The Winter Olympics Thread

[cdnvic]

Hockey:

Canada clobbers Italy 16-0 in women's hockey

Last Updated: Sat Feb 11 19:05:04 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Caroline Ouellette and Hayley Wickenheiser posted hat tricks to lead Canada to a tournament-opening 16-0 rout of the host Italians in women's hockey at the Torino Olympics on Saturday.

Ouellette made history with three goals in the first seven minutes of play as the defending champion Canadians counted five goals in the first period, four more in the second and seven over the final 20 minutes.

Before Saturday, no Canadian player had scored more than one goal in a period at the Olympics.

It was the biggest rout in Olympic women's hockey history, besting Canada's 13-0 dismantling of host Japan in 1998, when women's hockey made its debut at the Games.

"We expected Italy to be weak but we're not going to apologize for winning," Wickenheiser said.

Ouellette and Wickenheiser also joined Goyette as the only Canadian players to net hat tricks in the Olympics.

Ten of Canada's 18 position players found the net on Saturday, including Gillian Apps and Cheryl Pounder with a pair each. Singles went to Danielle Goyette, Jayna Hefford, Jennifer Botterill, Carla McLeod, Sarah Vaillancourt and Katie Weatherston.

Cherie Piper led the assist parade with six, followed by Apps and Botterill with three apiece. Cassie Campbell and Wickenheiser set up two goals each.

Canadian goaltender Kim St. Pierre barely broke a sweat as her teammates outshot Italy 19-0 in the third period and 66-5 overall before a crowd of 8,399.

The loyal Italian fans chanted "I-tal-ia! I-tal-ia!" early in the game and waved the flag in the final minute as they sang the national anthem.

Canada, which is expected to face the United States in the gold-medal game, will face a tougher Russian outfit on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. EST.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the Americans opened the tournament with a convincing 6-0 win over Switzerland.

Only Patricia Elsmore-Sautter's saved her team from greater embarrassment, stopping 50 shots in the Swiss net.

The results of the Bell 3 Stars Poll, as voted by the fans, were Wickenheiser No. 1, followed by Ouellete and Italian netminder Debora Montanari.

with files from Associated Press

German wins nordic combined gold

Last Updated: Sat Feb 11 17:05:42 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Georg Hettich became the second German to win gold at the Torino Olympics Saturday in Pragelato, Italy.

In a surprise finish, Hettich won the nordic combined individual event with heavily favoured Hannu Manninen of Finland nowhere in sight.

Hettich finished the 15-kilometre cross-country race in 39 minutes, 44.6 seconds.

He used the final two km to pull away from silver medallist Felix Gottwald of Austria.

"I never won a World Cup competition," said the 27-year-old Hettich. "I won jumping, but never won the whole competition. This morning when I won (jumping), I was feeling happy but I didn't try to think about winning a gold medal."

Norway's Magnus Moan won the bronze medal in a frantic photo finish as he extended his right ski to edge countryman Petter Tande.

Calgary's Jason Myslicki finished 41st, 6:36 behind Hettich, while Max Thompson, also of Calgary, ended up 44th.

The individual event employs the Gundersen method, which means an athlete's ski jumping points determine his starting position for the 15-km cross-country ski portion.

The top jumper earns a head start on the cross-country course, so nordic skiers have to gain on the lead pack or be left behind.

Hettich posted jumps of 101.5 and 104 m on the normal hill earlier in the day for total of 262.5 points. Hettich's ski jumping performance gave the German a two-second head start on Tande in the cross-country race.

"I am very surprised," Hettich said. "I still haven't realized fully what I've done."

The frustration continued for Manninen, who has yet to win an individual gold medal in either the world championships or Olympics.

The three-time defending World Cup champion inexplicably fell off the pace during the cross-country race to finish a disappointing ninth.

"I hoped that I could have been closer to the top," said Manninen. "The skiing didn't feel normal. It felt sticky, and when Magnus passed me after the nine-km mark, I knew that I wasn't going to catch them."

Manninen, who is competing in his fourth Olympic Games, has won 11 World Cup events this year and many considered him a lock to win his first gold medal.

Heil golden in moguls

Last Updated: Sat Feb 11 18:52:22 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Canada's Jennifer Heil captured gold in women's moguls Saturday in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy, four years after narrowly missing the Olympic podium in Salt Lake City.

Heil, the last skier down the hill by virtue of her first-place finish in the qualifying round earlier in the day, posted a score of 26.50, 0.85 points better than silver medallist Kari Traa of Norway, the 2002 Olympic champion. Sandra Laoura of France took bronze, 1.13 points back of Heil.

Kristi Richards of Summerland, B.C., finished seventh, Audrey Robichaud of Val Belair, Que., was eighth and Stephanie St. Pierre of Victoriaville, Que., was 12th.

"I don't know what to say, this has been my biggest dream. I didn't know it could come true," said a jubilant Heil, who is from Spruce Grove, Alta.

Heil's jumps – a 360-degree spin and a backflip with her skis crossed – weren't as difficult as Traa's "D-Spin" on the top ramp, a double-twisting jump in which her body goes nearly parallel to the mountain. But the Canadian executed her tricks almost flawlessly and received a superior air score.

Heil also scored higher than Traa on speed and form on the moguls, which counts for 75 per cent of a skier's final tally.

"I just felt so well-prepared," Heil said. "I was more relaxed than I've ever been in the start gate, which actually surprised me. But I knew it was just a sign I was ready to go out."

Heil's gold was Canada's first medal of the 2006 Winter Games and the first Olympic medal of her career. It was also the first gold by a Canadian woman in moguls.

The 22-year-old finished fourth at the 2002 Games, missing the bronze by one hundredth of a point.

with files from Associated Press

[cdnvic]

Kwan withdraws from Olympics

Last Updated: Sun Feb 12 08:40:40 EST 2006

CBC Sports

American figure skater Michelle Kwan pulled out of the Torino Games on Sunday, bringing to an end her chance of earning her first-ever Olympic gold medal.

The five-time world and nine-time U.S. champion has been suffering from a groin injury sustained in December. She cut short her first practice at the Games Saturday after aggravating the injury.

Her condition worsened as the day progressed and after being evaluated early Sunday by Dr. Jim Moeller, she decided to withdraw.

"I wish I was here in better circumstances," Kwan said at a Sunday morning news conference. "When I first put in my petition, I said I believe I'd be 100 per cent by time the Olympics came around. But yesterday, after going on ice and feeling stiff ... I don't think that I can be 100 per cent.

"I respect the Olympics too much to compete and I don't feel I can be at my best."

the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Emily Hughes as Kwan's replacement.

Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, lauded Kwan for making a "courageous decision."

The 25-year-old Kwan was evaluated and received a conditional spot on the Olympic team in mid-January despite not participating in the U.S. figure skating championships.

She petitioned the U.S. Olympic Committee for one of the three ladies' spots and was slated to compete in Italy along with 2006 national champion Sasha Cohen and Kimmie Meissner.

Before this year, Kwan had won the previous eight U.S. titles and nine overall, tying her for the most U.S. titles in history with Maribel Vinson Owen. Her first appearance at the U.S. championships was in 1993 as a 12-year-old.

However, one thing still missing from Kwan's resume is an Olympic gold medal. She captured a silver in 1998 and a bronze in 2002.

Deneriaz wins downhill thriller

Last Updated: Sun Feb 12 12:28:40 EST 2006

CBC Sports

France's Antoine Deneriaz came out of nowhere to stun the field and win the gold medal in the men's downhill Sunday at the Torino Olympics.

The Frenchman conquered the icy Kandahar Banchetta course at Sestriere, Italy, in one minute, 48.80 seconds.

Reigning World Cup downhill titlist Michael Walchhofer of Austria settled for the silver, finishing 0.72 seconds back of Deneriaz. Bruno Kernen of Switzerland took the bronze in 1:49.82.

