappointments were the biggest U.S. stars going into the games. Shaun White got shut out in snowboard and Lindsey Vonn didn't even make the trip because of injuryBut at least one new star was born. Teen skiing sensation Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in the women's slalom and liked it so much that she was already making plans for a record-setting performance four years from now in South Korea.'Right now, I'm dreaming of the next Olympics (and) winning five gold medals, which sounds really crazy,' Shiffrin said the day after her win. 'I'm sorry I just admitted that to you all.'Shiffrin's win in her first Olympics couldn't make up for the collapse of the U.S. speedskating team, which was blanked in old suits and new.Speedskaters were kept off the medal podium for the first time since 1984, despite a switch midway through the games back to their old suits.'Worst Olympics ever,' two-time gold medalist Shani Davis said.While the U.S. failed to win a medal on the Sochi big oval, skaters from the Netherlands piled on with eight golds and 23 medals overall in speedskating.'If you look at speedskating results we weren't the only nation that got smoked by the Netherlands,' said Scott Blackmun, CEO of the USOC.However, commentators say that as the rest of the world improves its training and performance, America is lagging behind.CSMonitor.com reported the decision to train at high altitude and outdoors in Italy before coming to an Olympics with an indoor track at sea level became a cause of concern following the disappointing performance.  U.S. Speedskating, the sport's governing body in the U.S., has also been accused of 'losing its way'.'It's like the fall of the Roman Empire,' coach Bob Fenn told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, citing constant infighting and frequent turnover of coaches, high-performance directors and executives.The Dutch, who won a record 23 speedskating medals in Sochi, 'have trained right by the water their whole lives and understand how to push heavy air and what tempo is required,' one source told the Journal-Sentinel.'Our team is trying to glide and carry speed like in Salt Lake City and it's not working.'Things weren't much better on the ice for U.S. figure skaters, who won a bronze in the new team event but were shut out individually. Charlie White and Meryl Davis took a bit of the sting out of that performance with a gold medal in ice dancing.However commentators say the absence of a 'four-year plan' has been blamed for the decline in Team America's performance in figure skating. Susan Russell, editor-in-chief at International Figure Skating Magazine, said this is merely a 'lull' or low 'cycle' that every nation experiences. However Chicago Tribune reported there is some hope for the U.S. team, with 18-year-old Gracie Gold establishing herself as a solid medal contender, while 19-year-old Jason Brown could be a threat once he masters the quadruple jump.'The next (four years) should be really interesting,' Gold said after finishing fourth in women's singles.Meanwhile, both the men's and women's hockey team left disappointed. The women appeared on their way to winning gold before collapsing in the final minutes against Canada, while the men couldn't score against either Canada or Finland, which handed the U.S. an embarrassing 5-0 loss in the bronze medal game.On the slopes, Shiffrin and Ted Ligety both win gold and the U.S. took five medals, making for a respectable showing. But the U.S. was shut out in the new sport of women's ski jumping where Americans had looked promising, and there were no medals in either cross-country skiing or the biathlon, sports that Norway dominated.In addition to winning more golds than the U.S., Norway - with a population of just five million - finished just two medals behind in the total with 26.Ashley said the U.S. medal haul was lower partly because other countries are becoming more competitive in winter sports. He said the team would have liked to have won more medals, but called their performance excellent anyway.If there is reason to be more optimistic heading toward the games in South Korea in 2018, team officials said it was the strong performance in new sports like ski and snowboard slopestyle and ski halfpipe.But replicating that success in extreme sports in future Olympics will be difficult, said Steve Roush, the former chief of sport performance for the USOC.'The rest of the world is catching up,' he said.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az