Thread: Winter Olympics 2010

Lysacek clinches figure skating gold
By Pritha Sarkar Pritha Sarkar – Fri Feb 19, 8:18 am ET[/i]

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – American Evan Lysacek ended Yevgeny Plushenko's imperious reign as Olympic champion with a spell-binding free skate on Thursday to clinch the men's figure skating gold.

Plushenko, looking to become the first man in almost six decades to win back-to-back titles, had been swaggering around all week with the air of a man who had already won gold but Lysacek wowed the judges with an enchanting performance to Sheherazade that brought the roaring crowd to their feet.

Unlike the Russian, he did not attempt any quadruple jumps but was handsomely rewarded for his wobble-free jumps, his exquisite footwork, transitions and artistry.

His score of 257.67 eclipsed Plushenko by 1.31 points, leaving the Russian to moan. "An Olympic champion who doesn't know how to jump a quad, well I don't know.... it's not men's figure skating," he told reporters. "It's dancing."

Lysacek, who jumped up and down backstage when Plushenko's combined score of 256.36 flashed up, did not care what the Russian thought.

"I had so much fun tonight," he said. "I love this crowd, I love this ice, it was definitely my best. Mission accomplished. I was feeling more relaxed after the first jump. "I couldn't have asked for much more than that. To get a personal best in the most important moment of my life, you dream about it."

Daisuke Takahashi won Japan's first medal in the event when he finished third with 247.23 despite falling over on his quad. Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel was fourth.

Brian Boitano was the last American man to win the Olympic title, when the Games were also held in Canada in Calgary in 1988.

Lysacek wiped away 22 years of hurt, and Russian and Soviet domination, with the performance of his life.

GOOD AND EVIL

The American, the first of the main medal contenders to skate, took to the ice after being given a pep talk by his coach Frank Carroll and with two black and white crystal-encrusted snakes -- representing good and evil -- around his neck sparkling under the lights.

As soon as he landed his opening triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, he closed his eyes in relief and flew through his routine which featured 12 jumps, including seven in combination.

Midway through his final spin, he started to punch the air even before the final notes of his music had finished. He squeezed his eyes shut and punched the air five times with clenched fists as he shouted "yes, yes, yes, yes, yes".

LAST COMPETITOR

However, he still had to wait for Plushenko, the last competitor to skate.

The Russian had held a slim 0.55 advantage over Lysacek going into the free skate. He had also come out of a 3-1/2 year retirement determined to prove that the Olympic title -- unlike the last two world crowns -- could not be won by an athlete who did not perform the high-risk quads.

The 27-year-old showman, sporting a sequined bodysuit with red waistcoat and silver tie pattern, flirted with the camera, winked at the crowd and blew a kiss toward the judges but all that could not hide the faults in his routine.

Plushenko dropped the double loop from his opening quad-triple-double combination and drew gasps as he wobbled out of his triple Axel. He performed 11 jumps, but also had another snatched landing midway through his display.

The Russian clearly thought he had won, ending his final spin by blowing a kiss into the camera before holding aloft his two gloved index fingers high in the air.

Lysacek, the 2009 world champion, soon wiped the grin off Plushenko's face.

"I think we need to change the judging system, a quad is a quad," Plushenko continued to grumble, referring to the revamped judging system in which complex footwork, dizzying spins and artistic choreography can compensate for the lack of quads.

Despite being dethroned, the Russian would not give up the spotlight. As his name was called for the silver medal, he cheekily scuttled over the gold medalist's podium to take his place on the lower platform.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100219/...NhY2VrY2xpbmM-


Lysacek not true champion: Plushenko
By Gennady Fyodorov Gennady Fyodorov – 2 hrs 53 mins ago

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Olympic men's figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek is not a "true champion," his predecessor and Vancouver runner-up Yevgeny Plushenko has told Russian media.

Plushenko, hoping to become the first man in almost six decades to win back-to-back titles, lost to the American by 1.31 points on Thursday.

"You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad," the 27-year-old told Russian state television RTR.

Lysacek did not attempt a quadruple jump, considered the most difficult in figure skating, in either Tuesday's short or Thursday's free programs, instead wowing the judges with artistry and exquisite footwork.

"For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck with just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress, it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago," Plushenko said.

"Just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough because figure skating is a sport, not a show," he said.

"Of all the men who had competed tonight, only two -- myself and (Japan's) Takahiro Kozuka (who finished eighth) -- were able to land a clean quad.

"Later, when I saw Kozuka I shook his hand and congratulated him, saying 'Well done'. I also have a lot of respect for (Japan's bronze medalist) Daisuke Takahashi for trying to attempt a quad. That's a sign of a (future) champion."

PLUSHENKO ROBBED

Plushenko, who came out of a 3-1/2-year retirement last month, said he was a victim of prejudicial judging.

"I did a great short program but didn't get the marks I deserved. When I asked why they told me I was skating early and they had to retain top marks for the last group," he said. "Then, in the free program I was the last to skate, did everything clean and still didn't get the marks. That's prejudice. I thought I had done enough to get the gold but the judges gave it to someone else."

Most Russian TV analysts and commentators said Plushenko was robbed of a deserved gold by the judges.

When Plushenko walked into the RTR studio in Vancouver, host Alexei Popov presented him with a symbolic medal. "You already have one gold and one silver so here's a platinum medal for you," Popov told the skater. "You are the real champion."