"I was so sure I could do it that I had already ordered the champagne yesterday," Deneriaz told reporters. "I was really convinced I could do it today."

American Daron Rahlves, considered the pre-race favourite by many, was a disappointing 10th.

Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Invermere, B.C., who was second in the final qualifying run, finished 13th.

"I'm very satisfied with my race. I didn't ski as well as yesterday but I'm glad with how I dealt with the pressures," Osborne-Paradis said. "I can build on this for the upcoming races and for the next four years."

Francois Bourque of New Richmond, Que., was 16th while John Kucera of Calgary was 27th.

Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., Canada's top downhiller, pulled out of the race earlier in the week due to a leg injury. It is not yet known whether Guay will compete in the Feb. 18 super-G, another event in which the 24-year-old is Canada's best medal prospect.

Tthe 29-year-old Deneriaz pulled off the stunning upset with a magnificent run down the bottom of the hill to take the gold medal that Walchhofer seemed poised to capture.

Walchhofer, 10th out of the gate, looked like he would see his time stand up for gold until the unheralded Deneriaz pulled off his brilliant run from the 30th start position.

Deneriaz had the fastest run in the final training run Saturday. That's usually not a good thing because it made him last out of the gate Sunday among the top 30 skiers in the final practice session, who start in reverse order in the medal race. Those who went after that were the slowest in training and had no real shot at gold.

"This means that the Olympic law holds true: the law that the guy who wins the Olympics is always someone unexpected," said defending Olympic champion Fritz Strobl of Austria, who finished eighth skiing with a broken left hand.

It was Deneriaz's first victory in more than two years and the first major title of his career. Deneriaz's best result in a World Cup race this season was a sixth-place finish in a super-G event.

He has won three World Cup races but had never done better than eighth in a world championships or Olympic Games.

Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who was shooting for a record eighth Olympic medal, finished in fourth place. Reigning World Cup overall champion Bode Miller of the United States was fifth.

"It would have taken a hurricane wind to get me into first," Miller said. "The way Deneriaz skied today, he was pretty much untouchable."

with files from Associated Press

[Mr Red]

Where's the update on the Thai skier Prawat?

[cdnvic]

Where's the update on the Thai skier Prawat?

He competed at the 2002 Olympics and so far as I know, is not competing again at Torino this year.

cv

[baht&sold]

Deneriaz did fantastic considering he was out the gate last as a result of qualifying first and had to navigate through the chop, hat's off. Decent result for Canuck Manuel, young guy- 2010 in Whistler looks on track for him (fingers crossed).

Downhill ski racing is THE most thrilling sport imho- for all out nerve and concentration if nothing else. Looking fwd to the return to form of the "crazy Canucks" in 2010, spurred on by the late 80's alumni, Rob Boyd, Ken Read et al I worked up at Whistler as a kid, shared a camper van with 2 gals the first season, accomodation was scarce...anything for a free ski pass; best of memories

Meanwhile, here in Bkk, at least on UBC, the Torino Olympics are a no show, just the usual wall to wall "footbon" which is fine but it's the OLYMPICS dammitt!! We might catch a glimpse from the sports snippets via BBC, CNN and just maybe a bit of live coverage from CNBC- if we're lucky

[cdnvic]

Snowboarding

American women 1-2-3 in halfpipe qualifier

Last Updated: Mon Feb 13 06:24:07 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Six women, including three Americans, qualified for the final round of women's Olympic halfpipe Monday in Bardonecchia.

Americans Kelly Clark, Gretchen Bleiler and Hannah Teter claimed the top three spots. Cheryl Maas of the Netherlands, Shiho Nakashima of Japan and France's Doriane Vidal also earned their places in the final.

All the Canadian women will have to ride in the second qualifying round to compete for the remaining six spots in the final.

Making her Olympic debut, Mercedes Nicoll of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian, placing ninth out of the 34-athlete field.

Dominique Vallee of Montreal was 12th, Maelle Ricker of Whistler, B.C., was 16th and Halifax's Sarah Conrad finished 20th.

The Torino Games are Ricker's second Olympics. She took fifth place in halfpipe at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

The medal contenders heading into the competition were Canada's Ricker, Switzerland's Manuela Laura Pesko, American Hanna Teter and Doriane Vidal of France.

Early in the second round of qualifying, Melo Imai of Japan fell and hurt her back while trying to complete an inverted frontside 720. Imai was also a medal contender, who has a World Cup halfpipe win this season. She walked off the halfpipe.

Hockey

Canada romps in women's hockey

Last Updated: Mon Feb 13 05:51:17 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Team Canada was rarely tested Sunday, trouncing Russia 12-0 in women's hockey at the Torino Esposizioni complex.

Charline Labonte stopped 17 shots in the shutout win, which guaranteed Canada at least second place in Group A.

Canada can clinch top spot in the grouping by defeating Sweden in its round-robin finale on Tuesday (CBC, 3:30 p.m. EST), but is being criticized for running up scores.

"That's definitely not what we're doing," Canadian head coach Melody Davidson said. "We're just competing.

"We definitely don't focus on the scoreboard. It's not about what the score is, it's about us moving the puck and making good plays."

Canada walloped Italy 16-0 in Saturday's opener, the most lopsided victory in Olympic history, bettering its 13-0 pounding of Japan in the sport's debut at Nagano in 1998.

"We expected Italy to be weak," said Canadian forward Hayley Wickenheiser, who had one goal and three assists against Russia.

Though more physical than the Italians, Russia looked completely overwhelmed at times.

"The Russians came into the game (versus Team Canada) feeling dejected following their (3-1) loss to Sweden," said CBC Sports hockey analyst Kylie Richardson. "They didn't play with pride."

Canadian rookie Meghan Agosta certainly did, celebrating her 19th birthday with a hat trick.

"For it to be not only my first goal, but a hat trick, I'm just thrilled," she enthused. "It being my birthday, it's a pretty cool thing during the Olympics."

Cherie Piper also impressed with two goals and one assist.

Vicki Sunohara opened the scoring 4:53 into the contest, leaping off the bench and charging hard to the net to convert a pass from Caroline Oullette.

Less than two minutes later, Agosta banked in a shot off the stick of Russian goaltender Irina Gashennikova to make it 2-0.

Gillian Apps smacked in her own rebound at the 10-minute mark for the first of two short-handed goals in the first period and Cassie Campbell worked into the slot to set up Danielle Goyette with 4:46 left.

Piper later scored off a faceoff and Wickenheiser swept in a rebound when Gashennikova mishandled the initial shot.

Agosta tallied her second goal on a breakaway with 40 seconds left, deking to the forehand and slipping the puck under backup netminder Nadezhda Alexandrova.

Canada eased off in the second period, but Katie Weatherston was credited with the eighth goal when Sarah Vaillancourt's pass caromed in off her skate at 7:19.

Agosta followed with Canada's lone power-play goal, flipping in her own rebound to complete the hat trick with 6:33 left.

After Piper put Canada in front 10-0 with her second goal, a power-play marker 76 seconds into the third period, Vaillancourt and Carla MacLeod scored within a span of 4:46 to conclude the carnage.

Luge

Zoeggeler wins Italy's 1st gold

Last Updated: Mon Feb 13 05:54:29 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Italian Armin Zoeggeler earned the host country's first gold medal of the Torino Olympics on Sunday, winning the men's luge competition.

Zoeggeler's four-run combined time of three minutes, 26.088 seconds was 0.110 seconds better than Albert Demtschenko of Russia, who claimed the silver. Martins Rubenis of Latvia took the bronze in 3:26.445.

Jeff Christie of Vancouver was the top Canadian, placing 14th in 3:28.36. It was an encouraging performance for the 23-year-old, who was competing in his first Olympics and finished 15th in the World Cup standings this season.

Sam Edney of Calgary finished 19th in 3:29.857. Ian Cockerline of Calgary, who was 16th after the third run, crashed out on the fourth. He was not injured but repairs had to be made to the track, causing a 25-minute delay.

Zoeggeler hoisted an Italian flag near the finish line after his victory, basking in the cheers and cowbell clangs of thousands of Italian supporters.

"I never said I am the greatest," said Zoeggeler, who earned a bonus of $178,000 Cdn for his win – money he said he'd use to buy a house. "I am what I am."

The reigning Olympic, World Cup and world champion, Zoeggeler produced a typically consistent performance. After posting the best time in both of Saturday's runs, he protected his lead with the second- and fifth-fastest times in Sunday's runs.

Demtschenko, a fifth-place finisher at the Salt Lake City Olympics and the World Cup title winner in 2004-05, was tabbed as a medal favourite going into the Torino Games and came away pleased with his showing.

"I'm very happy because silver is a very special medal for me," Demtschenko said. "It's my first Olympic medal. I didn't think I had a chance to get the gold because Armin is very strong and he's on his home track."

Bronze-medal winner Rubenis had been lightly regarded. Though he won silver at the 2003 world championships in Sigulda, Latvia and bronze at the 2004 worlds in Nagano, Japan, the Latvian is ranked 11th in the World Cup standings this season.

Georg Hackl of Germany, competing in his final Olympics, came up short in his quest for a sixth Olympic medal. The 39-year-old finished seventh, the first time he failed to reach the podium at the Games.

Widely considered the best male luge athlete ever, Hackl, a three-time Olympic champion and two-time silver medallist, was never in top form this season after undergoing neck surgery in the summer.

"That's it," he said after his final race on Sunday. "It's finished now."

with files from Associated Press

[Mr Red]

Where's the update on the Thai skier Prawat?

He competed at the 2002 Olympics and so far as I know, is not competing again at Torino this year.

cv

Check out http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/ATH/101545.html

Just want to insure proper discussion of Thailand-related issues on this topic

[astral]

Thanks for the updates, especially as there is no TV service about the Olympics.

No Thai competitors, no interest.................

How parochial.

[cdnvic]

Women's Hockey

U.S. upends Finland in women's hockey

Last Updated: Tue Feb 14 17:42:40 EST 2006

CBC Sports

If Canada and the United States are to meet in the Olympic women's hockey tournament, it will be a fight for gold after all.

Finland nearly set up a semifinal between the Canadians and U.S. but blew a two-goal lead on the way to a 7-3 loss to the Americans at the Torino Winter Games on Tuesday.

The U.S. scored six unanswered goals to rubber-stamp a date with Sweden in Friday's semifinal round. Canada, 8-1 winners over the Swedes earlier on Tuesday, will meet Finland in the other semi.

Star defenceman Angela Ruggiero snapped a 3-3 tie midway through the third period on a pretty end-to-end rush to spark a three-goal outburst by the Americans in a span of two minutes, two seconds, to put the Finns away.

Sarah Parsons with two, Katie King, Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell also scored for the U.S.

Mari Pehkonen, Emma Laaksonen and Katie Kovalainen gave Finland a 3-1 lead by the 12-minute mark of the second period.

Ruggiero, who scored the seventh U.S. goal late in the third, made some headlines away from the ice recently. She was critical of Team Canada, which has outscored opponents 36-1 in its first three games at the Olympics.

"I'm upset that Canada has been running up the score, especially against the host nation," Ruggiero told Sports Illustrated's website on Monday.

"There was no need for that. They're trying to pad their stats ... Canada is running up the score for whatever reasons – personal, short-term."

On Tuesday, the Canadians were held to their lowest output of the tourney after routing the host Italians 16-0 on Saturday and blanking Russia 12-0 the next day.

Prior to the Olympics, fans and pundits alike predicted a Canada-U.S. final.

The North American teams have long dominated international women's hockey with squads from Nordic countries a distant third.

Finland won a bronze medal at the 1998 Nagano Games, and finished out of the medals entirely in 2002.

It had the U.S. where it wanted them on Tuesday, leading 3-2 entering the final period.

But poor defensive play was the Finns' downfall in the third as they provided little support for goaltender Maija Hassinen. They also failed to deliver on a 5-on-4 power play midway through the period with the game tied 3-3.

Canada and the U.S. are a combined 23-0 at the Winter Games since women's hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Russia handled Italy 5-1 and Germany edged Switzerland 2-1.

The gold and bronze medal games are slated for Feb. 20.

Alpine Skiing

Australian Racer Crashes Out

The Age

Australian alpine skier Jono Brauer will not get the chance to race the slalom in the combined event after crashing out in the downhill today.

Brauer, long regarded as Australia's most talented ski racer, was expecting big things on the Kandahar Banchetta course and was aiming for a top ten finish.

But the 24-year-old caught an edge after coming over a roller about 50 seconds into the race.

He crashed into the netting on the right hand side of the course and was automatically scratched from the evening's slalom races.

"I thought I was going all right actually," Brauer said.

"I hit that top section really well, it's what the coaches and I talked about and planned to do and I'm really annoyed that I crashed because I had a pretty decent chance of getting a decent placing tonight."

Brauer is not up again until the last day of competition in the slalom on Saturday, February 25.

In other completed action for the Australians today biathlete Cameron Morton missed four targets in the men's 10km sprint to finish 82nd.

AAP

Figure Skating

Chinese pairs skaters fall back, spring forward

Last Updated: Mon Feb 13 20:57:38 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Chinese pairs skaters Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao made spectators gasp when they executed a spectacular double twist at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Four years later at the 2006 Olympics, they made spectators gasp again – but not in wonderment.

Zhang and Zhang started their free skate as the opening strains of Offspring of Dragons filled the 6,600-seat Palavela arena.

Thirty seconds into their program, the pair attempted a throw quad Salchow, a dangerous move that no other pair has dared to tackle.

It went horribly awry.

The crowd gasped in horror as Dan fell to the ice face forward with her legs splayed and slid into the boards.

While stunned CBC figure skating analysts Paul Martini and Barb Underhill searched for words to describe what had happened, Dan limped to the boards and spoke to paramedics with her partner.

While fans shouted words of encouragement, the pair returned to the ice and finished their routine.

They were rewarded with a standing ovation – and a silver medal.

"I think I loosened my hand too early," Zhang said later explaining her fall. "It was so important [to go on] because I made a mistake in the first element but I thought I could do all the other elements. So, why should I stop?"

Indeed, the Zhangs haven't stopped since making their international seniors-level debut at the Salt Lake Games, five years after teaming up.

The couple was young (she was 16 and he was 17) and relatively inexperienced in that competition, but they still finished 11th overall.

The Zhangs, who are not related, have climbed steadily through the rankings in subsequent years and are now the third-ranked pair in the world.

They have won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at Four Continents meets since 2002.

They won a bronze medal at last year's world championships, and so far this season, they have won three gold and one silver medal at World Cup events.

Having become the first pair to execute a quadruple twist at the junior worlds, the pair is now the top technical team in the world.

Monday morning the skaters were best known for their spectacular twists and lifts. Monday night, they were best known for their spectacular mistake and heroic recovery in Turin.

One day, they hope to be celebrated as the first Chinese figures skaters to win Olympic gold.

"We didn't say any words of giving up," Hao said, describing the pair's discussion immediately following Dan's fall. "We said we could go on."

Luge

Zoeggeler lays down law in luge

Last Updated: Sun Feb 12 22:18:50 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Armin Zoeggeler of Italy, who is accustomed to keeping order on and off the track, successfully defended his Olympic luge title on Sunday.

The 32-year-old carabiniere (policeman) from Lana Foiana earned the host country's first gold medal of the Torino Olympics, winning the men's luge competition in Cesana with a four-run combined time of three minutes, 26.088 seconds.

Aside from winning in front of the home fans, Zoeggeler's second Olympic gold was made more poignant coming just two months after his mother died.

"It was the most difficult success of my career," Zoeggeler said. "It wasn't easy to bear the pressure around me. This gold medal is for my family."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reportedly called him moments after the victory.

