DALLAS -- Almost a year later, Tim Goebel is still surprised when it happens.

He'll be out to dinner or at the movies, and someone will approach and ask, "Aren't you Tim Goebel?'' Or: "Didn't you win a medal at the Olympics?''

"I'm always sort of caught off-guard, because it's not like I'm Michelle Kwan or Shaquille O'Neal or some huge sports star,'' said Goebel, who won a bronze medal in Salt Lake City.

"It's an honor that people pay attention and really are interested in what we do as athletes.''

He better get used to the attention, because for the next four years, all eyes will be on him. He'll certainly be at the center of the spotlight this week, as he goes for his second title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Goebel did more than just win a bronze in Salt Lake City last February. He ended a long drought for the U.S. men, becoming the first to win a medal since Paul Wylie took home a silver in 1992.

Goebel made Olympic history, too, landing the first quadruple salchow at the Winter Games and being the first to do three quads in one program.

And if that wasn't enough to earn him superstar status, he followed it up with a silver medal at the world championships the next month.

In just a few weeks' time, Goebel went from being "The Quad King,'' a guy known mostly for his jumps, to a leader in the youth movement that's going to carry skating into 2006.

"There's only a handful of skaters at a given time that are considered to be at the top. Now I'm considered to be part of that group, along with Evgeni (Plushenko), (Alexei) Yagudin, and Takeshi (Honda),'' he said.

"It's a good feeling to know that all of these years of hard work and setting these high goals for myself, in the end it paid off. If I do nothing else in skating, I accomplished my goal of making an Olympic team and winning a medal.

"But in a way for me, it's also a starting point,'' he added. "I've made it this far, how much further can I go? How much further can I push myself?''

He'll begin finding out Thursday, when the men begin at nationals.

While the women's competition is a star-studded affair -- Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes, Sasha Cohen and Kwan are here -- the men's draw is much weaker. Two-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss is back, eager to prove the old man still has some tricks.

After that, though, the talent level drops off considerably. Goebel is definitely the star attraction and the favorite.

Not that he's buying into the hype.

"I don't really go into a competition thinking about placement because it doesn't do any good,'' he said. "All you can control is what you do on the ice. We have no control or say in what marks the judges put up.

"To worry about placement and to worry about winning is just worrying about things you can't control.''

That kind of statement might ring hollow from most athletes, but it doesn't with Goebel. He went to Salt Lake City wanting only to enjoy the experience and skate well. If he got a medal, great, but it was the overall experience that really mattered.

So he stayed in the athletes' village, and took in the sights. He met athletes from all over the world and from all different sports, and he spent his free time hobnobbing with bobsledders and speedskaters.

And when the competition was over, look who was standing on the podium.

Besides, Goebel is somewhat of a wild card this year. He missed the Grand Prix season with a hip injury and has skated in only one pro-am, finishing third behind Plushenko and Weiss.

He recently scrapped his free skate, going back to last season's "An American in Paris'' because he hadn't had enough time to practice the new one.

"I just want to go to nationals and show the judges and the public that I'm healthy and that I'm ready to compete the rest of the season,'' he said. "Not necessarily to go in and win the national title.''

Oh, don't get him wrong, he'd love another U.S. title. A few other shiny medals, too.

He accomplished one dream by winning an Olympic medal, but there are plenty of other new ones to chase.

"It's great that I have it, but I want to move on and not keep looking back,'' he said. "I want to look forward to going to another Olympics and, hopefully, making that bronze into either a silver or a gold.''