Canada crushed arch-rivals Russia 7-3 in a heavyweight Olympic hockey quarter-final on Wednesday as a fired-up host nation won more gold on the bobsleigh track as well as praise from Jacques Rogge.
But there was misery for US ski starlet Lindsey Vonn who failed to break her alpine jinx in the giant slalom, crashing out in a race marred by heavy snow and fog.
The Vancouver Games also witnessed a rare world record when China ended South Korea’s winning streak in the women’s short-track 3,000m relay, posting a best-ever time of 4 minutes 06.61 seconds.
All the attention was on the hockey rink where fierce rivals Canada and Russia clashed in a match that brought the host nation to a virtual standstill.
Corey Perry scored twice in the second period and linemate Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and two assists as Canada ran riot to book a semi-final against Slovakia who stunned defending champions Sweden 4-3.
Defenseman Dan Boyle also had a goal and two assists while Shea Weber, Rick Nash, and Brenden Morrow got on the scorecard for Canada who avenged two consecutive losses to the top-seeded Russians.
The US also made the semis, with a 2-0 victory over Switzerland, and will face Finland, who saw off the Czech Republic 2-0.
Canada had plenty to cheer about with Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse winning the women’s bobsleigh gold in a race marked by yet more spectacular spills on the Whistler track.
Fellow Canadians Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown took the silver with bronze going to Erin Pac and Elana Meyers of the US.
While Humphries and Moyse grabbed each other joyously, Germany’s Cathleen Martini and Romy Logsch were hugging after surviving a high-speed crash.
The German tandem had been on the brink of the podium after the third run but wobbled through curve 11 then came too fast out of curve 12.
Their sled overturned with Logsch flying out and sliding down the track as her bob careered towards the line. They were not badly hurt.
After a rocky start to the Games, remembered for the death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and constant weather delays, International Olympic Committee president Rogge called them “very, very good” on Wednesday.
“The Olympics are very, very good and this will be stressed in my closing speech. The athletes are happy, the public are excited, the infrastructure is good and the transport is functioning,” Rogge said.
Vonn, meanwhile, is nursing a broken finger after crashing while leading the field on the first run of the giant slalom, misjudging a gate and losing her balance.
Austrian Elisabeth Goergl topped the times before the second run was put back till yesterday after heavy snow and fog prevented any further action.
Elsewhere, Sweden came home ahead of Norway and the Czech Republic to win a record fifth men’s cross country 4x10km relay gold while Czech Republic speedskater Martina Sablikova added the 5,000m title to her 3,000m gold and 1,500m bronze.
Australia’s Lydia Lassila upset the Chinese favorite on Cypress mountain to win the women’s aerials, with her total of 214.74 enough to push Li Nina and Guo Xinxin in silver and bronze respectively.
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