Zoeggeler is well-equipped to deal with the pressure, being as dominant in his sport as any athlete at the Winter Games. He clinched his fifth World Cup title last month and is closing in on the record 33 World Cup victories held by Austria's Markus Prock and Germany's Georg Hackl.

Hackl finished seventh Sunday in his final Olympics.

Zoeggeler has now won luge medals in four Olympics. In addition to gold at Salt Lake City in 2002, he won silver in Nagano and bronze at Lillehammer.

He grew up in a small town in the Dolomites, an area that was at one time part of Austria, and his first language is German.

But the luger is all-Italian, reveling in his frequent victories by wrapping himself in the green, red and white flag, as he did on Sunday.

Zoeggeler was said to be slightly disappointed to be passed over for flag-bearing duties in the Opening Ceremony in favour of figure skater Carolina Kostner.

He figures to be a good bet to hoist the Italian colours high in two weeks' time.

Medal Standings

MEDAL STANDINGS

G S B Tot

Norway 1 3 4 8

Russia 3 3 1 7

United States 4 2 0 6

Germany 2 0 1 3

Netherlands 1 2 0 3

South Korea 1 1 1 3

Italy 1 0 2 3

China 0 1 2 3

Canada 1 0 1 2

France 1 0 1 2

Austria 0 2 0 2

Finland 0 1 1 2

Estonia 1 0 0 1

Czech Republic 0 1 0 1

Switzerland 0 0 1 1

[baht&sold]

Australian alpine skier Jono Brauer will not get the chance to race the slalom in the combined event after crashing out in the downhill today.

Brauer, long regarded as Australia's most talented ski racer, was expecting big things on the Kandahar Banchetta course and was aiming for a top ten finish.

But the 24-year-old caught an edge after coming over a roller about 50 seconds into the race.

Wasn't even aware the Aussies had a guy in the running (no thx to the complete lack of TV coverage here- wonder if ABC Australia is showing the Olympics?) Sounds like he's well up for it and hey, guy's got another chance in the final GS. Good on him n go Aussie go!

Armin Zoeggeler of Italy, who is accustomed to keeping order on and off the track, successfully defended his Olympic luge title on Sunday.

Aside from winning in front of the home fans, Zoeggeler's second Olympic gold was made more poignant coming just two months after his mother died.

Bittersweet story but great result, in front of the home crowd no less. The italians will be flying the flag from Torino clear to little Italy on commercial drv in Vancouver and rightly so

Dammitt, wish i could see the Olympics!!!! Keep at it Vic, there's at least 2 people interested- maybe post something about the UK curlers? That might draw some premiere leaguers interest...on second thoughts, naaa, doubtful

PS, any truth to the rumour Dick Cheney was rejected as mascot for the U.S. Biathalon team ?

Edited February 15, 2006 by baht&sold

[cdnvic]

Canadian Born Aussie wins moguls gold

Last Updated: Wed Feb 15 15:27:01 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Transplanted Canadian skier Dale Begg-Smith won Australia's first gold medal in men's moguls Wednesday at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Begg-Smith, a Vancouver native who emigrated to Australia, was the last finalist on the Sauze d'Oulx course and notched 26.77 out of a possible 30 points to win the competition and deny Canadian Marc-Andre Moreau a medal.

Moreau, a moguls specialist from Chambly, Que., finished fourth with 25.62 points.

"I just knew I did what I wanted to do and it was a good run," Begg-Smith said. "There wasn't any room for mistakes so I made sure to not have any."

Begg-Smith clinched the gold with a terrific final jump, keeping his skis parallel on a 720-degree, off-axis spin.

"It was one of my better runs ever," he said.

Mikko Ronkainen from Finland and Toby Dawson of the United States took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Ronkainen reached the podium by blistering the course in 21-plus seconds, while Dawson's customary tight turns allowed him to nudge Moreau off the podium.

"I was able to keep my wits about me, qualify, put together a couple good runs and get a medal here," Dawson said.

Moreau totalled 24.69 to rank third overall behind Begg-Smith and American Travis Cabral during Wednesday's qualifying round, but setting a slower pace down the hill in the final cost him.

Teenager Alexandre Bilodeau, the pride of Rosemere, Que., tallied 23.42 in the final, good for 11th overall.

The reigning Canadian champion and a former aerialist, he impressed on both jumps yet squatted on a landing.

Chris Wong of Prince George, B.C., was ninth heading into the final, but failed to complete the maneouvre on his second jump.

Wong (22.88) wound up 14th.

American Jeremy Bloom, the defending World Cup champion, sat comfortably in fourth following qualifying but plunged to sixth.

Bloom has been inconsisent all season and it showed as he bobbled a landing and crossed the finish line on one leg.

"I knew I had made a mistake," Bloom said. "I came here to accomplish my goals.

"I didn't come here to win any certain colour medals. I was so close.

"I am happy with the way I skied and I am happy with the experience that I had here," he continued. "So there is not much to look down upon."

Bloom is a two-sport athlete who played collegiate football at the University of Colorado, so soon off to NFL training camps.

"It's great to have that right now, something that's such a big challenge right ahead of me," he said.

Defending Olympic champion Janne Lahtela of Finland was a distant 16th on Wednesday.

with files from CP Online

Curling

Curling's Gushue guts out 2 wins

Last Updated: Wed Feb 15 18:50:59 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Canada's Brad Gushue took out his frustrations on Great Britain and Switzerland in men's curling at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Still smarting from Tuesday's last-rock loss to Sweden, Gushue defeated Britain's David Murdoch 9-5 in the first of two games on Wednesday.

Swiss skip Ralph Stoeckli provided stiffer opposition in the second showdown, but Gushue scored singles over five consecutive ends to prevail 7-5 at Pinerolo, located 50 kilometres outside Turin.

Canada now stands 3-1 through five draws.

Gushue, a two-time world junior champion who curls out of St. John's, showed a deft touch by drawing against three for one in the first end.

But Stoeckli tied 1-1 on an open draw in the second, then stole three in third when Gushue's last shot picked before reaching the house.

After Gushue drew to the back of the four-foot in the fourth, he earned a steal of one on Stoeckli's failed tap in the fifth.

Gushue pulled even in the sixth and regained the lead in the seventh when Stoeckli's hit-and-roll stopped a hair short of the button, prompting a measurement won by Canada.

Stoeckli continued to unravel in the eighth, wrecking on a guard to give Gushue yet another steal of one, but he regrouped to to count one on a precarious rub to cut it to 6-5 through nine.

Gushue then drew to the four-foot to clinch it in the 10th.

Gushue took control early against Great Britain too, posting steals in each of the first two ends.

After Murdoch drew to the button for a deuce in the third, Gushue snuck a stone through a crowded house to count three in the fourth.

Gushue went ahead 6-2 in the sixth on an open draw to the button, then stole one in the seventh.

Murdoch shaved Canada's lead to two in the eighth, but Gushue matched him on a double takeout in the ninth.

Also Wednesday, Norway knocked off previously unbeaten Sweden 9-4 and Finland counted two in the 10th to nip New Zealand 7-5.

However, the tables turned for both winners in the fifth draw as Norway lost 6-3 to Britain and Finland fell 5-2 to Germany.

In Wednesday's women's action, Norway improved to 3-1 by virtue of a 9-4 victory over Japan in the fourth draw.

Sweden (2-1) pulled even with Britain and idle Canada with an 8-6 decision over the Brits.

Host Italy earned its first win, 6-4 over Russia, as did the United States in an 8-3 pasting of Denmark.

with files from CP Online

Hockey

Latvia ties U.S. in hockey

Last Updated: Wed Feb 15 19:43:02 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Jordan Leopold saved the United States from a potentially embarrassing loss in men's hockey action at the Torino Olympics on Wednesday.