Another commentator called the decision scandalous, in the same mold as judging controversies at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

"We'd seen this before. In 2002 Irina Slutskaya unfairly was placed second in the short program so that Sarah Hughes could get a better shot at winning the gold," Alexei Vasilyev said.

Russia's Slutskaya, a favorite for the women's title in Salt Lake City, finished second behind American Hughes.

Incensed by what they thought was poor and biased judging, the Russians filed a protest, arguing Slutskaya had skated as well as, if not better than, Hughes. It was rejected.

"So what if Slutskaya lost?" asked the commentator. "Who now remembers Hughes? Similarly, in a few years' time nobody will remember Lysacek while Plushenko would go down in history as one of the greatest of all time."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100219/...YtbHlzYWNla25v

Its so cool that America finally won in mens figure skating!!! I haven't watched much of the O's this year. But I check the stats and I see we are doing pretty well!! WTG guys and gals!

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Lysacek clinches figure skating gold
By Pritha Sarkar Pritha Sarkar – Fri Feb 19, 8:18 am ET[/i]

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – American Evan Lysacek ended Yevgeny Plushenko's imperious reign as Olympic champion with a spell-binding free skate on Thursday to clinch the men's figure skating gold.

Plushenko, looking to become the first man in almost six decades to win back-to-back titles, had been swaggering around all week with the air of a man who had already won gold but Lysacek wowed the judges with an enchanting performance to Sheherazade that brought the roaring crowd to their feet.

Unlike the Russian, he did not attempt any quadruple jumps but was handsomely rewarded for his wobble-free jumps, his exquisite footwork, transitions and artistry.

His score of 257.67 eclipsed Plushenko by 1.31 points, leaving the Russian to moan. "An Olympic champion who doesn't know how to jump a quad, well I don't know.... it's not men's figure skating," he told reporters. "It's dancing."

Lysacek, who jumped up and down backstage when Plushenko's combined score of 256.36 flashed up, did not care what the Russian thought.

"I had so much fun tonight," he said. "I love this crowd, I love this ice, it was definitely my best. Mission accomplished. I was feeling more relaxed after the first jump. "I couldn't have asked for much more than that. To get a personal best in the most important moment of my life, you dream about it."

Daisuke Takahashi won Japan's first medal in the event when he finished third with 247.23 despite falling over on his quad. Switzerland's Stephane Lambiel was fourth.

Brian Boitano was the last American man to win the Olympic title, when the Games were also held in Canada in Calgary in 1988.

Lysacek wiped away 22 years of hurt, and Russian and Soviet domination, with the performance of his life.

GOOD AND EVIL

The American, the first of the main medal contenders to skate, took to the ice after being given a pep talk by his coach Frank Carroll and with two black and white crystal-encrusted snakes -- representing good and evil -- around his neck sparkling under the lights.

As soon as he landed his opening triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, he closed his eyes in relief and flew through his routine which featured 12 jumps, including seven in combination.

Midway through his final spin, he started to punch the air even before the final notes of his music had finished. He squeezed his eyes shut and punched the air five times with clenched fists as he shouted "yes, yes, yes, yes, yes".

LAST COMPETITOR

However, he still had to wait for Plushenko, the last competitor to skate.

The Russian had held a slim 0.55 advantage over Lysacek going into the free skate. He had also come out of a 3-1/2 year retirement determined to prove that the Olympic title -- unlike the last two world crowns -- could not be won by an athlete who did not perform the high-risk quads.

The 27-year-old showman, sporting a sequined bodysuit with red waistcoat and silver tie pattern, flirted with the camera, winked at the crowd and blew a kiss toward the judges but all that could not hide the faults in his routine.

Plushenko dropped the double loop from his opening quad-triple-double combination and drew gasps as he wobbled out of his triple Axel. He performed 11 jumps, but also had another snatched landing midway through his display.

The Russian clearly thought he had won, ending his final spin by blowing a kiss into the camera before holding aloft his two gloved index fingers high in the air.

Lysacek, the 2009 world champion, soon wiped the grin off Plushenko's face.

"I think we need to change the judging system, a quad is a quad," Plushenko continued to grumble, referring to the revamped judging system in which complex footwork, dizzying spins and artistic choreography can compensate for the lack of quads.

Despite being dethroned, the Russian would not give up the spotlight. As his name was called for the silver medal, he cheekily scuttled over the gold medalist's podium to take his place on the lower platform.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100219/...NhY2VrY2xpbmM-


Lysacek not true champion: Plushenko
By Gennady Fyodorov Gennady Fyodorov – 2 hrs 53 mins ago

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Olympic men's figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek is not a "true champion," his predecessor and Vancouver runner-up Yevgeny Plushenko has told Russian media.

Plushenko, hoping to become the first man in almost six decades to win back-to-back titles, lost to the American by 1.31 points on Thursday.

"You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad," the 27-year-old told Russian state television RTR.

Lysacek did not attempt a quadruple jump, considered the most difficult in figure skating, in either Tuesday's short or Thursday's free programs, instead wowing the judges with artistry and exquisite footwork.

"For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck with just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress, it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago," Plushenko said.

"Just doing nice transitions and being artistic is not enough because figure skating is a sport, not a show," he said.

"Of all the men who had competed tonight, only two -- myself and (Japan's) Takahiro Kozuka (who finished eighth) -- were able to land a clean quad.

