Four-time Olympic medalist Bode Miller finally earned a gold to complete his collection of jewelry from the Vancouver Games. After finishing seventh in the downhill run of the two-leg super-combi, Miller went all out in the slalom and bettered main rival Ivica Kostelic of Croatia with a winning time of 2 minutes, 44.92 seconds.
Miller had been the most hyped athlete of the 2006 Turin Games, but left Italy empty-handed. Now, with expectations much lower, the 32-year-old American won a gold medal to add to the silver and bronze he has already claimed in the first two races in Whistler.
Andre Lange of Germany became the first driver with four Olympic gold medals after winning the two-man bobsled event. He and longtime brakeman Kevin Kuske completed their four runs in 3:26.65.
Lange, the defending Olympic champion in two-man and four-man, surpassed Meinhard Nehmer of Germany for the most bobsled golds. Lange also won the four-man event at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.
In biathlon, World Cup leader Evgeny Ustyugov of Russia won the men’s 15km mass start race. Ustyugov shot cleanly and finished in 35:35.7. Also, Magdalena Neuner of Germany won the women’s 12.5km mass start for her second gold medal of the Vancouver Games.
“I knew I could win a medal, but now I have three,” said Neuner, who also won the 10km pursuit on Tuesday and took silver in the 7.5km sprint in her first Olympics.
Ireen Wust of the Netherlands turned her bronze from Turin to gold in Vancouver by winning the women’s 1,500m speedskating race, and Michael Schmid of Switzerland won the inaugural Olympic men’s skicross event.
Miller also won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and his fifth Olympic medal overall added to his status as the most decorated American Alpine skier in history.
Kostelic took silver behind Miller and Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland claimed bronze. Aksel Lund Svindal, who won gold in the super-G and silver in the downhill, led the super-combi after the opening leg, but he skied out of the slalom leg.
The mother of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette died on Sunday, two days before Rochette is to begin competition. She still plans to compete, and practiced only a few hours after hearing the news.
In curling, Canada’s women’s team beat the US 9-2 to stay unbeaten and Britain skip Eve Muirhead pounded a stone in frustration after giving up a four-spot to Switzerland in a 10-6 shortened nine-end loss.
It was Britain’s third straight loss following a promising Olympic start.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS