Torino Olympics Champs And Chomps

Olympic flag raised in Vancouver

2006-02-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

The Olympic flag was presented to Vancouver's Mayor Sam Sullivan on Sunday during the closing ceremony of the Torino Games. On Tuesday, it was raised at the Vancouver City Hall mast. The flag was placed into a special attachment on Sullivan’s wheelchair by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

Read more in the Associated Press story via MSNBC.com - Olympic flag raised in Vancouver for '10 Games

Torino Olympics - one of the best Winter Games, but maybe not perfect...

2006-02-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

So the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games are over. They ended with a circus-burlesque-musical spectacle in front of over 35,000 spectators gathered at the stadium and millions watching on TV all over the world.

The Games were organized pretty well by the Italian hosts (IOC Chairman, Rogge: “These were truly magnificent games. We say a heartfelt thank you to Italy, Piedmont and Turin"). There was no problem with security. There was only one confirmed doping case - Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was stripped of a silver medal after testing positive for a banned stimulant during the first week. There is still open doping case involving the Austrian cross-country and biathlon teams, in which police raided their living quarters and the IOC conducted surprise drug tests on 10 athletes. The tests came back negative, but the IOC and Italian police are continuing their investigations.

Like every other Olympic Games, the Torino Olympics also had some spectacular performances by a number of great athletes and possibly the same number of failures.

Cindy Klassen, a Canadian speedskater who won five medals, including one gold, two silver and two bronze, was called by the Chairman Rogge “the woman of the games.” But there were many multiple-medal athletes at these Games.

Among men, Ahn Hyun-soo of South Korea, short-track speedskater won 3 gold and 1 bronze. Michael Greis of Germany won 3 gold in biathlon. Nine more men got at least 3 medals.

Among women, Cindy Klassen with her 5 medals was in the class of her own. No woman won 4 medals, but there were six of them who won at least three medals. Jin Sun-yu of South Korea got 3 gold medals in short track.

See the whole listing of the Torino Games' multiple medal winners prepared by the MSNBC.com.

The biggest upsets? Bode Miller of the USA and most of the American Alpine skiing squad, the American women's hockey team, the Canadian men's hockey team and the Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen despite winning 2 silver and 1 bronze - much less than 4 gold in Salt Lake City.

More was expected of the whole Norwegian team - they got only 19 medals in Torino and still have the most with total of 283, but only two of the medals this year were gold. Germany won the medal competition this year with 29 overall and 11 golds, but they are not too happy - they expected more... The Americans were second - with 25 medals overall and nine of them gold. Austria also had nine gold, giving the best showing in its long Winter Games history with 23 medals overall. That was somewhat overshadowed by the doping scandal, including a police raid and unannounced doping tests that targeted some of its cross-country skiers and biathletes. However that small country is extremely proud of a record 14 medals in Alpine skiing, including a medal sweep in the men’s slalom.

Estonia is another small and very proud country, which won three gold medals — in men’s and women’s cross-country skiing.

The biggest positive surprise was Canada. It increased the medal gain from 17 in Salt Lake City to 24 in Torino that included seven gold medals and five by speedskater Cindy Klassen - the most by any athlete. Canada has “Own the Podium” plan to finish No. 1 during the next games in 2010 it will be hosting in Vancouver.

There were a number of other countries with their best Winter Games - Sweden with 14 medals, and China and South Korea with 11 each.

There were many breakthroughs during the Torino Olympics. Tanja Poutiainen's silver in women’s giant slalom gave Finland its first medal in Alpine skiing. Shizuka Arakawa, who almost retired before the Games, came to Torino and surprised everybody with her elegant free skate, winning for Japan its first gold medal in figure skating. Slovakia won its first winter medal - Radoslav Zidek took silver in snowboardcross. Finally, another tiny country - Latvia got its first winter medal too - a bronze, which went to Martins Rubenis in luge.

Good bye, Torino. Welcome to Vancouver!