"Later, when I saw Kozuka I shook his hand and congratulated him, saying 'Well done'. I also have a lot of respect for (Japan's bronze medalist) Daisuke Takahashi for trying to attempt a quad. That's a sign of a (future) champion."

PLUSHENKO ROBBED

Plushenko, who came out of a 3-1/2-year retirement last month, said he was a victim of prejudicial judging.

"I did a great short program but didn't get the marks I deserved. When I asked why they told me I was skating early and they had to retain top marks for the last group," he said. "Then, in the free program I was the last to skate, did everything clean and still didn't get the marks. That's prejudice. I thought I had done enough to get the gold but the judges gave it to someone else."

Most Russian TV analysts and commentators said Plushenko was robbed of a deserved gold by the judges.

When Plushenko walked into the RTR studio in Vancouver, host Alexei Popov presented him with a symbolic medal. "You already have one gold and one silver so here's a platinum medal for you," Popov told the skater. "You are the real champion."

Another commentator called the decision scandalous, in the same mold as judging controversies at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

"We'd seen this before. In 2002 Irina Slutskaya unfairly was placed second in the short program so that Sarah Hughes could get a better shot at winning the gold," Alexei Vasilyev said.

Russia's Slutskaya, a favorite for the women's title in Salt Lake City, finished second behind American Hughes.

Incensed by what they thought was poor and biased judging, the Russians filed a protest, arguing Slutskaya had skated as well as, if not better than, Hughes. It was rejected.

"So what if Slutskaya lost?" asked the commentator. "Who now remembers Hughes? Similarly, in a few years' time nobody will remember Lysacek while Plushenko would go down in history as one of the greatest of all time."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100219/...YtbHlzYWNla25v

i watched from begining to the end the skaters and i think they were judged correctly ,
its not about what jumps they decide to take its mostly judged on how well they jump and execute the full program. and how strongly they skate.....
the russians jumps and landings were so wobbly even the crowds were making shocked sounds when he landed and groans were heard thoughout the stadium,,,, i loved watching him but he really was sloppy and rushed through his jumps like he was just wanting it to be over. the american was more deliberate and skated stronger and was better prepared in his routine.
the whole idea is to make the skating look simple and effortless , not clumzy and jerky, if you played them side by side the difference was really strong and i think it went to the best skater. and the russians remarks sour grapes.
the russian did better on the short program, and he should have made better marks but it was a wierd contest . and some of the points awarded other skaters were way above what they should have merited .
i cant wait for tonites dance compititions , they are going to be awesome im sure ,,,,,,,,

I still think that Johnny Wier was robbed. Two of the guys fell on their butts and the other guy caught himself on his hand on the ice ... yet they scored higher then Wier ?? Wier was incrediable to watch ... I think he should have gotten the Bronze... JMHO

Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

I still think that Johnny Wier was robbed. Two of the guys fell on their butts and the other guy caught himself on his hand on the ice ... yet they scored higher then Wier ?? Wier was incrediable to watch ... I think he should have gotten the Bronze... JMHO

thats why i think there was so many wondering what the scoreing procedure was.........

Canada's Disappointing Olympic Medal Tally
Sean Gregory / Vancouver – Mon Feb 22, 5:10 am ET

As the Canadian hockey team was trailing the United States 4-2 during the final period of Sunday's highly anticipated USA-Canada men's hockey game in Vancouver, spectator Doug Brodie, a retired technical writer from Windsor, Ontario, couldn't really believe what he was seeing. "It's just crushing," he said. "We haven't been doing so well against Americans. [Canadian goalkeeper] Martin Brodeur, we've got to knock him out of there."


Then, Brodie uttered the unthinkable. "I think the USA is going to win the tournament," he said. What would that result engender on the streets of Vancouver, the hockey ponds of Saskatchewan, and the shores of the Maritime provinces? His eyes pop and he takes a deep breath: it looks like he's been told he has months to live. (See the latest pictures from the Olympics in Vancouver.)


After the United States defeated Canada 5-3 in the Olympic event circled on the most calendars across this nation, Canada sounds ready to jump off a ledge. Own the Podium - that rallying cry for Canada's goal of topping the medal count at the Vancouver Olympics - now seems quaint at best, stupid at worst. "The expectations are just way too high," says Doug Younger, 52, a civil engineer from Calgary. "It created a monster." Canada has nine medals with seven days remaining in the Olympics, and the Own the Podium goal of 30 is now unattainable. The country is tied for fourth place on the leaderboard with South Korea; America is leading the way, with 24 total medals. As several American athletes have joked, it looks like Canada is renting the podium out for the month. Or just giving it away.


Yesterday had been dubbed Super Sunday because of the USA-Canada hockey matchup, and the abundance of other medal events in which Canada had a fighting chance to increase its lagging total. The day began on a dour note, as it was announced that the mother of Joannie Rochette, Canada's best hope for gold in figure skating and scheduled to compete Tuesday, died of a massive heart attack, at 55. Canada won just one medal, a speed-skating silver. American skier Bode Miller stole the show by taking a surprising gold in the super combined, and the evening's hockey loss to America just added to the misery. "This is it," said Canadian comic actor, and hockey nut, Will Arnett, who had been taking in the game in a suite along with officials from the National Hockey League (NHL). "The Olympics are the setting, but it's really just a hockey tournament." (See 25 Winter Olympic athletes to watch.)


