Sandro Viletta of Switzerland stunned the favorites and won the Olympic men’s super-combined skiing title yesterday in a spring-like race.
Viletta finished in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 45.20 seconds.
Ivica Kostelic of Croatia took the silver medal in the event for the third consecutive Olympics, 0.34 seconds behind, while Christof Innerhofer of Italy took bronze, 0.47 seconds behind, to add to his silver from the downhill.
Photo: AFP
Viletta stood only 14th after the downhill portion, but he put down the second-fastest slalom run and then waited as one skier after another failed to catch him.
The 28-year-old Viletta has won only one World Cup race in his career, a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December 2011. His best super-combined result came in Wengen, Switzerland, last month when he was fourth.
Downhill leader Kjetil Jansrud of Norway finished fourth.
Photo: EPA
The medalists were determined by adding the times together from one downhill run and one slalom leg.
The temperature soared to 13?C shortly before the start of the slalom leg, turning the snow to slush.
Defending champion Bode Miller made a big mistake during his downhill run and finished sixth, while world champion Ted Ligety had a ragged slalom leg and placed 12th.
Photo: AFP
Norwegian standout Aksel Lund Svindal finished in a tie for eighth with former overall World Cup winner Carlo Janka of Switzerland.
French contender Alexis Pinturault went out toward the end of his slalom leg — one of many racers who struggled with a difficult course set by Kostelic’s father, Ante.
Switzerland’s Dario Cologna won his second gold of the Games and underlined his supremacy in cross-country skiing with a dominant performance in the men’s 15km classic.
After a steady start, Cologna took the time trial race by the scruff of the neck from the middle section and was able to punch the air in triumph as he crossed the line.
He finished in 38 minutes, 29.7 seconds, a colossal 28.5 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, Johan Olsson of Sweden, who took silver. Daniel Richardsson, also of Sweden, won the bronze.
Cologna’s gold is his second in Sochi after his win in the skiathlon that mixes both the classic and freestyle.
It is his third Olympic gold after he also won the 15km in Vancouver 2010 which was run as a freestyle event.
On Thursday, Russian skating icon Yevgeny Plushenko dramatically announced his retirement after withdrawing from the Games with a back injury, leaving a nation stunned and questions asked over his original selection.
The two-time gold medalist had warmed up at the Iceberg Arena for the men’s short program as he began his campaign for a fifth medal and the accolade of the most successful ever Olympic figure skater, but he felt his long-standing back injury as he gingerly attempted a series of jumps, even stumbling at one stage.
After consulting his coach, the 31-year-old gave up on his Sochi dream and waved an emotional farewell to a stunned crowd.
“Amateur sport is finished for me. Maybe not in the way that I wanted, but I leave with a gold medal, that is also great,” he told Russia’s Channel One. “I am sorry for my fans and for everybody, but I tried until the end. I almost cried. It’s hard, believe me. I am very disappointed, but I tried to do my best.”
Plushenko had already won gold in Sochi in the new team event for his second Olympic title after taking the men’s honors at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He was also a two-time silver medalist, in 2002 and 2010.
Despite the shock of his retirement, questions were being asked over the selection of a man who underwent back surgery last year, the latest in 12 operations in his career on his back and knees.
As Russia had only one men’s berth in Sochi, the possibility of substituting Plushenko would only have been allowed on medical grounds, but the deadline for replacing injured skaters passed at 10am on Monday.
If he had withdrawn earlier another Russian skater, such as 18-year-old national champion Maxim Kovtun, could have taken his place.
Plushenko’s coach Alexei Mishin insisted there were no selfish motives.
“We didn’t do anything that wasn’t fair play,” he said.
In all six golds were up for grabs on Thursday, but 40-year-old Norwegian biathlon great Ole Einar Bjoerndalen missed out again on his bid to win a record 13th Winter Olympic medal.
He had equaled his compatriot Bjorn Daehlie’s collection of 12 medals when he won gold in the men’s 10km sprint, but could only finish fourth in the pursuit.
He was way down in 34th place in the 20km individual as Frenchman Martin Fourcade claimed his second gold to add to his triumph in the 12.5km pursuit.
Fourcade became the first French athlete to win two golds at the same Winter Olympics since skier Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.
“He’s fantastic,” Bjoerndalen said of Fourcade. “He’s a great athlete, he’s so strong, but I’m glad for him because he’s one of [the] greatest ever.”
Germany’s Erik Lesser was second with Yevgeny Garanichev of Russia taking third.
There was an accident at the Sanki Sliding Center where a track worker was left with both legs broken after being hit by a bobsled.
The day’s first medal contest resulted in a US sweep in men’s freestyle slopestyle, with Joss Christensen seeing off compatriots Gus Kenworthy and Nicholas Goepper.
China’s Li Jianrou steered clear of a three-skater pileup to sprint to gold in the women’s 500m short track, while China later took a second gold when Zhang Hong powered to the women’s 1,000m speed skating title.
Justyna Kowalczyk overcame an ankle injury to become the all-time greatest Polish Winter Olympian when she destroyed Norway’s stranglehold on the women’s cross country events to take gold in the 10km classic.
Victory represented Kowalczyk’s fifth Olympic medal.
Germany took the team relay luge gold to complete a four-title sweep of the sport.
In men’s ice hockey, three more of the favorites started the Games with wins after Finland triumphed earlier.
Hosts Russia rolled early as Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist in a breathtaking start of a 5-2 victory against Slovenia.
Defending gold-medal winners Canada shook off a slow start with a dominant second period of a 3-1 win over Norway.
Most impressively, the US scored six times in the second period and routed Slovakia 7-1.
Alex Ovechkin, perhaps the biggest star of the Olympics, scored 1:17 after the puck dropped with a wrist-shot that made the crowd roar. The superstar made the flag-waving fans gasp in awe 2:37 later with a drop pass to set up Evgeni Malkin’s goal that gave Russia a 2-0 lead.
Russia then relaxed, letting Slovenia pull within a goal twice in their first Olympic game, before taking control with two goals in the third.
Canada’s Shea Weber and Jamie Benn scored in the second after a scoreless first period, while Carey Price finished with 19 saves on his Olympic debut.
The US were expected to face the stiffest test, but they were simply sensational against Slovakia.
Paul Stastny scored twice to help the US score six consecutive goals in a 13:51 span.
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