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Winter Olympics, Vancouver, Vancouver Olympics, Medal Table

Torino Olympic Games are over - see you in Vancouver!

2006-02-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

If you didn't watch the closing ceremony spectacle on TV, you can read a story by MSNBC.com:

High-tech spectacle ends the Turin Games

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Winter Olympics, Medal Table

Torino Winter Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 26, 2006 (final day)

2006-02-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

Everybody expected the Czechs and the Canadians playing for the men's hockey gold, but instead it was all-Nordic final. The best Sweden’s players did deliver and helped immensely their team to win the tournament. In the final game, Sweden won 3-2 over its arch-rival - Finland and got well deserved gold medal. Surprisingly, Swedish hockey program became the best in the world, as their men won the gold and women won the silver.

The last day of the Games eneded nicely for the host country. In cross-country skiing - 50K free mass start Giorgio di Centa of Italy won gold medal.

Results:

Ice hockey - Men's

Gold Sweden
Silver Finland
Bronze Czech Republic

Cross-country skiing - 50K free, mass start

Gold Giorgio di Centa, Italy
Silver Eugeni Dementiev, Russia
Bronze Mikhail Botvinov, Austria

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Giorgio di Centa, Hockey

America's 10 biggest Torino Olympic busts

2006-02-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

Interesting summary of the Torino Olympics by Mike Celizic at MSNBC.com:

America's 10 biggest Olympic busts - Winter Olympics

Torino Winter Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 25, 2006

2006-02-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Surprisingly, Apolo Anton Ohno became one of the best US athletes at the Torino Olympic Games. He earned two medals today - his second and third medal of these Winter Games. In 500 meters race he was leading from start to finish and upset favored South Korean Ahn Hyun-soo to win gold. Ohno also won bronze for the Americans in the 5,000 relay.

Another stellar performance by Canadian speedskaters. In the women's 5,000 meters race, Cindy Klassen got bronze - her 5th medal of the Torino Olympics, the most by any athlete. She has now six Olympic medals, being the most decorated Canadian Olympian. Today's winner, Clara Hughes is not much worse - she has five, won - interestingly - both in summer and winter Olympics! Hughes was part of the silver-winning squad in the team pursuit last week and was third in this race in Salt Lake City. She also won two bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Another historic achievement as the result of the same race - Claudia Pechstein won the 8th individual Olympic medal, tying former East German speedskaters Karin Kania and Gunda Niemann for the most by a woman in the Winter Olympics.

Following in the footsteps of American Joey Cheek who donated his U.S. gold and silver medal bonus to the charity, Hughes is donating CAN$ 10,000 to the Right To Play charity run by former Olympic champion Johann Olav Koss.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, biathlon's biggest star failed to win once more. In Salt Lake City in he swept all four gold medals. In Torino he got only two silver and one bronze - not too impressive.

Results:

Biathlon - 15 k mass start - Men's

Gold Michael Greis, Germany
Silver Tomasz Sikora, Poland
Bronze Ole Einar Bjorndalen, Norway

Biathlon - 12.5 k mass start - Women's

Gold Anna Carin Olofsson, Sweden
Silver Kati Wilhelm, Germany
Bronze Uschi Disl, Germany

Alpine skiing - Slalom - Men's

Gold Benjamin Raich, Austria
Silver Reinfried Herbst, Austria
Bronze Rainer Schoenfelder, Austria

Speedskating - 5,000 M - Women's

Gold Clara Hughes, Canada
Silver Claudia Pechstein, Germany
Bronze Cindy Klassen, Canada

Short track - 1,000 M - Women's

Gold Sun-Yu Jin, South Korea
Silver Meng Wang, China
Bronze Yang Yang, China

Short track - 500 M - Men's

Gold Apolo Anton Ohno, USA
Silver Francois-Louis Tremblay, Canada
Bronze Ahn Hyun-soo, South Korea

