The count so far: Tahoe 4, China 4

Nine athletes representing Lake Tahoe and Truckee are leaving one giant bootprint at this year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver - and in most cases, a bigger bootprint than the rest of the world.

Heading into Saturday, South Lake Tahoe local Hannah Teter's brilliant second-place run in Thursday night's snowboard halfpipe final stands out as Tahoe's fourth medal of the 2010 Games - more than 14 other medal-winning countries, and tied with four more. Only the United States, Germany, Norway, Canada, France, South Korea, Austria and Russia can say they've outperformed Tahoe to this point. Winter sport stalwart Sweden, as of Friday evening, was tied with Tahoe.

But this shouldn't be that big of a shock, based on Tahoe's spectacular Olympic history. Thursday marked the second career Olympics medal for Teter, who hails from Vermont but now calls South Lake Tahoe home; she took home gold during the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

After the event, Teter - who did not fall, unlike many of her competitors on the icy Crystal Mountain pipe - said she felt some relief to stay upright during her blistering first run, after falling every practice run prior.

"I got it back by visualizing and remembering it's all fun and games," she said.

Earlier Thursday, Olympic Valley skier Julia Mancuso helped Tahoe get in position for its fourth medal by nabbing her second straight silver, this time in the women's super combined, after taking the silver on Wednesday in the women's downhill.

Was she surprised? Nope.

"I've always just known that I would get a medal here," said Mancuso, a 2006 gold medalist. "I love the Olympics. My big goals have always been the Olympics. I've just stayed really positive, and just really believed, no matter what is going on around me, just knowing that I have the ability to be on the podium."

Apparently, Tahoe/Truckee loves the Olympics too.

Last Saturday, Tahoe City's Shannon Bahrke started the local party with a bronze medal in women's moguls, adding a stories finish to her 12-year career with the U.S. Ski Team.

After the bronze, she even gave a shout-out to her homeland, likening the slushy conditions in Vancouver that night to a few local memories of her own.

"I'm from Lake Tahoe," she said, "and sometimes it's been known to rain there."

More in store?

After Truckee's Marco Sullivan raced to a middle-of-the-pack finish in Friday's men's Super-G finals, Tahoe's medal count could grow larger, as Mancuso looks for her third medal of the 2010 Games in the Women's Super-G finals, which also should feature Truckee's Stacey Cook.

On Sunday, Truckee residents Daron Rahlves and Errol Kerr (racing for Jamaica) look for luster in the men's ski cross final.

Later in the week, Mancuso expects to return to the snow in the women's giant slalom (Wednesday) and women's slalom (Friday), while Tahoe City's Scotty Bahrke - brother of Shannon - looks to medal in Thursday's men's aerial finals.