Played on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid, America's win certainly wasn't as unexpected as the 1980 squad's triumph over the Soviet Union. But the young U.S. team, which feels overlooked as countries like Canada and Russia have been trumpeted as the medal favorites, skated faster and checked harder, than their hosts. The venue officials pumped up the crowd of close to 17,000 before the first face-off by showing footage of Alex Bilodeau, the Canadian moguls skier who won the country's first-ever Olympic gold on home soil on Feb. 14, acing his winning run. A sports arena could not have sounded louder.


But just 41 seconds into the game, Brian Rafalski of the Detroit Red Wings, who at 36 is the oldest member of the youngest Olympic hockey team, smacked a slap shot off the skate of Canadian superstar Sidney Crosby and past Brodeur, arguably the best goaltender of all time, giving Canada an early 1-0 lead. The sea of red jerseys was stunned. The Canadians tied the game later in the period, but Rafalski responded again, sneaking a shot under Brodeur's pads, which are normally a brick wall for skaters trying to score. "A funny thing. Before the game, Brian was saying he was a streaky player," says American forward Ryan Callahan, who plays for the New York Rangers. "Then he goes out and bangs in those two goals."


The U.S. built a 4-2 lead until Crosby scored with just over three minutes remaining. Sid the Kid's goal set up a tense ending in which the home team pulled Brodeur to gain the man advantage. "You always peek up [at the scoreboard]," says U.S. forward Zach Parise, describing a hockey player's mentality during the late stages of a tight game. "You're looking up, looking up, wishing [the time] would go by." Canada seemed to fire a thousand shots at American goaltender Ryan Miller: he either knocked them away, or America's tight defense prevented the puck from ever reaching him.


The frenetic finals moments of a tight hockey game are the most exciting in all of sports. Every shot, every scrum around the net on a rebound, can change everything. With 45 seconds remaining, American Ryan Kesler and Canada's Corey Perry both skated towards a loose puck: Kesler dove, stuck out his stick with his left hand, and punched in an acrobatic empty-net goal - one of the sweetest you'll ever see - to clinch the game for the Americans.


For Canada, the pain from the game was searing. "Canada's national angst meter is running at full power now," said Doug Eberhardt, a Vancouver sports radio personality. But the country shouldn't fret just yet; Canada can still win hockey gold. Though the team was less than dominant in the preliminary rounds - there was a convincing 8-0 win over Norway, a near national disaster to the Swiss, who hung with the hosts before falling 3-2 in a shoot-out, and the loss to the U.S. - the team needs to beat Germany on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. (On Wednesday the U.S., unbeaten so far, play the winner of the Switzerland-Belarus qualifier.) And while watching the game, Brendan Shanahan, the retired NHL star who won three Stanley Cups in his 21-year career, was quick to point out that the 2002 Canadian Olympic team, which was the first in 50 years to win a gold, started slowly in Salt Lake City. "There will be a lot of second guessing, a considerable amount of panic," said Shanahan. "But certainly there will be knowledge you can still win this tournament."


John Fennema, a consultant from Toronto who was one of the thousands of fans donning red Team Canada jerseys early Sunday evening, was also trying adopt this positive outlook. Canada still has tons of talent, and perhaps the extra qualifying game will actually help the team gel. Says Fennema: "It's the only comfort I've got right now, bud."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2010022...FuYWRhMzlzZGlz

Another injury, yet Vonn still will race in slalom
Pat Graham, Ap Sports Writer – 20 mins ago[/i]

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Lindsey Vonn began these Olympics with a shin so badly bruised she didn't know if she could compete. She did, winning two medals — with the aid of painkillers and numbing cream.

After her crash in Wednesday's giant slalom, her Vancouver Games looked like it just might be over with a broken right pinkie. Yet the U.S. Ski Team said Vonn will race in Friday's slalom race, the final women's Alpine event of the Olympics.

Those painkillers may come in handy once again.

"I'm just a little bit beat up right now," Vonn said after spinning out of control and slamming into the netting in the first run of Wednesday's giant slalom. "Things don't seem to be quite going my way."

Well, that's not entirely the case. She did benefit from weather delays early in the games, allowing her shin more time to heal. And she did win gold in the downhill and bronze in the super-G.

But Vonn also skied out in the super-combined and then injured her finger when she fell in driving snow and heavy fog during the giant slalom. But she's not ready to call it an Olympics.

The U.S. team said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Vonn will back in starting gate Friday. "I'm disappointed in myself that I made that mistake and I went out of the course," Vonn said Wednesday. "But I can only keep smiling because I know I was skiing well and sometimes you go down when you're attacking."

The injury was diagnosed as a cracked proximal phalanx of the little finger — or the base of the pinkie, where it connects to the hand. That would certainly make it tougher to grip a ski pole, but Vonn has overcome this sort of thing before. When she sliced her thumb open on a champagne bottle last February, she raced the rest of the season with her pole taped to her glove.

Her wipeout in the GS caused quite a chain reaction, as officials waved rival and teammate Julia Mancuso off the course while attending to Vonn. Mancuso, the defending Olympic champion in the event, was then brought back up to the top by a snowmobile for another run. "Hopped on the snowmobile, got halfway up," Mancuso said. "They said that we weren't allowed to snowmobile up higher, so at that point I was like, 'Come on, you guys have got to get me up there.' So we just went anyway."