Short track - 5,000 M relay - Men's

Gold Ahn-Lee-Se-Jong-Ho-Jin-Suk-Woo, South Korea
Silver Bedard-Guilmette-Hamelin-Tremblay-Turcotte, Canada
Bronze Izykowski-Kepka-Lobello-Ohno-Smith, USA

Bobsled - Four-man

Gold Lange-Hoppe-Kuske-Putze, Germany
Silver Zoubkov-Egorov-Seliverstrov-Voevoda, Russia
Bronze Annen-Lamparter-Hefti-Grand, Switzerland

Torino Winter Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 24, 2006

2006-02-24T09:07:00.000-08:00

The United States had not won a medal in the women’s giant slalom since Diann Roffe’s silver at the 1992 Albertville Games; the last U.S. giant slalom gold went to Debbie Armstrong in Sarajevo in 1984. But in Torino, Julia Manusco, a 21-year-old Californian won in the foggy weather.

As expected, Janica Kostelic of Croatia did not race because of illness, after winning before a gold and a silver in Torino Olympics. She has six medals, four of them gold, the most for a female Alpine skier in Olympic history.

Anja Paerson of Sweden was trying to equal Kostelic’s record six medals with a medal in giant slalom (she had three medals in the Torino Olympics, including gold in slalom, and she won a silver and a bronze in Salt Lake City). She was second to Mancuso after the first run but skied poorly in the second and finished 6th.

Despite high expectations, Mancuso’s medal was only the second for the Americans in Alpine skiing. Ted Ligety won gold in the men’s combined last week.

Katerina Neumannova, a 33-year-old from the Czech Republic won her country’s first gold in Torino in the 30-km cross-country race after a thrilling finish. The favored Yulia Tchepalova of Russsia and less-known Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk were fighting for the win when unexpectedly Neumannova double-poled past them on the right side to get a gold. She already had the silver at this games after the 15km pursuit. Kowalczyk’s bronze was Poland’s first medal of the games. Kristina Smigun of Estonia this time didn't earn a medal. She's already won two individual golds — the pursuit and 10km classical, but this time she was 8th.

In men's curling, Canada’s Russ Howard, who turned 50 on Sunday, became the oldest Winter Olympic gold medalist. Canada has won 29 world championships in curling, the country’s second-most popular sport behind hockey. But the Canadians lost to Switzerland in the gold medal match in Nagano, then fell to Norway in Salt Lake City. This time, Canada got incredible six points in the sixth end (inning) and Finland conceded after eight. Huge success for Canada and the men's team won as expected. Canada’s women’s curling team also hoped for gold after winning at the 1998 Games and taking bronze in 2002. They got bronze again this year.

Results:

Alpine skiing - Giant slalom - Women's

Gold Julia Mancuso, USA
Silver Tanja Poutiainen, Finland
Bronze Anna Ottosson, Sweden

X-country skiing - 30K free, mass start - Women's

Gold Katerina Neumannova, Czech Republic
Silver Yulia Tchepalova, Russia
Bronze Justyna Kowalczyk, Poland

Speedskating - 10,000 M - Men's

Gold Bob De Jong, Netherlands
Silver Chad Hedrick, USA
Bronze Carl Verheijen, Netherlands

Curling - Men's

Gold Canada
Silver Finland
Bronze USA

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Cross-country skiing, Winter Olympics, Katerina Neumannova, Medal Table, Snowboarding, Yulia Tchepalova, Justyna Kowalczyk, Julia Mancuso, Chad Hedrick, Anja Paerson, Russ Howard, Curling, Janica Kostelic

Torino Winter Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 23, 2006

2006-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

Results:

Biathlon - 4 x 6 k relay - Women's

Gold Bogali-Ishmouratova-Zaitseva-Akhatova, Russia
Silver Glagow-Henkel-Apel-Wilhelm, Germany
Bronze Peretto-Baverel-Robert-Becaert-Bailly, France

Curling - Women's

Gold Sweden
Silver Switzerland
Bronze Canada

Freestyle skiing - Aerials - Men's

Gold Han Xiaopeng, China
Silver Dmitri Dashinski, Belarus
Bronze Vladimir Lebedev, Russia

Figure skating - Singles - Women's

Gold Shizuka Arakawa, Japan
Silver Sasha Cohen, USA
Bronze Irina Slutskaya, Russia

Snowboarding - Giant Slalom - Women's

Gold Daniela Meuli, Switzerland
Silver Amelie Kober, Germany
Bronze Rosey Fletcher, USA

Ideas & Belief: Kabbalah & Mysticism AND Sasha Cohen...

