Canadian "Cowboys' mount up for run at downhill gold | Olympics 2010

WHISTLER, B.C. — The Canadian Cowboys are ready for their close-up.

Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Robbie Dixon are the top prospects on a team trying to continue the host nation's gold rush Monday in the delayed Olympic men's downhill, the marquee Alpine ski event.

Canada's team boss believes his racers can rise to the occasion against veterans such as American Bode Miller, Switzerland's Didier Cuche and Austria's Michael Walchhofer.

"People are talking about their chances," said Canadian alpine director Max Gartner. "There is certainly an expectation level that we've never had before."

Vancouver native Osborne-Paradis has a World Cup downhill victory this season, and a reputation for performing on race day. Dixon is a fashionable pick after two fast training runs on the Whistler course he grew up on.

Teammates say they are the pair keeping the mood light among the self-styled "Cowboys." The Olympic quartet is completed by past World Cup race winners Erik Guay and Jan Hudec.

Walchhofer, a 2006 silver medalist, won the practice session Thursday but likes Canada's chances as well as his own.

"Especially Osborne and Dixon," the Austrian said. "I think I'm in a good shape at the moment."

Like most observers at rain-lashed Whistler, Gartner believes the experience of Walchhofer, 34, and Cuche, 35, could be decisive on a course still largely unknown to the European racers.

Both are former winners of the seasonlong World Cup downhill title and aim to become the oldest-ever Olympic champion in alpine skiing.

This being Whistler, weather and snow conditions are key. Training for the race was completed in fog and falling wet snow on a soft surface.

Monday's forecast calls for clear skies after a cold night. The course is expected to be frozen for the 10:30 a.m. scheduled start.

"It's going to be rough and tough," said Cuche. He said the lower section was wet Sunday, and "if it's frozen it's going to be nice."

Icy conditions will suit Carlo Janka, who matched Swiss teammate Cuche by winning two of six World Cup downhills this season.

Janka was unhappy on the slushy snow last week and looked forward to steeply dropping temperatures.

And any conversation before a medal race has to include Miller, even though he last won a World Cup downhill in March 2008.

The 32-year-old American had a pair of steady practice runs and skied on Saturday when many rivals took the day off.