Such is life for Mancuso, a double medalist who complained that she and other teammates are unappreciated because Vonn gets all the attention. Indeed, when Mancuso went back after her start-and-stop run, she had to argue her way into the starting gate. She didn't have her credential. Someone had taken it down to the finish area after her initial run.

Exhausted and skiing on a deteriorating course, Mancuso finished the first run in 18th place, 1.30 seconds behind Austria's Elisabeth Goergl.

The second run was postponed until Thursday, and Mancuso just had too much time to make up. Despite the third-fastest run in Thursday's second leg, Mancuso finished eighth. "I just kind of looked at it like some people get unlucky. There's lucky days, unlucky days," said Mancuso, who has already won silver medals in the downhill and super-combined at Whistler. "But if I can just focus on the ski racing and do the best that I can, that's all that I'm here to do. I'm psyched I was able to lay down a pretty good second run today, and it wasn't enough, but I really went out and did my best so I'm proud of that."

The day before, race director Atle Skaardal defended the way things were handled, including sending the skiers off in shorter intervals — to beat the weather rolling in — and the decision to split the giant slalom into a two-day race, rather than scrapping Wednesday's results and starting anew Thursday with two runs. "I don't see why we should cancel the first run," Skaardal said. "It was a fair and good first run. Why should we take it away?"

After finishing her first run, Mancuso remained in the finish area for a little while and then left in tears. "I know she was disappointed, and I know that she was mad, and probably frustrated, and probably mad at me," Vonn said, holding a plastic bag of ice on her right pinkie. "But I can't help that I fell. I wanted to finish."

Mancuso posted an angry tweet shortly after her run. She later toned it down: "that yellow flag in the GS was such... I just want to scream. I'm really miffed. Anyway, gotta take that energy and focus it for 2nd run."

Later in the evening, once the day's events had played out, Mancuso posted yet another tweet: "been hearing lots of people thinking I'm mad at Lindsey for crashing... thats just ridiculous! bummed about the situation...not Lindsey."

A feud between the U.S. teammates?

Mancuso was quoted by SI.com as saying, "People are having a hard time reaching their potential because it's such a struggle for attention. You come to meetings after races and it's like it's a bad day if Lindsey didn't do well."

Asked about it later, Vonn said: "I try to support Julia as much as I support all the other teammates. I've been racing with Julia since I was a little kid, and yes, we're competitors, but I always support her and it definitely has hurt me that she said some negative things about me, and all I can do is continue to support her like I always have been and hope that she reciprocates that. ... It just bums me out."

At the end of a long and odd day, Mancuso was prodded again to talk about Vonn. She held her tongue. "Of course, I wish I could have this morning happen over," Mancuso said. "That was probably the worst possible thing that could happen in the Olympics — to get flagged on ... your defending gold medal run."

The postponement did at least give Mancuso a little breather. She didn't have to take what would have amounted to a third run. "I'll be a little fresher," Mancuso said.

The giant slalom is Vonn's worst event — she never has finished higher than fourth in a World Cup GS — but she began Wednesday's opening leg aggressively, reaching the third checkpoint with more than a third of a second advantage over Goergl.

Then she lost control around a sharp right turn. Her knee slammed against her chin before she crashed backward into the safety netting. "If she came down holding that lead, that would've been something to talk about," said Thomas Vonn, who serves as his wife's adviser and coach. "It's just unfortunate. You've got to get it through the finish. She did 90 percent of the work and it just fell apart on that one gate. ... It's really frustrating sometimes."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/...RoZXJpbmp1cg--


Mancuso seeks to diffuse Vonn situation after race
Howard Fendrich, Ap Sports Writer – 8 mins ago

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Julia Mancuso says the state of her relationship with U.S. teammate Lindsey Vonn has "been taken a little out of proportion" at these Olympics.

Mancuso spoke after finishing eighth as the defending champion in the giant slalom Thursday, a day after her first run was interrupted because she left the starting gate not knowing that Vonn was crashing ahead of her.

Vonn said Wednesday she was "hurt" by "some negative things" Mancuso had said about her at these Olympics. That included Mancuso's comments about Vonn drawing a lot of attention from the media and within the U.S. team.

Mancuso sought to diffuse the situation Thursday, saying: "The way that it came across, that it was a media-attention fight or something like that, is just ridiculous."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/...YtbWFuY3Vzb3Nl

Calif. X Games skier remembered for pushing limits
Cathy Bussewitz, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 46 mins ago

this June 26, 1999 file photo, C.R. Johnson flies through the air during a practice jump, at the ESPN X games at Pier 30-32 in San Francisco.

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. – Current Olympians and others in the ski community on Thursday mourned the loss of professional free skier C.R. Johnson, who died in a fall while skiing a steep chute at California's Squaw Valley.

Johnson, 26, who has competed in the Winter X Games, was skiing with a group of friends Wednesday afternoon when he fell while trying to negotiate a "very, very tight, rocky area," said Jim Rogers, a member of the Lake Tahoe-area resort's ski patrol.

He fell face-first, then spun around and struck the back of his head on rocks in the Light Towers area of the resort. Johnson was wearing a helmet, but Rogers said the helmet took a serious blow.

Johnson was well-known at Squaw Valley, a challenging resort near Lake Tahoe's north shore that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics and has been a training ground for generations of Olympic skiers. His father was an avalanche forecaster at the resort for about a decade.

Squaw Valley sports shop worker Susan Joy Rouse said she knew of Johnson as a member of the community who loved to ski and push the limits.