2006-02-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

Out of nowhere, there is a lot of talking at the Torino Winter Olympics about unusual subject - Kabbalah... The public interest in that mystic tradition was caused by Sasha Cohen is the leader in the women's figure skating after the short program. But Irina Slutskaya of Russia and Shizuka Arakawa of Japan are both within a point so any three of those skaters can win the gold medal.

Will Sasha wear again that Kabbalah bracelet that she was wearing at US Nationals - to win the Torino Olympics gold?

Would you like to learn more about Kabbalah? Go here:

MyJewishLearning.com - Ideas & Belief: Kabbalah & Mysticism

and here:

The Kabbalah Centre - Study of Kabbalah, Books, Tapes, Online Kabbalah Classes

Torino Winter Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 22, 2006

2006-02-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Schoch family of Switzerland dominates snowboarding’s parallel giant slalom so no wonder they won the second consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Philipp Schoch (26), the defending Olympic champion defeated his older brother Simon (27) who got silver. Philipp became the first ever two-time gold medal winner in Olympic snowboarding. The Swiss had the top four in the World Cup rankings before the Torino Olympics — with Simon and Philipp Schoch ranked 1st and 2nd.

Austrian Siegfried Grabner took bronze.
Tyler Jewell, the only American in the event, made the finals by finishing ninth in morning qualifying, but lost to Slovenian Dejan Kosir in the first round of heat races.

He was a long shot for a medal anyway, given that The Swiss were in contention for a medals sweep after qualifying.

Chandra Crawford - a 22 years old Canadian girl wearing tiny pigtails - pulled off an upset in the women’s 1.1km sprint Wednesday, skating through the finish for Canada’s first cross-country gold medal of these Winter Olympic Games. Even though she has only competed in six World Cup races in her life, she was able to finish in 2 minutes, 12.3 seconds, seven-tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist Claudia Kuenzel of Germany, while Russia’s Alena Sidko took the bronze. The favorites - Swedish and Russian skiers (including the defending Olympic champion Julija Tchepalova, who won gold in the team relay Saturday) all disappointed. Second Canadian - Beckie Scott - was fourth in the four-skier final. She was the fastest in the qualifying round.

Sweden took two medals in the men's sprint. Bjoern Lind of Sweeden finished the men’s race in 2:26.5 to beat silver medalist Roddy Darragon of France, who was six-tenths of a second back. Thobias Fredriksson, got the bronze.

Three Italians reached the semifinals in the men’s race, with "Zorro" - Cristian Zorzi advancing to the four-skier final, but he unforunately missed the podium and placed fourth. He's already gotten gold - on Sunday - being the anchor of Italy’s winning 4x10K relay team.

Anja Paerson finally won her Olympic gold medal with a pair of runs she dominated, whike her arch-rival - Janica Kostelic of Croatia - failed to win a medal for the first time in her last seven Olympic events. Kostelic was 4th; Austrians Nicole Hosp and Marlies Schild were 2nd and 3rd, earning the unprecedented 100th and 101st Olympic Alpine medals for their country. American Koznick was skiing with torn ACL but only in the first race - she withdrew from the the second leg.

Another great day for Canada's speedskater Cindy Klassen - another medal - gold in 1,500 M race. Silver also went to Canada - Kristina Groves. While Canadian men speedskaters disappointed, the girls have very good Olympics in Torino, espacially Klassen.

