In Italy, it's Friday the 17th that's considered bad luck -- and it certainly was for US gold medal favorites, with the women's hockey team shockingly upset by Sweden and Lindsey Jacobellis squandering an almost certain win in the new snowboardcross event.
For the first time since international competition in women's hockey began in 1990, the US and Canada won't meet in the championship match.
Swedish goalie Kim Martin was pivotal in that, making 37 saves and stopping all four American attempts in a shootout, while Maria Rooth had two regulation scores and the clinching shootout goal in Sweden's 3-2 semifinal win.
PHOTO: EPA
"This is the greatest thing to happen to women's hockey in Sweden and everywhere around," said Martin, who led the Swedes to the bronze medal in Salt Lake City when she was only 15. "We knew we were getting better and better all the time. We needed to beat the US or Canada to show it."
Sweden now has a chance to do both. The defending champion Canadians easily beat Finland 6-0 to reach the final.
In another spectacular loss, Jacobellis was way ahead of her three opponents in the snowboardcross when she tried a "backside method grab" on her board while airborne on the penultimate jump.
PHOTO: AFP
The move put her off balance and she fell. While she scrambled to her feet, Switzerland's Tanja Frieden sped past to become the first women's snowboardcross gold medalist. Jacobellis settled for silver. Dominique Maltais of Canada took bronze.
At first, the 20-year-old American denied she was showing off. But she later admitted that maybe she got carried away.
"I was caught up in the moment," she said. "I was having fun. Snowboarding is fun. I was ahead. I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd. I messed up. Oh well, it happens."
PHOTO: EPA
For tiny Estonia, the day carried no jinx.
Cross-country veteran Andrus Veerpalu plowed through fresh snow to retain his Olympic title in the 15km classical race and bring Estonia its third gold of the games. Kristina Smigun won the women's 10km classical race and 15km pursuit.
"We are a very small country, so it's a great day for the country," Veerpalu said.
Canada's Duff Gibson grabbed the third gold Friday, the seventh day of competition, leading Jeff Pain in a Canadian 1-2 finish in the men's skeleton.
In the process, Gibson -- at 39 years, 189 days -- became the oldest gold medalist in an individual men's event at a Winter Olympics.
On the ski slopes of Sestriere, Croatia's Janica Kostelic put herself in good position to defend her Olympic title by setting up a showdown with rival Anja Paerson in the women's combined -- if she's not too sick to start Saturday's downhill section.
Kostelic, who missed the downhill competition Wednesday because of illness, was second behind Austrian slalom specialist Marlies Schild in the first of two slalom runs Friday night. Paerson, the two-time defending overall World Cup champion from Sweden, was fourth.
Only one competitor made it down the hill at San Sicario before officials posptoned the downhill competition.
The race was rescheduled for Saturday, but Kostelic said she might not hold up that long.
"I'm very tired and I'm not 100 percent sure I'll start tomorrow."
In figure skating, Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio, back after three years off, wowed the crowd and the judges Friday night in the Olympic compulsory dance. With Italian flags waving throughout the packed arena, the 2002 bronze medalists waltzed their way back to the top -- at least through the first portion of the competition.
Second were world champions Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov of Russia.
In the only positive doping case from Turin so far, Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was banned from competition for two years after facing an International Biathlon Union hearing Friday. She also will be investigated under Italy's criminal anti-doping law.
Pyleva has already been stripped of a silver and kicked out of the games for testing positive for a banned stimulant.
men's hockey preview
Every game matters now.
Both Russia and the world champion Czech Republic were upset in the first two days of the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament, so a poor result in their next games could mean elimination.
Defending champion Canada remains the favorite, while Finland and Slovakia are also perfect at 2-0. Sweden, another title contender, has a loss, while the US has a win and a tie.
The other contenders also have blemishes, but Switzerland has the edge among also-rans Latvia, Kazakhstan, Germany and Italy.
"This is the time you are going to see the Czechs, the US and everybody step it up," said Switzerland goalie David Aebischer, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche.
Blame the early upsets on jet lag -- many NHL players arrived from North America the day before opening games -- unfamiliar teammates and choppy ice.
The top four teams in each group advance to Wednesday's quarterfinals. The Group A winner will face the fourth-place team in Group B, and so on.
Canada beat both Italy and Germany, and the team has looked more comfortable than it did at this stage four years ago. In Salt Lake City, the eventual gold medalists lost to Sweden 5-2 and barely squeezed by Germany 3-2.
The Canadian players also don't seem distracted by the brouhaha surrounding executive director Wayne Gretzky. He has allegedly been linked to a gambling ring reportedly run by his Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach, Rick Tocchet. Gretzky's attorney has said his client's only involvement in the case will be as a possible "fact witness."
Canada faces Switzerland on Saturday, then has tough games against Finland on Sunday and the Czechs on Tuesday.
Finland has battered its first two opponents, beating Italy 6-0 and Germany 5-0. The Finns were bronze medalists in 1994 and 1998 and are being mentioned again as strong contenders. The next two games are crucial, facing the Czechs yesterday and Canada today.
"If you look at the lineups, they [Czechs and Canadians] are better on paper but things are not decided on paper,'' Finland forward Saku Koivu said. "There are strange things that can happen in a tournament like this, and the team with the most talent doesn't always win."
Nobody sees the Swiss as medal contenders, despite beating the Czech Republic 3-2.
Reaching the quarterfinals would be big for Switzerland, which won Olympic bronze in 1928 and 1948.
The Swiss face Canada on Saturday -- and two upsets in a row is unthinkable. A victory on Sunday over Germany, and a win Tuesday over Italy would guarantee the final eight.
"We are going to have to win over Germany and Italy, that's where we focus," Aebischer said.
The defending world champion Czechs are still the pick of many, even with the loss.
