Lindsey Vonn lived up to her reputation as the best downhill skier in the world by claiming the women’s Olympic title on Wednesday as Shaun White and Shani Davis made it a golden day to remember for the US.
Wohever, with the Games in day six, more bad news greeted under-pressure Vancouver organizers after 19 people were injured when a barricade near the stage collapsed at a venue offering free concerts during the Olympics.
All were treated on site with nine then taken to hospital, mostly for minor injuries. It added to a growing list of problems plaguing the Games, which have been blighted by weather woes that have forced delays to key events and the cancellation of thousands of tickets due to safety issues.
PHOTO: EPA
It also emerged on Wednesday that a mentally ill man, carrying a homemade security pass, got within meters of US Vice-President Joe Biden at the opening ceremony last Friday in a major security breach.
Biden was never in danger, and no charges have been filed against the unarmed man, whose mental health issues are believed to have prompted the incident, a spokesman for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit said.
“This was an isolated incident committed by an individual with no malicious intent who was identified and removed by security,” police sergeant Rich Graydon said in a statement.
PHOTO: EPA
The director of Olympic security described the 48-year-old Canadian man, who has not been identified, as having an “infatuation” with Biden, CTV reported.
Police said they intercepted the man when he attempted to approach the area where Biden was sitting, and he was apprehended after he attempted to flee.
He was about 12 rows of seating away from Biden when he was stopped.
Vonn delivered organizers some relief with a sizzling performance on the piste at Whistler, winning the US’ first ever Olympic gold in a thrilling downhill marred by a series of spectacular crashes.
It was flawless performance in perfect conditions on Franz’s Run, with the shin injury she had complained about not an issue as she crossed the line in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds.
Teammate Julia Mancuso came second at 0.56 seconds for a surprise silver while Austrian Elisabeth Goergl captured bronze.
“It’s one of the most incredible moments of my life,” said the untouchable Vonn, the winner of five consecutive downhills in the World Cup this season.
“When I crossed the finish line and saw my name in first and Julia’s second, it was just the coolest thing,” she said.
With four disciplines still to go, she has chances to medal in both the super-G and super-combined, and a snowball effect could her see emerging as a realistic challenger in the more technical slalom and giant slalom events.
The flame-headed White, meanwhile, cemented his position as a snowboarding superstar with the Winter Olympics’ top-earning athlete defending his halfpipe title ahead of Finland’s Peetu Piiroinen and Scott Lago of the US.
He scored 48.4 in his second run after 46.8 in his first, which was enough to seal victory.
“I just felt like I didn’t come all the way to Vancouver not to pull out the big guns. I put down the tricks I’ve worked so hard on,” White said. “It was the savvy thing to do. Saucy. Keep it weird.”
Davis became the first man to win back-to-back 1,000m speedskating titles.
The world record holder, who became the first black Olympic champion in an individual event when he captured 1,000m speedskating gold at Turin, made it a double whammy with victory in 1 minute, 8.94 seconds.
South Korea’s Mo Tae-bum was second and the US’ Chad Hedrick third.
At Richmond Oval, China’s dominant Wang Meng blitzed the field to retain her 500m short-track speed skating title, leaving Canada’s Marianne St-Gelais and Italy’s Arianna Fontana to pick up the minor medals.
“The Olympics is a very exciting time for China. No matter how many Olympics you go to the dream never dies,” Wang said.
Russia’s Nikita Kriukov also claimed gold when he held off compatriot Alexander Panzhinskiy in a photo-finish to win the men’s sprint classic.
Norway’s Marit Bjoergen won the women’s sprint, while Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger captured the luge doubles.
The men’s ice hockey tournament continued with Finland beating Belarus 5-1, defending champions Sweden outplaying Germany 2-0 while the Czech Republic saw off neighbors Slovakia 3-1.
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