Results:

Cross-country skiing - 1.5 K sprint - Men's

Gold Bjoern Lind, Sweden
Silver Roddy Darragon, France
Bronze Thobias Fredriksson, Sweden

Cross-country skiing - 1.5K sprint - Women's

Gold Chandra Crawford, Canada
Silver Claudia Kuenzel, Germany
Bronze Alena Sidko, Russia

Snowboarding - Giant slalom - Men's

Gold Philipp Schoch, Switzerland
Silver Simon Schoch, Switzerland
Bronze Siegfried Grabner, Austria

Alpine skiing - Slalom - Women's

Gold Anja Paerson, Sweden
Silver Nicole Hosp, Austria
Bronze Marlies Schild, Austria

Speedskating - 1,500 M - Women's

Gold Cindy Klassen, Canada
Silver Kristina Groves, Canada
Bronze Ireen Wust, Netherlands

Short track - 3,000 M relay - Women's

Gold Choi Eun-kyung - Jeon Da-hye - Jin Sun-yu - Byun Chun-sa, South Korea
Silver Alanna Kraus - Anouk Leblanc-Boucher - Tania Vicent - Kalyna Roberge, Canada
Bronze Arianna Fontana - Marta Capurso - Katia Zini - Mara Zini, Italy

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Bjoern Lind, Chandra Crawford, Cross-country skiing, Winter Olympics, Claudia Kuenzel, Medal Table, Snowboarding, Philipp Schoch, Simon Schoch, Cristian Zorzi, Beckie Scott, Anja Paerson, Cindy Klassen, Janica Kostelic

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 21, 2006

2006-02-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

Austria won its record 8th gold medal of the Torino Olympic Games; their previous high was six gold medals. Hopefully they will be allowed to keep all those medals, but right now they are deep into the doping scandal after the Italian prosecutors found over 100 syringes and 30 packs of drugs including asthma drugs and antidepressants during their raid on Austrian Winter Olympics bases.

Felix Gottwald, a member of the winning team event a couple days ago, won his second gold medal of these Olympics by making up a deficit of nearly a minute from the morning’s jumping portion of the event. He won 5.4 seconds ahead of silver medalist Magnus Moan of Norway. Germany’s Georg Hettich took the bronze after having the best jump earlier in the day. The huge favorite - Hannu Manninen of Finland was 12th, missing out his last chance at an individual Olympic medal. He was dominating the World Cup sprint events this season. He is a three-time World Cup champion, but has never won an individual medal in the Olympics.

In biathlon relay, the Norwegians were expected to win, but they didn't get a medal despite Ole Einar Bjoerndalen’s brilliant finish, in which he made up an astonishing 54.8 seconds on the leaders. Yet it wasn't enough and Germany won, with Russia getting silver and France earning bronze. It was a huge disappointmend for Bjoerndalen - the biathlon’s biggest star and a five-time gold-medalist who has no medal yet in Toriono after sweeping all four gold medals in Salt Lake City. He still has a chance to win a medal - in the mass start, which is making its Olympic debut on Saturday.

Enrico Fabris of Italy won the gold medal in men’s 1,500-meter speedskating. American skaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick won silver and bronze medals this time. It was Fabris’ second gold, having helped the Italians win the team pursuit. Two other Americans - Joey Cheek and Derek Parra, the defending Olympic champion - didn't perform well, finishing 9th and 19th.

