/ 18 February 2006

US endures fright Friday at Winter Olympics

Tiny Estonia cherished a third Olympic triumph and Canada celebrated a top-two sweep but the United States, who lead the hunt for gold medals, were giving them away in Turin on Friday.

Andrus Veerpalu defended his men’s 15km cross-country crown to vault Estonia into the top five among gold-medal nations, while Canada’s Duff Gibson, the oldest athlete to win a Winter Olympic individual gold, edged compatriot Jeff Pain to capture the men’s skeleton crown.

But US women’s snowboard cross star Lindsay Jacobellis, well out in front and one jump from victory, botched her landing after a showy backside air grab trick, allowing Swiss star Tanja Frieden to speed past and win the debut final.

The US’s Friday fright got a lot worse when its much-vaunted women’s ice-hockey team, the champions in 1998 and silver medallists in 2002, were beaten by Sweden in the semifinals.

”It was just amazing. You are never sure until you get to the very end,” Frieden said after her snowboard win. ”I didn’t see Lindsey falling. I was stoked for silver. When I saw her on the ground I was just, ‘Oh!”’

Jacobellis defended the half-pipe move, saying she had struggled with winds on the jump in prior races and felt a grab was needed for stabilisation, although she made no such prior moves and missed no earlier landings.

”I had been having trouble with that jump all day,” Jacobellis said. ”The wind has just been catching me weird. I tried all sorts of grabs to see which one would work, to try to stabilise myself in the air. But it didn’t work.”

Defending champion Janica Kostelic of Croatia was second after two slalom runs of the women’s combined alpine ski race. The downhill portion was delayed until Saturday due to severe winds at San Sicario.

Kostelic, who called the postponement ”kind of stupid”, said she was ill and pondered pulling out despite her time of 1:21,68 put her behind Austrian leader Marlies Schild by only 0,46 seconds.

”I definitely don’t feel well,” Kostelic said. ”I feel really bad. There’s no reason to compete when I’m feeling like this. I’m very tired and not 100% sure I’ll start.”

The women’s combined postponement left only three golds on offer on Friday and made Saturday the most medal-filled Olympic day, with nine golds up for grabs.

Estonia’s Veerpalu (34) beat Czech Lukas Bauer by 14,5 seconds to push the Baltic nation of 1,33-million people into the top five in Turin titles, joining double biathlon winner Kristina Smigun. Only US, German and Russian teams have struck more gold in Italy.

”For Estonia, three gold medals is a great accomplishment,” Veerpalu said. ”Estonia is a very small country, but cross-country is the most beloved sport.”

Gibson won the skeleton in a two-run total time of 1:55,88, with Pain second by 0,26 seconds and Swiss veteran Gregor Staehli third for the second Games in a row.

The 39-year-old became the oldest winner of an individual winter Games gold.

Pernilla Winberg scored the winning goal in a shootout to give Sweden a stunning 3-2 victory over the US team in the women’s ice-hockey semifinals. The Swedes will face defending champions Canada, who beat Finland 6-0, in Monday’s final.

Sweden’s Maria Rooth scored twice in regulation and again in the shootout, while Kim Martin made 40 total saves, four in the shootout, to deny a US-Canada women’s final for the first time in world or Olympic play.

”It hurts. It stings. I’m in shock,” US defender Angela Ruggiero said. ”Everybody talks of the USA and Canada, but this may just open the world’s eyes to the fact that there are other teams out there.”

Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva, the women’s 15km biathlon runner-up stripped of Olympic silver after a failed dope test, received a two-year ban from the International Biathlon Federation. — Sapa-AFP