The Calgary Flames defenceman beat former NHL goaltender Arturs Irbe early in the third period with a hard shot just inside the Latvian blue-line as the teams skated to a 3-3 tie at the Palasport Olimpico.

Latvia, which failed to qualify for the Salt Lake Games four years ago, had a chance to bury the 2002 silver medallists but couldn't find the net on the power play.

"We were not expected to win or even get the tie," said Irbe, who made 18 of his 39 saves in the third period. "We were big-time underdogs in this game in everybody's eyes except our own people.

"You can say that this probably means more to us than to the American team."

The Latvians erased a 2-0 deficit in the second period on goals by Aleksandrs Nizivijs and Atvars Tribuncovs, the latter with the man advantage.

Herberts Vasiljevs gave Latvia its first lead of the game 40 seconds later, beating Tampa Bay Lightning goalie John Grahame.

"We're not happy with the outcome, obviously," Grahame said. "We're just going to keep playing. We're trying to stay positive."

Brian Gionta and Craig Conroy rounded out the scoring for the U.S., which trails Slovakia (1-0) and Sweden (1-0) in Group B.

The Latvians, who sit third in Group B, are no strangers to the upset. They have upended Russia a few times in recent years at the world championships.

Sandis Ozolinsh had two assists for Latvia in his first game since November. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks defenceman was reinstated on Tuesday after spending time in the NHL's substance-abuse program.

Latvia's next game is Thursday against Slovakia at 11 a.m. EST, while the U.S. takes on Kazakhstan at 3 p.m. EST.

Jet-lagged Canadians beat Italy

Last Updated: Wed Feb 15 18:57:50 EST 2006

CBC Sports

It seemed all Canada needed to find its game was a scare by a motivated Italian team Wednesday morning at Palasport Olimpico arena.

Jarome Iginla scored two power-play goals to lead Canada to a 7-2 win over Italy as the team opened defence of its Olympic gold medal.

The Canadians looked sluggish and confused early as they missed passes and good scoring opportunities.

The result was only a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period on Iginla's goal. He took a perfect pass from Todd Bertuzzi and then one-timed a shot from the slot to beat Italian goaltender Jason Muzzatti at 5:33.

Italy scored the tying goal on the power-play just 43 seconds into the second period that shocked Canada and prompted the home crowd into loud chants of "Italia, Italia," after Giulio Scandella directed a shot to the Canadian net that beat goalie Martin Brodeur.

The mometum didn't last as Dany Heatley scored a power-play goal to give Canada a 2-1 lead a 1:12 later.

Heatley's goal seemed to settle the Canadians en route to five unanswered goals. Bertuzzi, who had two assists in the game, said his Canadian team wasn't unnerved by the Italian goal.

"Not at all, not with the amount of character we have," Bertuzzi told CBC Sports.

"We know what we have to do, we came out strong in the second period, we kept building and building, our passes got better and we started scoring goals."

Iginla's second goal with the man advantage gave Canada all the insurance it would need.

He took a nifty cross-ice pass from Joe Sakic and wristed a shot to the short side past Muzzatti at 6:04.

While motivated by the crowd, the Italians were undisciplined as Canada's speed produced three goals on the eight chances with the power play.

Canadian coach Pat Quinn's decision to put Iginla, Bertuzzi and captain Sakic paid off in this game as the three combined for five points.

"We all play similar roles on the power play," said Bertuzzi. "Me and Jarome are better suited for around the net and in the corner. It was pretty easy, especially [playing with] Jarome and I tried to get him the puck in the slot and worked off Joe."

Shane Doan, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and Joe Thornton scored Canada's other goals, while forward John Parco tallied for Italy's second goal.

Despite Canada's immense advantage in talent and 50-20 edge in shots, Italy worked hard and Muzzatti made several key saves.

The Italians are making only their third Olympic appearance in hockey. They participated in the 1948 and 1956 Winter Games.

Italy does have some players with limited NHL experience.

Muzzatti, a former Calgary Flames first-round pick, had his only NHL shutout in 1996 when he stopped all 40 shots to lead the Hartford Whalers to a 1-0 win over a young Martin Brodeur and the hometown New Jersey Devils.

"It was a tremdous challenge for us," said Muzzatti, who gained a lot of respect from the Canadian team. "My boys worked so hard to keep it at [7-2]. There's a lot of people at home saying prayers in Toronto and I think they helped me keep it to seven."

The win gives Canada its 91st Olympic victory, the most by any country.

Canada's next game is Thursday (CBC, 2 p.m. EST) against Germany.

[Old Croc]

Canadian Born Aussie wins moguls gold

Last Updated: Wed Feb 15 15:27:01 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Transplanted Canadian skier Dale Begg-Smith won Australia's first gold medal in men's moguls Wednesday at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Begg-Smith, a Vancouver native who emigrated to Australia, was the last finalist on the Sauze d'Oulx course and notched 26.77 out of a possible 30 points to win the competition and deny Canadian Marc-Andre Moreau a medal.

"I just knew I did what I wanted to do and it was a good run," Begg-Smith said. "There wasn't any room for mistakes so I made sure to not have any."

Begg-Smith clinched the gold with a terrific final jump, keeping his skis parallel on a 720-degree, off-axis spin.

"It was one of my better runs ever," he said.

Dale Begg-Smiths story is intriguing. He started skiing at age 2, knew he wanted to compete the Moguls by 8, started his own DotCom company at 13, is a multi-millionare and drives a Lamborghini.

He migrated to Australia at 15 because his business interests and skiing clashed in Canada. His brother finished 29th in the same event.

Thank you Canada!

[cdnvic]

Canadian Born Aussie wins moguls gold

Last Updated: Wed Feb 15 15:27:01 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Transplanted Canadian skier Dale Begg-Smith won Australia's first gold medal in men's moguls Wednesday at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Begg-Smith, a Vancouver native who emigrated to Australia, was the last finalist on the Sauze d'Oulx course and notched 26.77 out of a possible 30 points to win the competition and deny Canadian Marc-Andre Moreau a medal.

"I just knew I did what I wanted to do and it was a good run," Begg-Smith said. "There wasn't any room for mistakes so I made sure to not have any."

Begg-Smith clinched the gold with a terrific final jump, keeping his skis parallel on a 720-degree, off-axis spin.

"It was one of my better runs ever," he said.

Dale Begg-Smiths story is intriguing. He started skiing at age 2, knew he wanted to compete the Moguls by 8, started his own DotCom company at 13, is a multi-millionare and drives a Lamborghini.

He migrated to Australia at 15 because his business interests and skiing clashed in Canada. His brother finished 29th in the same event.

Thank you Canada!

No problem. Now, can you send some rugby players?

cv

[cdnvic]

Drug testing

Russian biathlete stripped of medal

Last Updated: Thu Feb 16 22:38:09 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva, the silver medallist in Monday's 15-kilometre race, has been stripped of her medal and thrown out of the Torino Olympics after two doping tests came back positive.

Pyleva tested positive for the stimulant carphedon, CBC News has learned.

Three members of the IOC board found Pyleva guilty of the doping violation.

Pyleva, 30, is the first athlete to fail a drug test at these Winter Games.

She won the 10 km at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Nikolai Durmanov, head of the Russian Anti-Doping Committee, blames Pyleva's positive test on a doctor who treated her for an ankle injury in January. According to Durmanov, the doctor gave Pyleva an over-the-counter medication that did not list carphedon as one of its ingredients.

"This was 100 per cent the physician's mistake," Durmanov said.

Under IOC rules, athletes revealing positive tests at the Olympics are considered guilty if a banned substance is found in their systems, regardless of the circumstances .

Pyleva was scheduled to compete in the 7.5 km sprint Thursday morning, but was scratched just before the start of the race. She was considered the leading medal contender.

The IOC said it had conducted 380 tests since the Olympic Village opened Jan 31.

Russia's Svetlana Ishmouratova won the gold in Monday's 15-km event ahead of Pyleva. Germany's Martina Glagow will now receive the silver medal and Russian Albina Akhatova, who was fourth, improves to bronze.