Results:

Biathlon - 4 x 7.5 k relay - Men's

Gold Gross-Roesch-Fischer-Greis, Germany
Silver Tcherezov-Tchepikov-Rostovtsev-Krouglov, Russia
Bronze Robert-Defrasne-Cannard-Poiree, France

Nordic combined - 7.5 K sprint - Men's

Gold Felix Gottwald, Austria
Silver Magnus Moan, Norway
Bronze Georg Hettich, Germany

Speedskating - 1,500 M - Men's

Gold Enrico Fabris, Italy
Silver Shani Davis, USA
Bronze Chad Hedrick, USA

Bobsled - Women's

Gold Sandra Kiriasis-Anja Schneiderheinze, Germany
Silver Shauna Rohbock-Valerie Fleming, USA
Bronze Gerda Weissensteiner-Jennifer Isacco, Italy

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Biathlon, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Felix Gottwald, Georg Hettich, Hannu Manninen,Nordic Combined, Vincent Defrasne

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 20, 2006

2006-02-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

Canada's women's hockey team won gold. Six days after beating Sweden 8-1 in the preliminary round, they won again - this time 4-1 in the final game. The Swedish team got silver. After losing for the first time in a major tournament to a team other than Canada (to Sweden in the semi-finals), the United States shutout Finland 4-0 to take the bronze medal.

This was a great day for Austria - three gold medals and two bronze ones in one day!

The Austrians dominated both women's Super G and men's giant slalom. Benjamin Raich, who won the last two World Cup giant slalom races before the Olympic Games, was fifth after the opening leg. Joel Chenal of France, ranked only 17th in the World Cup GS standings was second after the first run and was able to win the silver, while another favorite - Hermann Maier of Austria got the bronze. U.S. hopeful - Bode Miller disappointed for the forth time. He was 12th after the opening leg and had a good second run, but it was good only for the 6th place.

Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria one the Super G as expected, while Janica Kostelic of Croatia won another medal - silver.

The Austrians celebrated another win in the team jumping. After winning the gold and silver in the individual jumping, they were the obvious favorites in the team event and they didn't disappoint.

Results:

Alpine skiing - Super G - Women's

Gold Michaela Dorfmeister, Austria
Silver Janica Kostelic, Croatia
Bronze Alexandra Meissnitzer, Austria

Alpine skiing - Giant slalom - Men's

Gold Benjamin Raich, Austria
Silver Joel Chenal, France
Bronze Hermann Maier, Austria

Ski jumping - 120 M team - Men's

Gold Widhoelzl-Kofler-Koch-Morgenstern, Austria
Silver Kiuru-Happonen-Ahonen-Hautamaeki, Finland
Bronze Bystoel-Romoeren-Ingebrigtsen-Ljekelsoey, Norway

Hockey - Women's

Gold Canada
Silver Sweden
Bronze USA

Figure Skating: Ice Dancing

Gold NAVKA Tatyana-KOSTOMAROV Roman, Russia
Silver BELBIN Tanith-AGOSTO Ben, USA
Bronze GRUSHINA Yelena-GONCHAROV Ruslan, Ukraine

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Michaela Dorfmeister, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Janica Kostelic, Alpine Skiing, Benjamin Raich, Hermann Maier, Thomas Morgenstern, Joel Chenal

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 19, 2006

2006-02-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

So, Zorro did get his medal... And it's gold for Italy - in men's 4x10km cross-country race. Zorzi — who often poses in a mask like the one worn by Zorro — turned a narrow 5.6-second lead into a commanding victory, giving Italy its third gold medal of the Torino Olympics.

Who will win men's hockey? First vote in our Poll - see the right column - and then vote and check the results at MSNBC

Canada's men's hockey team suffered another loss - to Finland (2-0) - second straight painful loss. Incredibly, it was the Canadians’ second shutout loss in as many days. Finland secured the top spot in Group A and will play the fourth-place team from Group B in the quarterfinals, almost certainly the U.S. on Wednesday. The U.S. team (1-2-1) lost again - to Sweden (1-2) and is no better than Canada (2-0-2).

Canadian Cindy Klassen won the silver medal in the 1,000 metres race, becoming the first Canadian woman to win three medals at a Winter Olympics. Klassen had previously won silver in the team pursuit and bronze in the 3,000 metres.

