Roundup
After a somber start with Michelle Kwan's withdrawal, the second day of the Winter Olympics ended in celebrations on both sides of the Italians Alps for Armin Zoeggeler and Antoine Deneriaz.
Frenchman Deneriaz stunned the highly favored Austrians and Americans in the men's downhill on Sunday to take gold in the marquee Alpine event.
PHOTO: AFP
Zoeggeler sent Italy into raptures by defending his Olympic luge title at the Cesana track, giving the host nation its first gold medal of the Games.
"I never said I am the greatest," said Zoeggeler, whose Olympic medal collection also includes a silver and bronze. "I am what I am."
Georg Hackl, a three-time Olympic champion and luge's most celebrated athlete, ended his brilliant career without a medal for the first time in six games. He placed seventh.
PHOTO: AP
Kwan also is unlikely to return to the Olympics. A groin injury that has bothered since before the US selection trials ended her decade-long quest for Olympic gold.
The 25-year-old Kwan won five figure skating world championships but always came up short at the Olympics, winning a silver medal in 1998 and a bronze in 2002.
"I have no regrets. I tried my hardest," a tearful Kwan told a news conference. "And if I don't win the gold, it's OK. I've had a great career.
PHOTO: AP
"I would love to compete in my third Olympics, but I love and respect the sport, and I think it's all about the United States bringing their best team -- I wouldn't want to be in the way of that."
Deneriaz -- ranked 16th coming into the Olympics -- went off last of the top 30 skiers and had a blistering run down the Kandahar Banchetta course.
"At the start I was thinking, `Do it! Do it! I have to attack! Attack!' All the way, I felt like I was going fast. But when I saw my time, I thought, `Grandiose!'" said Deneriaz.
PHOTO: AFP
"No one," he said, "believed it could be true."
The 29-year-old Frenchman's time of 1 minute, 48.80 seconds beat silver medal winner Michael Walchoffer of Austria, the reigning World Cup downhill champion, by .72 seconds -- the biggest winning margin in an Olympic men's downhill in 42 years.
"I've been thinking of nothing else for the past year. It's incredible. I'm Olympic champion."
American prospects Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves finished fifth and 10th, while Austria's Hermann Maier, also was well off the pace. "The Herminator" finished in sixth, 1.2 seconds slower than Deneriaz.
Kjetil-Andre Aamodt of Norway, the defending combined gold medalist and most prolific Olympic medalist in Alpine skiing, injured his left knee when he placed fourth in the downhill and later withdrew from Tuesday's combined event.
In short track, South Korea picked up gold and silver with Ahn Hyun-soo winning from compatriot Lee Ho-suk. China's Li Jiajun was third.
Apolo Anton Ohno, who won in Salt Lake four years when another Korean was disqualified, did not make the final after placing fourth in the semis.
While Miller and Co failed to meet expectations, Shaun White -- his mop of red hair spilling out of his helmet -- fulfilled his when he won the men's halfpipe.
"I'm a little overwhelmed right now. I can't explain it," said White, nicknamed "The Flying Tomato."
Teammate Danny Kass was second but the Americans fell a podium place short of repeating their halfpipe medal sweep of 2002. Markuu Koski of Finland won bronze.
In women's speedskating, Ireen Wust led a stunning Dutch 1-2 sweep in the 3,000m. Wust, 19, clocked 4 minutes, 2.43 seconds at the Lingotto oval track and then anxiously watched her rivals -- including favored German and Canadian skaters -- as they failed to run down her time.
"When the last pair skated I had to wait and then when I saw that they were ... above my time, it was so beautiful," Wust said.
Teammate Renate Groenewald was second in 4:03.48 and Canada's Cindy Klassen finished third.
Cross-country skier Eugeni Dementiev of Russia surged from behind to overtake several opponents in the final 100m to win the 30km men's pursuit in 1:17:00.8.
Frode Estil of Norway recovered from a fall at the mass start to take silver and Pietro Piller Cottrer earned Italy its second bronze of the games.
Kristina Smigun of Estonia won gold in the women's 15km pursuit after World Cup leader and favorite Marit Bjorgen of Norway dropped out with a stomach problem.
