For a few hours at least, all the news about Austria was good.
Skier Benjamin Raich claimed his first Olympic gold medal and Michaela Dorfmeister won her second in a week to rescue the country’s image on Monday amid a doping scandal that keeps escalating around a banned former coach and his desperate, moonlit bolt from the Winter Games.
Later on Monday, under lights in the Italian Alps, the Austrian men’s ski-jumping team made it three golds for the day and seven overall — a national record at the Olympics — and promoted Austria into a share of second place on the medal standings with the United States, each with 15 overall. Germany lead the standings with seven gold and 18 overall.
Austria’s ski-federation president Peter Schroecksnadel said the gold medals improved the general mood of the national team, although the Alpine athletes weren’t affected by the weekend raids by Italian police on places housing the country’s biathlon and cross-country athletes and staff.
”There’s no glare on the Alpine athletes — they’re in a different village, well removed,” said Schroecksnadel. ”Although it’s never good to hear that somebody from your [country] might not be doing the right thing.”
Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov did the right thing by Russia, winning the ice dance to make their country three-for-three in figure skating. Russia already had won the pairs and men’s titles and have seven gold medals across all sports.
No nation has swept the four ice-skating events in one Games. The Russians could be the first, with Irina Slutskaya highly favoured in the women’s competition when it begins on Tuesday.
Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto were second in the ice dance, giving the US their first Olympic ice-dancing medal in 30 years.
The Canadian women dominated the hockey, picking up their second gold medal in two Olympics by overwhelming shock finalist Sweden 4-1 in Monday’s final. The Canadians outscored their opponents 46-2 in the tournament.
The US — champions at Nagano in 1998 and silver medallists in Salt Lake City four years ago — had to settle for bronze this time, taking third place with a 4-0 win over Finland.
Raich, the overall World Cup leader, won the men’s giant slalom with a two-run combined time of two minutes, 35 seconds. Hermann Maier, who won the giant slalom in the 1998 Olympics, took bronze for Austria, just behind Joel Chenal of France.
”This makes me extremely happy,” said Raich, who lacks the profile of his heavily endorsed American rivals and some of his Austrian teammates. ”The Olympic victory was my greatest goal.”
Dorfmeister, who also won the women’s downhill last week, crossed in 1:32,47, edging Janica Kostelic by 0.27 seconds.
”I’m flying like an angel,” Dorfmeister said. ”I go home from these Olympics with two medals and they are both gold. It’s unbelievable. It’s the top to finish my career like this.”
Kostelic won her fourth Olympic gold medal on Saturday in the women’s combined — her first three came four years ago in Salt Lake City. She also has won two silvers — both in the super-G — to become the most decorated woman in Olympic Alpine skiing history.
Thomas Morgenstern and Andreas Kofler, who won gold and silver in the individual large hill competition, later led Austria to their third gold of the day in the ski-jumping team event.
Doping scandal
The suspected doping scandal involving banned Austrian cross-country and biathlon coach Walter Mayer took a bizarre twist early on Monday.
Mayer, who left Turin following a surprise anti-doping raid, wound up in a psychiatric hospital — the latest stop on his bizarre flight from Turin, where authorities were analysing 100 syringes and other material seized from athletes’ housing.
The International Olympic Committee conducted out-of-competitions tests on 10 biathletes and cross-country skiers, with those results still being examined. Two biathletes were suspended immediately by the Austrian federation for leaving the team camp.
Authorities took Mayer into custody on Sunday after he crashed his car into a police blockade 25km inside Austria’s border with Italy. He was taken to a psychiatric facility on Monday.
”Apparently he’s still in there,” Schroecksnadel said. ”I believe that there was a danger of suicide — they had to take him to the hospital.”
Mayer, banished from the Olympics over allegations of blood doping at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, resurfaced with the team in Turin, triggering an unprecedented police raid on athletes at an Olympics.
He faces charges in Austria and Italy and has been banned indefinitely from the Austria ski federation.
Austria’s biathletes returned to practice on Monday for prepare for the men’s relay, one of four gold medals on Tuesday’s schedule. The others are in the Nordic sprint, the speed-skating 1 500m and the women’s bobsled. — Sapa-AP