Snowboarding

U.S. women win 2 halfpipe medals

Last Updated: Mon Feb 13 22:31:13 EST 2006

CBC Sports

There was no need for American snowboarder Hannah Teter to go all out in her last run of the halfpipe final.

The 19-year-old already secured the gold medal before she stood atop the hill for her last attempt in Bardonecchia, Italy.

Teter's first run of the final produced a score of 44.6 points that no other women could match. With her second attempt reduced to a mere celebration lap, the judges gave Teter an even higher score of 46.4.

Her teammate Gretchen Bleiler won the silver medal, while Norwegian Kjersti Buaas spoiled an American sweep by winning bronze.

"I just kind of felt the same standing up there," Teter said of the moment before her final run.

"It's like, 'Here we go again, another run on the pipe – but at the Olympics.' I just felt super positive."

Kelly Clark, the 2002 Olympic champion, barely missed the podium, finishing fourth. Four Canadian women failed to qualify for the final.

Making her Olympic debut, Mercedes Nicoll of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian in the first round, placing ninth in the 34-athlete field. Only the top six riders in each of the two qualifying runs moved into the final.

Nicoll's second run wasn't as strong as she finished 27th overall.

"I dropped in and I noticed the wind was blowing really hard and it messed me up," said Nicoll. "I've never fallen like that."

Halifax's Sarah Conrad was the top Canadian in 15th place. She was 20th after the first run, but was ninth in the second to move up in the results.

Dominique Vallee of Montreal placed 21st, while Maelle Ricker of Whistler finished 23rd overall.

The American women matched their male counterparts by taking the top two medals. On Sunday, Shaun White and Danny Kass finished 1-2, with Mason Aguirre in fourth.

Teter, who won the first two World Cup events of the season, used a frontside 540 spin and then a frontside 900 to put the competition out of reach.

Bleiler had been considered a favourite in this event on the strength of gold and silver medal peformances in Italy earlier in the year.

During her final run, she used an impressive inverted trick called a crippler air to earn a 43.4 from the judges, but it wasn't enough to overtake Teter.

Sitting in third after her first run, it was clear that Clark needed something spectacular in her last attempt to defend her Olympic gold. Clark was getting great elevation on her jumps but fell on her last attempt to land a 900-degree spin.

Hockey (Men's)

Canadian men too strong for Germany

Last Updated: Thu Feb 16 21:31:57 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Any thought of a German upset was quickly put to rest by Canada in men's hockey Thursday at Palasport Olimpico.

Looking more relaxed than during Wednesday's 7-2 rout of host Italy, the Canadians beat Germany 5-1 in Group A play to remain undefeated in the preliminary round.

"We're still getting our feet underneath us and dealing with the jet lag and all that," said defenceman Chris Pronger. "I think we'll have a lot more jump come Saturday [against Switzerland].

"We've all been playing a lot of minutes in the NHL and you come over here on the bigger ice surface and all that, it just takes a little time to get adjusted to your surroundings."

It was hardly a surprise that Germany kept the score close for most of the game. Renowned for their tight-checking style, the Germans nearly upset Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics in Provo, Utah.

On Thursday, the Canadians were able to solve Germany's 1-4 defence that seemed to frustrate the Czechs a day earlier. By lining up four defenders across their blue-line, the Germans make it difficult for opposing teams to penetrate the offensive zone.

Simon Gagne had a goal and assist to lead Canada, which outshot Germany 40-12.

Wade Redden, Joe Sakic, Dany Heatley and Shane Doan scored Canada's other goals, while Christian Ehrhoff had Germany's lone tally.

The game turned in Canada's favour early and in an unusual way.

Goaltender Roberto Luongo, who started in place of No. 1 man Martin Brodeur, came out of his net to clear the puck, but forward Lasse Kopitz intercepted his attempt.

With an apparent open net, a sliding Adam Foote, who covered for Luongo on the play, robbed the German.

On the ensuing rush, defencemen Wade Redden converted a 2-on-1 with Gagne as he beat German netminder Thomas Greiss at 4:52 of the first period to give Canada a 1-0 lead.

Greiss, who plays for Krefeld Pinguine in the German Elite League, was a surprise starter.

Olaf Kolzig, a 13-year veteran with the Washington Capitals, looked sharp in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Czech Republic but was rested by coach Uwe Krupp for games this weekend against Italy and Switzerland.

Greiss, a San Jose Sharks prospect, allowed three goals on nine first-period shots before settling down to turn away 17 shots in the middle frame.

Predictably, the German's style of play caused them to take a number of penalties but Canada managed to convert just one of eight power-play chances.

That came when captain Joe Sakic banged home a rebound at 7:29 of the first period after Greiss stopped Rick Nash's initial shot.

Gagne put the game out of reach midway through the period when he outworked a German defender and slid a loose puck past Greiss.

But Canada paid for a lacklustre start to the second period as Ehrhoff beat Luongo on a wrist shot from the top of the slot at 9:13 to make it 3-1.

Germany later killed off a two-man Canadian advantage for 1:42 in which Greiss excelled, but it couldn't build off that momentum.

The CBC will carry Saturday's game against Switzerland at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Switzerland upset the Czechs 3-2 on Thursday, thanks to a stellar effort by David Aebischer in net.

"[All the Olympic teams] play hard and they play harder against Canada," Canadian forward Brad Richards said. "We're not going to take that game off and pretend it's a practice."

with files from Canadian Press

Medal Standings (Gold/Silver/Bronze/Total, Sorry for the formatting)

Norway 1 6 6 13

Germany 5 4 2 11

Russia 5 2 4 11

United States 6 2 1 9

Canada 1 3 4 8

Austria 3 2 1 6

China 1 2 3 6

Italy 2 0 3 5

Finland 0 2 3 5

Sweden 2 1 1 4

France 2 0 2 4

Netherlands 1 2 1 4

Switzerland 1 2 1 4

Estonia 3 0 0 3

South Korea 1 1 1 3

Czech Republic 0 2 0 2

Australia 1 0 0 1

Bulgaria 0 1 0 1

Croatia 0 1 0 1

Great Britain 0 1 0 1

Slovakia 0 1 0 1

Latvia 0 0 1 1

Ukraine 0 0 1 1

[Maestro]

The sole Thai athlete participating in the games, Prawat Nagvajara, finished the 15 km cross-country event today, came in last. See the results here.

--------------

Maestro

[cdnvic]

The sole Thai athlete participating in the games, Prawat Nagvajara, finished the 15 km cross-country event today, came in last. See the results here.

--------------

Maestro

I didn't think he was back this year. Good on 'em for showing the flag.

cv

[cdnvic]

TORINO, Italy (AP) - Sweden shocked the United States with a 3-2 shootout win in a women's Olympic hockey semifinal Friday.

That means for the first time since international competition in women's hockey began in 1990, the U.S. and Canada won't meet in the championship match - and it's largely because of Swedish goalie Kim Martin.

Martin made 37 saves and stopped all four American attempts in a shootout, while Maria Rooth scored twice in regulation time and added the clinching shootout goal in Sweden's 3-2 victory in the semifinals.

When she was only 15 years old, Martin led the Swedes to the bronze medal in Salt Lake City. On Friday, she was the difference in a watershed win that decisively proves world-class women's hockey can be played outside North America.

"This is the greatest thing to happen to women's hockey in Sweden and everywhere around," Martin said. "We knew we were getting better and better all the time. We needed to beat the U.S. or Canada to show it."

Rooth scored two goals in 3½ minutes of the second period after terrible giveaways by the Americans, who were shockingly sloppy with the puck in their first loss to Sweden in 26 meetings. The Americans were scoreless in the final 48:56 of regulation and overtime as the Swedes dominated their shaky, tentative opponents - despite a heavy U.S. advantage in shots.