"He was just a sweet boy," Rouse said Thursday morning. "This is what he loved to do. He was known for his love of skiing, pushing the limits and having a great time on the mountains. A lot of people had admiration for him."

Squaw Valley also is the home base for several members of the U.S. ski team, including Olympic alpine medalist Julia Mancuso.

She dedicated her last run in the Olympics, in Thursday's giant slalom, to Johnson.

"These 2010 Olympics are almost done for me," Mancuso said in a tweet and Facebook posting Thursday. "This last run is for CR Johnson. Gonna rip it for you!!! CR was in Salt Lake City at my first Olympics, cheering for me. I know your here now and with everyone when they ski and push their limits. RIP."

The younger skier also had rebounded from a serious injury suffered during a competition five years ago that put him in a coma for several months.

Johnson competed in superpipe and halfpipe skiing at events such as the X Games. A photograph on his MySpace page said he was "X-qualified" for a skiing competition in France in 2002, while the Web site for the Ski Channel Television Network said he had been nominated for male skier of the year in 2002.

The freeskier.com Web site posted clips of Johnson in several extreme skier movies, jumping off cliffs and sailing through fresh, untracked powder. One clip includes Johnson talking about relearning to use his arms and legs after a severe injury caused by a collision with another skier while filming at Utah's Brighton ski resort in 2005.

He recalls "being one of the best skiers in the world, overly confident in your skiing, overly confident in yourself. ... Right now I'm working as hard as I possibly can to return to the sport that nearly killed me."

Squaw Valley attracts expert skiers and is known for its difficult terrain. Johnson is the fifth skier to die on the slopes over the past three years. Two of the five died in avalanches, including one member of the ski patrol.

Attempts to reach Johnson's family were unsuccessful, and a telephone message left with a spokesman for the X Games was not immediately returned.

Squaw's ticket manager, Ivan McGurk, 37, said he knew Johnson because the young skier was at the resort frequently.

"I think he was an inspiration for both his athletic ability and the challenges he faced," McGurk said. "It's sad, and we feel for his family."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/...xpZnhnYW1lc3M-

Women's hockey is Canada, US — and nobody else
Jim Litke, Ap Sports Columnist – 1 hr 37 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – If this was the only game of the Olympic women's hockey tournament you caught, congratulations. It was the only one worth your time.

What's wrong with the women's game is hardly USA-Canada. It's like Tennessee-UConn women's basketball at twice the speed, bristling with just as much attitude and even more bodies flying around with real abandon. It's one of the best rivalries in any sport.

It just happens to be the only rivalry in this one — because they're the only legitimate teams.

"Obviously, we take the game seriously," U.S. captain Natalie Darwitz said after losing the hard-fought gold-medal game 2-0 to the Canadians. "I can't speak for the other countries, but my feeling is you've just got to give everybody else a little time and a little patience. Hopefully in eight or even 12 years, we're not still talking about just two countries, we're talking about an eight-team tournament that's tough to get through.

"Like the guys' tournament," she added, "where you see upsets every night."

The United States and Canada came into the final unbeaten, with a combined goal differential of 86-4. They have been paired in every one of the dozen world championships since the inaugural event in 1990, and were already the class of the field when the sport made its Olympic debut in Nagano 12 years ago. And while both have only become bigger, deeper, faster and more skilled with each passing year, the rest of the world keeps falling farther and farther behind. This gold medal match was a lock before a puck even hit the ice here. Counting Thursday's win, Canada now owns the last three gold medals; the U.S. won the first.

In a measure of how deep respect runs on both sides of the border, thousands of fans in red Canadian jerseys broke into chants of "USA! USA!" when the Americans were awarded their silver medals. Likewise, many of the few blue-clad U.S. fans got to their feet when the Canadians collected their golds. Only one other team has even reached the finale in either the worlds or the Olympics: Sweden, which after upsetting the Americans at the Turin Games four years ago, got clobbered by Canada. Had you seen the Swedes lose to Finland in the bronze medal game earlier in the afternoon — all you need to know is that Finland had a few women who had problems making high-speed turns — it was easy to understand why.

The Swedes, beaten 13-1 by Canada earlier in the tournament, had to replace nine players from their team in Turin. Many of them were still young enough to play but tired of the scrimping and sacrifices required to remain part of the national team program over there.

Contrast that with the turnover on Canada's roster. Their team has seven new players, but that's because there's intense competition for every spot. That's how Marie-Philip Poulin, who scored both goals for Canada, earned hers. And she's all of 18.

The disparity is so great between these two and everybody else that International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge felt compelled to address it during a press conference earlier in the day. He gave the rest of the world eight years at the outside to close that gap, or risk having all that work erased from the Olympic program. "There must be at a certain stage an improvement. We cannot continue without improvement," Rogge said. "There is an improvement in the number of nations — and we want to see this wider."

Good luck with that.

There were more than 85,000 female hockey players registered in Canada at the end of last year, nearly 60,000 in the United States. It was a long drop from those numbers to bronze medalist Finland, which registered 3,500.

How's this for six degrees of separation: Canada beat Slovakia, which had 267 players to choose from, by an 18-0 score. The Slovaks made the field here by trouncing Bulgaria 82-0 in a qualifying game. It makes you shudder to think how shallow the player pool is back there.

Small wonder, too, that there's already talk of a mercy rule when the women's hockey tournament kicks off in Sochi.