"I hope that it's going to be a wake-up call," Czech Republic forward Martin Straka said.
The Czechs, who are led by NHL top scorer and points leader Jaromir Jagr, will be without goalie Dominik Hasek, who was ruled out of the tournament after pulling a groin muscle against Germany. His back-up is Tomas Vokoun, who led the Czechs to the world title last year.
Slovakia's upset over Russia, and an easy victory over Latvia, is overshadowing its Czech neighbors.
The Slovaks have as much speed as anybody in the tournament, with defense the biggest question. They face a critical game against the US on Saturday.
"Against Russia, we had to stay back and wait for turnovers," Slovakia forward Lubos Bartecko said. "Against Canada and the US, it will be a more physical game, but we have physical guys, too."
The Americans, who won silver last time, stumbled in a 3-3 tie with Latvia, but recovered to beat Kazakhstan. The next three games will be more testing -- Slovakia, Sweden and Russia.
"We're definitely going to have to pick up our play," forward Bill Guerin said. "Slovakia is going to be a much different team than Kazakhstan. Mentally, we have to know that and get out there and give a better effort."
Russia -- or as the Soviet Union before that -- has won a medal in 12 of the 13 Winter Olympics. Coming back after the upset to beat Sweden 5-0 shows the team's strength.
The Russians have as much speed as any team in the Olympics, and they will be a handful if their defense holds up.
The Swedes were impressive in beating Kazakhstan 7-2 in the opener, but the 5-0 loss to Russia creates a few questions. Sweden still has to play Latvia, the US and Slovakia.
Part of Sweden's fate may be with star forward Peter Forsberg, who has missed the first two games with a groin strain. Forsberg sat out the Philadelphia Flyers' final eight games before the break, but Sweden coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson says he is getting better.
Russian biathlon star Olga Pyleva, already tossed from the Turin Games and stripped of her silver medal for a positive drug test, was banned for two years Friday and will be investigated under Italy's criminal anti-doping law.
The 30-year-old Pyleva tested positive for the stimulant carphedon and was expelled Thursday from the games, the first athlete caught in the tightest drug net in Winter Olympics history. She attended a meeting of the International Biathlon Union in a Turin suburb Friday, where the two-year ban was announced.
"It was not a difficult case," said Anders Besseberg, president of the IBU. "It's a positive doping case."
The IOC threw Pyleva out of the Olympics on Thursday and has turned over documents to Italian magistrates in accordance with Italian law, said Mario Pescante, IOC member and government supervisor for the games. Pyleva was scheduled to fly back to Russia later in the day, said Russian biathlon team doctor Andrey Dmytriev.
"Like every foreigner who commits a crime in Italy, she can go back to her country because the criminal process against her hasn't begun yet," Pescante said. He said she could still be called in to testify at some point.
The silver Pyleva won in Monday's 15km event now goes to Germany's Martina Glagow. The bronze falls to Albina Akhatova, Pyleva's Russian teammate. The gold was also won by a Russian, Svetlana Ishmouratova.
"I'm satisfied that they've found out," Glagow said, "but it's sad to discover things like this."
Russian officials at the Olympics explained that a doctor treating Pyleva for an ankle injury in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk gave her an over-the-counter medication in January that did not list the banned substance.
short track speedskating
Apolo Anton Ohno vs. the South Koreans. The hottest rivalry in short track speedskating takes another spin today, with the American star hoping he's around for the finish this time.
Ohno stumbled while attempting a bold pass on the leader and failed to get out of the 1,500m semifinals in his first Olympic race in Turin.
South Korea's powerful duo of Ahn Hyun-soo and Lee Ho-suk dominated, with Ahn winning gold and Lee taking silver.
"All the Koreans were obviously expecting a race between myself and Ohno," Ahn said. "They were waiting for the final showdown."
They might get it in the 1,000m.
The race became famous four years ago in Salt Lake City, where a massive pileup left four skaters sprawled on the ice. Ohno was one of them, but he managed to crawl across the line for a silver medal.
China's Li Jiajun caught his skate on Ohno's while trying to pass and spun out. That sent Ohno sliding into Ahn, and both went down, wiping out Mathieu Turcotte of Canada. They cleared the ice for Steven Bradbury to win Australia's first gold at a Winter Games. Li was disqualified and Ahn finished fourth.
Besides Ohno and Ahn, some of the same skaters are back in Turin.
Li is the world record holder in the 1,000m and won bronze in the 1,500m last week. Fabio Carta of Italy, who wasn't involved in the crash four years ago, will try to win Italy's first short track medal.
Bradbury's victory was the first by a non-Korean in a race that began at the 1992 Albertville Games.
Ohno will skate in the same four-man opening heat as Ahn, with the top two advancing to the semifinals.
The other American, Rusty Smith, is in the same heat as Li Ye, the man Ohno got too close to in the 1,500m, causing Ohno to briefly lose his balance. Li has never won an Olympic medal in an individual race. He was disqualified in the 1,500m final for impeding.
While Ohno tries to win his first medal in Turin, his girlfriend, Allison Baver, skates in the women's 1,500m.
China's Wang Meng and Yang Yang and South Koreans Jin Sun-yu and Byun Chun-sa lead the field.
Wang won a gold in the 500m Wednesday. Yang is a four-time Olympic medalist, who has never won a medal in the 1,500. Cheng Xiaolei could give China a possible sweep of the medals.
Jin, the 2005 world champion, finished in the top three at every World Cup meet this season. Byun was a consistent top-four finisher.
Baver and 17-year-old Kim Hyo-jung don't have the impressive credentials of their rivals.
Baver was fifth in the 500m. Kim was eliminated in the quarterfinals with a last-place showing in her race. She has been bothered by an Achilles injury.
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The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
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