Today, two-time world champions Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia were hoping to become the 12th consecutive combination from Russia or the former Soviet Union to win the figure skating pairs event.
The pairs final is one of the main events in a program Monday that includes medals in the men's 500m speedskating, women's snowboarding halfpipe and the women's 15km biathlon.
SKI JUMPING
Lars Bystoel of Norway came from behind Sunday to win the gold medal in the Olympic normal hill ski jumping event, upstaging World Cup leader Jakub Janda and veteran Janne Ahonen.
Bystoel, who was tied for sixth after the first round with a jump of 101.5m, soared 103.5m on his second attempt to move into first place with a total of 266.5 points.
Matti Hautamaeki of Finland took the silver, one point behind Bystoel. Another Norwegian, Roar Ljoekelsoey, won the bronze a further point back.
Bystoel had the best score and one of the two longest jumps in Saturday's qualifying but was later disqualified because of a jumping suit violation.
However, as one of the top 15 World Cup competitors, he had already been assured of a place in the final.
Janda of the Czech Republic had poor jumps in both rounds and finished in a tie for 13th place.
Two-time World Cup champion Ahonen of Finland was tied for second after the first round but jumped only 100m in the second heat to drop to sixth, missing another chance for an Olympic individual medal.
Ahonen and Janda both shared victory at the prestigious Four Hills tour this season.
Germany's Michael Uhrmann had the longest jump of the second round, 104. 5m, to move into fourth place, missing the bronze by half a point.
The leader after the first round, Dmitry Vassiliev of Russia, botched his landing in the second round and fell to 10th place.
Defending Olympic champion Simon Ammann of Switzerland was eliminated after the first round.
Ammann had a jump of 92.5m to finish in a tie for 38th place. Only the top 30 jumpers advanced to the final round.
Another prominent jumper who failed to qualify was last year's normal hill world champion Rok Benkovic of Slovenia, who had a jump of 87.5m.
women's hockey
Sarah Parsons showed the world why a talented teenager could be the next star of a US women's hockey team that seems to lack nothing but famous faces.
The 18-year-old prodigy scored her first two Olympic goals and Pam Dreyer stopped 10 shots in the Americans' second straight shutout victory in the preliminary round, 5-0 over Germany on Sunday night.
Katie King had a goal and two assists, and fellow three-time Olympian Jenny Potter had a goal and an assist. But even the US veterans were overshadowed by their youngest teammate, who's playing hooky from her first year at Dartmouth University to go for a gold medal.
Natalie Darwitz also scored for the Americans, who outshot Germany 60-10 in another dominant performance. Yet the result actually was a small victory for the Germans, who stayed closer to the US than ever before: They lost all seven of the nations' previous meetings by at least six goals apiece.
The US hasn't really been tested in the first two games of its first Olympics without captain Cammi Granato, cut last summer by coach Ben Smith.
Granato was the face of a team that's building a new identity -- but captain Krissy Wendell, defenseman Angela Ruggiero and Parsons seem to be ready for their close-ups.
Parsons got her first goal early in the second period with a deft deke and a whip-quick shot over Harss' shoulder. Darwitz flipped home the rebound after another impressive drive to the net by Parsons, who had eight shots in the first two periods.
She finished up with an outstanding charge in the third period, eluding three defenders and sprawling to the ice while tucking the puck inside the post. She got a standing ovation from the fans at Turin's stunning new Palasport Olimpico, where both hockey gold medal finals will be contested.
While the defending Olympic champion Canadians have won their first two games 28-0, the Americans have been less prolific offensively, but just as tough on defense.
Dreyer made every key save during her turn in the US goalie rotation after Chanda Gunn shut out Switzerland in her Olympic debut Saturday. And without Switzerland's Patricia Elsmore-Sautter in the other net, where she stopped countless scoring chances on Saturday, Dreyer had far fewer tense moments.
The Americans and Canadians lead their respective groups with two victories. They're nearly assured of advancement to Friday's semifinals, with both clubs already thinking about a gold-medal rematch on Feb. 20.
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