Late last week, as the lopsided results piled up, International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel found himself playing defense against critics who want the women's game pulled from the Olympics not in four years, or eight, but now.

He counseled patience, noting there were 200 million girls in China. Unfortunately, only 67 play hockey.

"Not 67 million. Not 67,000," he acknowledged. "Sixty-seven."

There are 34 countries listed as IIHF members on its Web site, among them Australia, South Africa and No. 34 Bulgaria. It's not just the size of the player pool, but the quality of the coaching, facilities and the depth of each country's commitment.

So here's a preview: At 31, Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser played in all four Olympics. Winning the gold on home soil reminded her what a long trip she and her teammates have been on.

"The midget games, the junior games that we played. Been up a goal, down a goal. We've faced adversity. Played through fatigue. Long bus trips. There was nothing really that we could see today," she said, "that could surprise us or throw us off.

"That's part of being an Olympic champion, doing all the little things when nobody is watching."

The clock has started ticking on the rest of the world. Unless the competition gets serious — and fast — all those women and all their sacrifices to get a game in the Olympics they could call their own are going to disappear. All because it wound up being owned so completely by their sisters from just two lands.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/...Vuc2hvY2tleQ--


IOC to look into celebrations by women hockey team
3 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The IOC will investigate the behavior of Canadian women's hockey players who celebrated their gold medal by swigging beer and champagne on the ice.

Players came back onto the ice more than half an hour after the 2-0 victory over the United States. Still in their uniforms and with gold medals draped around their necks, they swigged from bottles of champagne and cans of beer and smoked cigars.

Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said he was unaware of the incidents until informed by an Associated Press reporter. "If that's the case, that is not good," Felli said. "It is not what we want to see. I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened."

Felli said the IOC would talk to the international ice hockey federation and the Canadian Olympic Committee to get more information. "We will first find the facts and then act accordingly," he said.

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party. "In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said, referring to raucous locker-room celebrations that are a tradition in some professional team sports. "If these athletes were of legal age, then it's not something that's against the law," he said. "We can understand there's a lot of sensitivity around celebrations."

"We condone celebrations. ... We don't condone actions of irresponsibility," he said. "I think Canadians understand it's quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/...YtaW9jdG9sb29r

Kim Yu-na wins gold with record score
Nancy Armour, Ap National Writer – 16 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Kim Yu-na put one hand to her mouth and let the tears flow.

All that pressure, so many expectations. The "Queen" took it all on and delivered royally.

The South Korean won the Olympic gold medal Thursday night, soaring to a world-record 228.56 points and shattering her previous mark by more than 18 points. It may go down as one of the greatest performances in figure skating history, and it's sure to set off wild celebrations from Seoul to Pyongchang. It's South Korea's first medal at the Winter Olympics in a sport other than speedskating.

Even Kim seemed to be dazzled by the show she put on, gasping when she saw the monstrous score. Coach Brian Orser gave a Rocky-like victory pump, shaking his clasped fists over each shoulder.

Longtime rival Mao Asada of Japan won the silver medal, but it was no contest — even with Asada landing both her triple axels, one in combination with a double toe loop. Joannie Rochette, skating four days after the sudden death of her mother, won the bronze, giving Canada its first women's medal since Liz Manley's silver in 1988.

The Americans, meanwhile, are going home without at least one medal for only the second time since 1952. The other time? 1964, three years after a plane crash wiped out the entire U.S. team on its way to the world championships.

Mirai Nagasu was fourth while U.S. champion Rachael Flatt dropped to seventh.

Kim came in bearing almost incomprehensible pressure. Not only was the reigning world champ the biggest favorite since Katarina Witt in 1988 — she's lost just one competition over the last two seasons — she carried the weight of an entire nation on her slim shoulders.

The most popular athlete in South Korea, she's been dubbed "Queen Yu-na" — check out the sparkly crowns that twinkle in her ears — and she needs bodyguards whenever she returns home from her training base in Toronto. Anything she does creates a frenzy, and even a simple practice draws a rinkful of photographers.

Kim seemed to shrug it all off earlier this week, saying after the short program that it felt like any other competition. But it was clear Thursday that it meant so much more.

There were simply no flaws in her performance, from her skating to her expressions to that lovely cobalt blue dress. While other skaters slow down as they approach their jumps to steady themselves, she hurtles into them at full speed yet touches down with pillow-like softness. Her connecting steps are like art on ice, and her edge quality is so fine there is not even the slightest hint of a harsh scrape, just the sound of her crisp edge. Her spins are centered so perfectly the tracings look as if they were made with a protractor.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/...Yta2lteXUtbmF3


Yuna crowned Olympic champion
Pritha Sarkar – 10 mins ago

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Kim Yuna produced a riveting women's free skate on Thursday to obliterate the opposition and become the first South Korean to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal.

The 19-year-old, already hailed as Queen Yuna by her legion of admirers, had hollering fans rushing down the aisles to salute her after she was crowned Vancouver Games champion with a record combined total of 228.56. She won by a huge margin of 23.06 points.

Japanese rival Mao Asada soared high into the air to become the only woman to land two triple Axels at the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday but could not match the technical wizardry, artistry or poise of Yuna and settled for silver with 205.5.