"We knew this day was coming at some point," said U.S. forward Kristin King, who scored a goal. "The game is getting closer. Finland and Sweden have battled us all year. It's just unfortunate that we had to be the ones that went out."

In the shootout, the U.S. actually went 0-for-5 on four chances against Martin: Defenscman Angela Ruggiero got a second chance when Martin moved too early, but she missed an open net.

Pernilla Winberg scored on the next shot. After U.S. captain Krissy Wendell missed, Rooth finished it with a low stick-side shot against Chanda Gunn.

The Swedes mobbed Martin after Rooth's goal, throwing off their gloves and piling onto each other. They joined hands and skated around the ice to the cheers of a small rooting section, while hundreds of American fans stared blankly or cried.

King and Kelly Stephens scored their first Olympic goals for the U.S., which got subpar games from its best offensive players against a packed-in defence fronting Martin, who sat out Sweden's last game to rest for this one.

The sport's domination by the U.S. and Canada was the talk of the tournament's first week, with some questioning whether it belonged in the Olympics. Canada, which faced Finland in the late semifinal, and the U.S. had never lost to anybody except each other in a match at the World Cup or the Olympics. The Americans won the sport's inaugural gold medal in Nagano, and Canada won in Salt Lake City.

But the Americans barely held off Finland on Tuesday before losing to Sweden, which lost 8-1 to Canada in the preliminary round and appeared weaker than the Finns.

There's parity in women's hockey after all - and the Americans are heartbroken they had to prove it this way.

"I think we've got a young team, (but) it's not an excuse," said Jenny Potter, a three-time Olympian. "Things didn't go our way. Their goalie stood on her head, and we didn't bury it. It's hard. It brings tears to my eyes. I think we outplayed them."

Coach Ben Smith made some debatable choices in the Americans' preparation for Turin, cutting longtime captain Cammi Granato and then opting for a short pre-Olympic training camp and tour. Those choices and his roster's overall inexperience will now be questioned as the Americans settle for their worst Olympic finish in the bronze-medal game Monday.

The Americans scored first on King's rebound goal midway through the opening period, but Ruggiero and Potter also made embarrassing power-play giveaways that forced Gunn to make the toughest of her 13 saves.

Stephens scored on a power play early in the second - but Rooth capitalized on another U.S. giveaway by flipping a blind backhand through Gunn's pads moments later. And when Erika Holst stripped Lyndsay Wall behind the U.S. net during a power play 3½ minutes later, Rooth scored a short-handed goal at point-blank range.

The Americans were shaken, and they couldn't score during two minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage later in the period. They wasted two more power plays and managed just four shots in the third.

Canada wins gold, silver in skeleton

Last Updated: Fri Feb 17 19:05:02 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Canada cemented its position as the world's top skeleton country, capturing gold and silver in the men's competition Friday.

Duff Gibson had the fastest combined time of one minute, 55.88 seconds.

Compatriot Jeff Pain (1:56.14) was just behind.

Another Canadian, Paul Boehm (1:57.06), placed fourth.

Swiss slider Gregor Staehli (1:56.80) won bronze, passing two British racers on his second run of the 19-curve course.

"I skipped the last two World Cups to go home and prepare physically and recuperate from some injuries I had, and to repair some of the technical problems I had with my sled," Gibson told the CBC.

"I'm just lucky and thrilled to be able to come here and put my race down. All aspects of the race were at my best."

Gibson described Pain as the "greatest champion" he knows.

Pain also had high praise for Gibson.

"If I'm going to lose to anybody I just hope it would be Duff. He's a great competitor and I just love being around him."

Earlier in the week, Gibson predicted at least two Canadians would wind up on the podium.

Canadian Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards won a bronze in the women's event on Thursday.

Gibson, a firefighter from Calgary, had two top-five finishes in World Cup competition this season and finished 14th in overall in the World Cup standings. He won the world title in 2004.

Pain won three gold medals and one silver in 2005-06 World Cup competition and finished first overall in the World Cup standings. He's also the reigning world champion.

Pain placed sixth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, four spots ahead of Gibson.

Gibson, 39, is Canada's oldest-ever gold-medal winner at a Winter Games.

Electric Italians lead ice dance, Canadians 4th

Last Updated: Fri Feb 17 18:26:09 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Italian ice dancers thrilled flag-waving spectators by finishing first in the compulsory dance Friday while a Canadian duo placed a surprising fourth.

Italians Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio performed a sparkling waltz, returning to the ice after a three-year absence.

Russians Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, the reigning world champions, placed second and the Bulgarian duo of Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski are third.

"In Italy, we talk every day about soccer," said Fusar Poli. "But there are a lot of people who like skating, and you could see that with the amazing crowd."

The duo won a bronze medal at the Salt Lake City Games.

Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon have had a breakthrough season – they finished first at Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy and picked up a bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final – and believe they have a legitimate shot at a bronze medal.

Their fourth-place finish on Friday puts them in good position to contend.

Another Canadian couple, Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, are in 12th place.

Americans Tanith Belbin, who was born in Kingston, Ont., and Ben Agosto are in sixth place.

The original dance segment takes place on Sunday and the free dance is Monday.

with files from Canadian Press

Medal Standings (Gold/Silver/Bronze/Total)

Norway 1 6 6 13

Germany 5 4 2 11

Russia 5 2 4 11

Canada 2 4 5 11

United States 6 3 1 10

Austria 3 2 1 6

Switzerland 2 2 2 6

China 1 2 3 6

Italy 2 0 3 5

Finland 0 2 3 5

Sweden 2 1 1 4

France 2 0 2 4

Netherlands 1 2 1 4

Estonia 3 0 0 3

South Korea 1 1 1 3

Czech Republic 0 2 0 2

Australia 1 0 0 1

Bulgaria 0 1 0 1

Croatia 0 1 0 1

Great Britain 0 1 0 1

Slovakia 0 1 0 1

Latvia 0 0 1 1

Ukraine 0 0 1 1

[cdnvic]

Canada's Shame On Ice

Reigning Olympic Champions Humbled By

Yodeling Cheese Makers

CBC Story as follows:

Swiss shock Canadian men 2-0

Last Updated: Sat Feb 18 16:02:49 EST 2006

CBC Sports

In a game that was supposed to be a warm-up for tougher opponents, Switzerland shocked the Canadian men's hockey team 2-0 at the Torino Olympics Saturday morning.

After stunning the Czech Republic Thursday with a 3-2 win, using speed and great goaltending, the Swiss displayed the same formula to upset Canada at Torino Esposizioni.

Former Montreal Canadiens forward Paul DiPietro scored two goals and goalie Martin Gerber of the Carolina Hurricanes played superbly, making 49 saves for the shutout.

Team Canada outshot the Swiss 24-1 in the third period.

The loss doesn't affect Canada's chances of winning a goal medal, but it may change its seeding for the quarter-finals and beyond.

Defenceman Chris Pronger said Canada didn't take its rivals lightly.

"I don't think so, it certainly didn't seem like that in the locker-room," Pronger told CBC Sports. "Along that road you're going to face some adversity and this is certainly an obstacle we need to learn from."

It's Switzerland's first-ever win against Canada in international competition.

Looking sluggish from the start of the game, the Canadians couldn't generate consistent pressure on the fast-skating Swiss. Canada's power play struggled for the second straight contest, missing several opportunities.

Gerber, starting in place of No. 1 goalie David Aebischer, made several great saves, including two from in front of the net on Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton in the third period.

Despite being outshot in the first period, Switzerland took a surprising 1-0 lead at 18:19.

Thornton gave the puck away in the neutral zone as the Swiss were allowed to control the puck in Canada's end. Patric Della Rossa was able to fight off two Canadian defenders behind the net and flipped a pass to an open DiPietro in the slot.

The winger then beat Canadian goaltender Martin Brodeur with a quick shot to the stick side.

