Didier Defago on Monday handed Switzerland its first men’s downhill gold since 1988 while Chinese figure skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo capped a fairytale Olympic comeback by winning the pairs title.
After days of heavy snow and rain caused chaos to Alpine events, the Vancouver Games finally came alive as the Swiss veteran all-rounder held off Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal and American Bode Miller to land the blue-riband title.
It ended a long wait for Switzerland dating back to the great Pirmin Zurbriggen at the Calgary Olympics 22 years ago.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I’m very happy. It was a crazy run, not very easy because it was very different from the training,” said Defago, who clocked 1 minute, 54.31 seconds down the 3,105m Dave Murray course on the Whistler mountains.
“I really wanted to go back home with a medal. After three Olympics and a lot of championships, I think my experience made the difference,” Defago said.
Training also got under way in the women’s Alpine skiing opener, the super-combined, after the final was rescheduled to tomorrow, allowing superstar Lindsey Vonn time on the slopes as she recovers from a shin injury.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Organizers could face more problems with further overnight snow forecast, which threatened to derail both the men’s super-combined final and a second women’s downhill training session yesterday.
At the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, the husband-and-wife team of Shen and Zhao won China’s first ever Olympic figure skating title, with teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian making it a China 1-2. Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy captured bronze.
Three-time world champions Shen and Zhao were coaxed out of a two-year retirement by the lure of Olympic gold, and their dream came true.
They faced a tense wait to see if they had won following a stunning performance by Pang and Tong, which gave them a new world record mark of 141.81 in the free skate.
It pushed them up from fourth after the short program with an overall 213.31.
Shen and Zhao scored-second highest in the free skate after errors in their routine but it was enough to secure victory with 139.91 and 216.57 overall for a new world record score.
“We made a comeback to give it our last shot at gold. Words cannot describe how I feel right now. I just want to cry. It is a dream,” Shen said.
Zhao added: “We persevered. We triumphed. Go Team China.”
South Korea’s Mo Tae-bum celebrated his 21st birthday by taking out the men’s 500m speedskating gold, with Japanese pair Keiichiro Nagashima and Joji Kato in second and third.
Switzerland also had a day to remember when Dario Cologna joined Defago as a winner, cementing his status as one of cross-country’s rising stars by taking out the men’s 15km freestyle.
The 23-year-old blew away his rivals to finish in 33 minutes, 36.3 seconds with Italy’s Pietro Piller Cottrer second and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic third.
Sweden got in on the act when Charlotte Kalla claimed gold in the women’s 10km freestyle cross-country, crossing the line in 24 minutes, 58.4 seconds, ahead of Estonia’s Kristina Smigun-Vaehi and Norway’s Marit Bjoergen.
In other medal events, America’s Seth Wescott was the surprise winner of the men’s snowboard cross gold, beating out Canada’s Mike Robertson and Tony Ramoin of France.
Meanwhile, National Hockey League superstars assembled for their first complete workouts on the eve of a tournament that should produce epic showdowns and a defining moment of the Olympics.
Hockey-mad host Canada will be a favorite with playmaker Sidney Crosby of the NHL champion Pittsburgh Penguins joined by a star-studded cast, including goaltender Martin Brodeur, the NHL’s all-time leader in regular-season wins.
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