Results:

Bobsled - Two-man

Gold Andre Lange-Kevin Kuske, Germany
Silver Pierre Lueders-Lascelles Brown, Canada
Bronze Martin Annen-Beat Hefti, Switzerland

Cross-country skiing - 4x10 K relay - Men's

Gold Valbusa-Di Centa-Pillar Cottrer-Zorzi, Italy
Silver Schluetter-Filbrich-Sommerfeldt-Angerer, Germany
Bronze Larsson-Olsson-Soedergren-Fredriksson, Sweden

Speedskating - 1,000 M - Women's

Gold Marianne Timmer, Netherlands
Silver Cindy Klassen, Canada
Bronze Anni Friesinger, Germany

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 18, 2006

2006-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Strange day - the 8th day of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympc Games. Why? Finally, some of the favorites were able to win. And on the other hand, it was a day of huge surprises and upsets. Especially for Canadian and American fans who saw historic defeats.

Imagine, that Switzerland who already defeated world champs - the Czechs two days ago - now simply stunned the defending Olympic champion - Canada - with a 2-0 victory. In women's curling, Japan shocked favorites - Canada - by winning 5-2, which was possibly one of the biggest upsets in women's Olympic curling. They may lose their semi-final place after that. Canada's men's curling team also suffered a historic loss - 7-6 - to Italy who had never before qualified for an Olympic curling tournament. They finished tied for last at the world championships and are playing in Torino only because as the host country they’re entitled to a berth.

Enough pain for Canada... What about USA? Bode Miller, possibly the biggest loser, disappointed again - this time in the Super-G - by slamming into a gate and failing to finish. Apparently, he's partying too much... Another American favorite - Daron Rahlves - is not doing any better. After poor showing in the downhill (10th), he was 9th in the Super-G.

US men's hockey team followed their women's crew poor performance and after their loss to Sweden and exit from the Olympics, the boys also lost - to Slovakia in a 2-1 loss and are now 1-1-1. By the way, the Czechs have even worst record. After losing to the Swiss, they lost again - this time to Finland (4-2). They possibly also lost their star Jagr and may be left without two of their best-known players — Jagr and Hasek.

There was no Olympic gold medal for Apolo Anton Ohno this time. After the most controversial win of the Salt Lake City Olympics, he lost to two South Koreans and got only bronze in the 1,000-meter short track speedskating final.

OK, enough about upsets... It was a huge day for Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway and Croatian Janica Kostelic who both became the most successful Olympic Alpine skiers of all time by winning their fourth Winter Olympics gold. Aamodt, called in his home country “Baby Shark” now has more Winter Games medals — eight — than any Alpine skier in history. Interestingly, being the second-youngest man to win an Alpine Olympic gold (in 1992), he’s now the oldest at 34. He’s the only man to win the same Alpine event at three Olympics and the only man with four Alpine Skiing golds.

Janica Kostelic of Croatia overcame illness and defended her title in the combined race became the first woman to win four Alpine golds. Her brother, Ivica Kostelic won a silver in the men’s combined on Tuesday for his first Olympic medal. It’s the first time since 1980 that a brother and sister have won medals at the same Winter Olympics. Andreas and Hanni Wenzel of Liechtenstein won medals in Lake Placid (1980).

Germany’s Kati Wilhelm, the World Cup leader and favorite, won easily in the women’s 10km biathlon pursuit.

Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen swept all four gold medals at the Salt Lake City Games and was expected to win again in all five races in Torino. But he lost again on Saturday when France’s Vincent Defrasne defeated him in the men’s 12.5km biathlon pursuit.

Two Austrians dominated the large hill ski jumping competition. Young Thomas Morgenstern (19) had the longest jump of the day to beat roommate Andreas Kofler by the slimmest of margins - only one tenth of a point. Lars Bystoel of Norway - the normal hill gold medalist - took the bronze. Other favorites disappointed - Janne Ahonen of Finland, missed another chance for his first individual Olympic medal and was 9th. Defending Olympic champion Simon Ammann of Switzerland was 15th and World Cup leader Jakub Janda was 10th. Malysz of Poland, who had two medals in Salt Lake City was 14th.