Canada got into penalty trouble in the second period that resulted in a 2-0 deficit. With the Swiss controlling the puck off the draw, DiPietro scored at 8:47.

Brodeur had anticipated the point-shot coming through but the puck was deflected to di Pierto who made no mistake on his one-timer.

It appeared Canada cut the lead to 2-1 on the power play after Rick Nash's shot looked to cross the goal-line while the puck was in Gerber's glove.

After the play was reviewed for several minutes, the officials disallowed the goal. Gerber's glove save was still spectacular as he originally seemed out of position.

The Canadians had several chances to take the lead in the first period but went 0-5 on the power play, including a 30-second two-man advantage.

"We had a lot of scoring chances but the goalie saw them," Pronger said. "A lot of times the goalie is going to make that first save."

DiPietro, born Sault Saint Marie, Ont., played 192 NHL games with Montreal, Toronto and Los Angeles. He scored 31 goals and 49 assists during his career that was highlighted by a Stanley Cup championship with the Canadiens in 1993.

DiPietro has been playing for the Swiss league since 1998-99 and received his Swiss passport last February.

The Canadians finish their preliminary round against two difficult opponents.

They face Finland Sunday (CBC, 3 p.m., EST) and finish against the Czech Republic Tuesday (CBC, 10:30 a.m., EST).

Skiing

Police raid Austrian ski team

Last Updated: Sat Feb 18 21:31:12 EST 2006

CBC Sports

Italian law enforcement authorities raided the residences of some staff members of the Austrian biathlon and cross-country teams early Sunday morning, apparently searching for banned substances, said two separate news reports.

The International Olympic Committee also confirmed it has conducted out-of-competition doping tests on "a number of Austrian cross-country and biathlon athletes," according to Reuters and Associated Press.

Up to 15 of the athletes, all men, were apparently driven five kilometres to Sestriere, where all were tested and returned to Pragelato. An IOC media official said the tests "went smoothly," and that "there were no complaints given."

The police were apparently acting on a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency, headed by Canadian Dick Pound.

Results from the raids or the testing have not been announced, but an Italian investigative source told Reuters that Saturday's searches, which had been made at the request of the Turin prosecutors, had not turned up anything untoward so far.

Alfred Eder, a trainer for the Austrian biathlon team, said that police searched and interviewed Austrian athletes for four hours on Saturday night.

"We are very angry," Eder said. "It is not very gentlemanly."

This case apparently began when WADA officials picked up information that Walther Mayer, the banned former Austrian Nordic ski coach, was possibly staying in private accommodation with the Austrian Nordic skiing teams.

Mayer had led the cross-country team to its first-ever medals in Nordic skiing at the 1998 Nagano Games, added a gold in the relay at the 1999 worlds, and then two more medals at Salt Lake City.

But after blood transfusion equipment was found in a chalet at Salt Lake City (which Mayer claimed was for a therapeutic remedy) he was banned for life by the International Ski Federation.

That was eventually changed to 10 years, in 2005.

He and a German chiropractor, Volker Mueller, who prescribed the blood treatments, were also banned from both the Torino and Vancouver Games in 2010 by the IOC.

Pound told the AP on Saturday that doping officers went to Austria to test athletes and, while they couldn't find any of the competitors they were looking for, they did find blood-doping equipment linked to Mayer. The officers were told Mayer was with the Austrian team in Italy.

Heinz Jungwirth, secretary-general of the Austrian Olympic Committee, told Reuters his group would be protesting to the IOC.

"The athletes do not feel guilty, they have not done anything," he said. "We are going to protest vigorously the way this was done.

"We are in favour of controls, but these kinds of methods, turning up at such a late hour, are not acceptable," Jungwirth said. "We are in competition tomorrow, and this is harassment."

Austria has yet to win a medal in any of the three men's cross-country races to date, nor in the three biathlon events. The country's highest finish so far was a fourth by Wolfgang Perner in the 10-km sprint biathlon.

With files from Associated Press and Reuters

Speed Skating

Davis sets speed skating record

Last Updated: Sat Feb 18 19:41:13 EST 2006

CBC Sports

American speed skater Shani Davis blazed into the history books in Saturday's men's 1,000 metres at the Torino Olympic Winter Games.

Davis, the world record holder and unbeaten in six 1,000s on the World Cup circuit, skated 2 1/2 laps in one minute and 8.89 seconds at Turin's Oval Lingotto to become the first African-American to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics.

"I'm one of a kind," Davis told reporters afterward.

"I think it's cool to have a gold medal, regardless of the colour. Although African-Americans choose basketball or some other sport, I chose a different route.

"Regardless of the colour, I wake up in the morning and work as hard as anybody. It's still a breakthrough, though."

"Since I was a kid, I joked around saying 'One day I am going to win the 1,000,'" Davis said. "Now it's happened, a childhood dream come true."

Unlike most of his friends, Davis resisted the temptation to pursue basketball - the sport of choice for Chicagoans raised on a steady diet of Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

"Michael Jordan's sport is done everywhere in the world," explained Davis, donning a Chicago White Sox ballcap as he spoke.

"You can only do my sport in select places of the world. Maybe I can be the Michael Jordan of speed skating."

Paired with Canada's Jeremy Wotherspoon, the Chicago native started slow but rocketed ahead over the final 400 metres to post the only time under 1:09.00.

Davis, who has trained at the Oval in Calgary, gave credit to Wotherspoon.

"I was with Jeremy and I know Jeremy, he's really fast, I see him skate every day," Davis told CBC Sports. "He was a great pair for me because I just try and chase him because I know Jeremy is one of the fastest guys in the world, you know, so if I can stay close to him and hopefully hold on to the last lap, I know I can get a good time."

Wotherspoon's Olympic woes continued as he placed 11th in 1:09.76.

Wotherspoon has won an unprecedented 57 World Cup races but struggled on the Olympic stage, winning only one medal - a silver - at Nagano in 1998 and, most memorably, wiping out five strides into the 500 at Salt Lake City in 2002.

The Red Deer, Alta., native was ninth in last Monday's 500 metres.

"It felt better than the 500, I definitely skated a lot better," Wotherspoon said. "I think coming out of the 500 I was, I didn't feel really motivated for the 1000 and I turned it around really well and trained really well the last couple days leading up to this and it was a lot tighter field than in the 500.

"Time-wise, I was closer to the lead in the 1000 than I was in the 500."

Wotherspoon was noncommittal about whether he would compete through to the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Games, saying he would probably take most of the next year off before deciding.

Joey Cheek of the United States took the silver medal in 1:09.16, adding to the gold he won in last Monday's 500.

Cheek has pledged to donate another $15,000 US to Right To Play, for its relief effort helping children in Sudan. Cheek signed over the $25,000 U.S. Olympic Committee bonus he got for his gold medal.

"I think we've had eight or nine companies or individuals match my original $25,000, and it looks like we're over a quarter of a million dollars donated -- and more keeps coming in," he said. "I'm much more proud of that than winning a gold medal."

The bronze medallist was Dutch skater Erben Wennemars (1:09.32), whose strict nutritional regimen was adopted by Davis.

"I am honoured that he thinks I'm his example every time he goes to the fridge," Wennemars said. "He skated really well."

Chad Hedrick of the U.S. skated 1:09.45 in the fourth of 21 pairings and retained top spot until Davis whipped Wotherspoon in the 19th.

Hedrick, who won the 5,000 exactly one week ago, settled for sixth.

"Once Shani beat me, I didn't care if I got a bronze," he said. "I'm here to win - it's all or nothing."

Francois-Olivier Roberge of St-Nicolas, Que., placed 16th, outskating Zhang Zhongqi of China in the seventh pairing in a time of 1:10.20.

Denny Morrison, from Fort St. John, B.C., finished in 1:10.44 and Steven Elm of Red Deer in 1:11.36 to wind up 19th and 29th, respectively.

Elm and Morrison both earned silver medals in Thursday's team pursuit.

with files from CP Online & Associated Press