Canada's Joannie Rochette delivered a display full of grace, beauty and guts to win the bronze medal just four days after her mother's sudden death.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100226/...YteXVuYWNyb3du


[b]

Peterson lands a Hurricane, wins a silver
Eddie Pells, Ap National Writer – 16 mins ago

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Jeret "Speedy" Peterson has spent much of his adult life searching for a glimmer of hope wrapped inside a Hurricane.

Soaring 50 feet in the air on a clear, cold night at the Olympics — a night he called the best of his life — he found it.

Peterson took his high-risk, high-reward story to extraordinary new heights on the aerials course Thursday, throwing his one-of-a-kind "Hurricane" jump and walking away with the silver medal.

A defining moment for a man who has faced a life of addiction and pain, triumph and tragedy, and who stayed in his sport so he might have a celebration like this.

"I know that a lot of people go through a lot of things in their life, and I just want them to realize they can overcome anything," Peterson said, tears streaming down his face. "There's light at the end of the tunnel and mine was silver and I love it."

The 28-year-old from Boise, Idaho took a chance nobody else in this dangerous sport will take — wrapping five twists into three somersaults as he vaults off the ramp and five stories into the air. He stuck his landing and was rewarded by the judges.

Peterson's score — 128.62 — was the highest awarded for any of the 24 jumps over the sugary, wet snow at Cypress. But his total — 247.21 — was 1.2 short of Belarussian Alexei Grishin, who was judged to be a bit more technically precise, if not quite as daring.

Grishin added the gold to the bronze he won in 2002 and became the first to bring winter gold to the member of the former Soviet republic.

"That's why I was in the sport so long," Grishin said. "This was my dream for me and for Belarus."

Liu Zhongqing of China took bronze.

Peterson won the silver on a night he said was "more than redemption, it's the best day of my life."

"I've done a lot of things in my life I regret. I've been through a lot of things that have been extremely hard to overcome," he said. "I'm working hard lately to be the person I want to be and the person I really know I am."

His trip to the Turin Olympics four years ago began innocently enough. He finished seventh there, but celebrated anyway, saying, "I came to throw the Hurricane, and I threw the Hurricane." A nice story that was overshadowed, however, when he was sent home early after a minor scuffle with a buddy in the street.

Only later did the depths of his personal problems really come to light in the general public. In Italy, he was still reeling from the suicide of a friend, who shot himself in front of Peterson only months before.

There were problems with alcohol and depression, his own thoughts of suicide, all stemming from a childhood in which he was sexually abused and lost his 5-year-old sister to a drunken driver.

Even the feel-good story about Peterson winning $550,000 playing blackjack one night, pre-Turin took a bad turn; he gave some of it to friends, lost the rest in the tanking real estate market. In the past two years, he declared bankruptcy and decided to start over.

He took a break from skiing, asked friends to teach him about trades in the construction business. He wanted to get away from competition and skiing, walk into an honest day's work and leave that night able to see the actual progress, not have to analyze it on video.

He found himself during that break and came back stronger. He never lost his main passion — the adrenaline rush he got from aerials.

"I do it because I want to be the person I know I can be," he said. "I've really changed things around in the last 3 1/2 years. This is my medal for everything I've overcome, and I'm ecstatic."

But to get it, he had to do it his way. With the "Hurricane" — which was the best way he could describe how it felt when his body started twirling, his sight lines blurred, the snow whirling around him during that magical three seconds in the air.

Win or lose, he insisted, this was the only way to fly. And maybe the only way to try to nudge a sport that has grown increasingly stagnant — still beautiful and athletic, but not being pushed the way it once was, say, back in 2002, when Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic won the Olympics with a five-twist jump that was even more difficult than Peterson's.

Valenta is gone and Peterson is now among the very few who will take these kind of chances anymore. Only one other jumper, Thomas Lambert of Switzerland, did a version of the five-twisting jump Thursday night, and he finished in last place.

Peterson, who has struggled with the Hurricane for a while now, and especially in training this week, says he may retire it with this silver medal.

"It might not be the last jump, but I'm pretty sure it'll be the last Hurricane I do," he said. "It's something that I wanted to prove to myself that I could come out and do it, that I had the ability to overcome odds."

After landing his patented jump, American aerials coach Matt Christensen shouted from the top, "You did it! You did it!" Peterson started pumping his fists in celebration and skied over to an American cheering section that included U.S. teammate Emily Cook, whose injury in 2002 gave Speedy the first of his three Olympic spots.

"I gave him a hug at the bottom, and we both started crying," U.S. freestyle team coach Jeff Wintersteen said. "I'm just happy for him. It's a sense of relief. He came back and did it, and it was a fantastic jump."

Peterson's teammate, Ryan St. Onge, lost the bronze to Liu by 2.5 points and a promising night for Canada, which qualified three jumpers into the final, turned into a bust.

Kyle Nissen held a 6-point lead after his first jump, but on his second, with a gold medal on the line, his landing was rough — his right ski came all the way off the ground. He dropped to fifth place.

One jump earlier, Grishin put down the second of two arrow-straight jumps — winners on most nights when Peterson isn't on his game, and some nights when he is. It brought the first gold to Belarus, which has top-notch aerials programs on both the men's and women's side.

Hard, though, to call Peterson a loser.

A man who knows all about victory and defeat, he has long insisted he didn't need a medal to prove himself as a person. Doubtful his attitude will change now.

Not a bad prize to take home from the Olympics, though.

"I'm so happy," Peterson said. "This is the best day of my life. It's my reward for fighting through everything."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/...YtcGV0ZXJzb25s