Shani Davis became the first African-American to win an individual gold medal in the Winter Games. He won men's 1000 meter speedskating race. Joey Cheek’s is America’s first multiple medalist of the Torino Winter Games. He got silver after finishing second behind Davis and had already gold in 500 m. Cheek is donating another $15,000 to Right To Play, a charity that helps children in Sudan after he already donated the $25,000 U.S. Olympic Committee bonus he got for his gold medal in the 500 m event.

Results:

Short Track - 1,500 M - Women's

Gold JIN Sun-Yu, South Korea
Silver CHOI Eun-Kyung, South Korea
Bronze WANG Meng, China

Short track - 1,000 M - Men's

Gold Hyun-Soo Ahn, South Korea
Silver Ho-Suk Lee, South Korea
Bronze Ohno Apolo Anton, USA

Biathlon - 12.5 KM Pursuit - Men's

Gold Defrasne Vincent, France
Silver Bjorndalen Ole Einar, Norway
Bronze Fischer Sven, Germany

Biathlon: 10 KM Pursuit - Women's

Gold Wilhelm Kati, Germany
Silver Glagow Martina, Germany
Bronze Akhatova Albina, Russia

Alpine Skiing - Combined - Women's

Gold Kostelic Janica, Croatia
Silver Schild Marlies, Austria
Bronze Paerson Anja, Sweden

Alpine Skiing - Super G - Men's

Gold Aamodt Kjetil Andre, Norway
Silver Maier Hermann, Austria
Bronze Hoffmann Ambrosi, Switzerland

Cross-country Skiing - 4x5 KM Relay - Women's

Gold Baranova-Kurkina-Tchepalova-Medvedeva, Russia
Silver Boehler-Bauer-Sachenbacher-Stehle-Kuenzel, Germany
Bronze Follis-Paruzzi-Confortola-Valbusa, Italy

Ski Jumping - 120 M - Men's

Gold Morgenstern Thomas, Austria
Silver Kofler Andreas, Austria
Bronze Bystoel Lars, Norway

Speedskating - 1,000 M - Men's

Gold Davis Shani, USA
Silver Cheek Joey, USA
Bronze Wennemars Erben, Netherlands

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Shani Davis, Joey Cheek, Biathlon, Winter Olympics, Kati Wilhelm, Medal Table, Janica Kostelic, Apolo Anton Ohno, Alpine Skiing, Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Hermann Maier, Thomas Morgenstern, Vincent Defrasne

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 17, 2006

2006-02-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

Good day for Estonia, Canada and Switzerland. Another bad day for the USA. Their women's hockey team suffered a historical loss to Sweden in the semi-final and they didn't get the gold in women's snowboard cross.

In women's snowboard cross, nobody expected Lindsey Jacobellis to lose the gold. She had a huge lead, so on the second-to-last jump before the finish line, she decided to attempt a grab move to impress the spectators. However, as she landed, her board caught an edge and she skidded down the hill on her back. Scrambling to her feet too slowly, Jacobellis, was passed by Switzerland's Tanja Frieden, who unexpectedly became the first Olympic champion in women's snowboard cross.

Estonia, a tiny Baltic nation of 1.3 million people, got its third gold medal when Andrus Veerpalu defended his Olympic 15-kilometer classical title from Salt Lake City. Jaak Mae was 5th. Their countrywoman Kristina Smigun won yesterday her second gold of the Torino Games in the women's 10km classical race after she had won the 15km pursuit on Sunday. Another huge disappointment for Scandinavian skiers. Johan Olsson from Sweden was 6th; Frode Estil of Norway, a favorite in the event and the silver medalist in the Olympic pursuit race, was 17th.

As expected, Canada got two top medals in men's skeleton as both Gibson and Pain have been dominating this sport over the past couple years.

Results

Cross-Country Skiing: Men's 15km Classical

Gold VEERPALU Andrus, Estonia
Silver BAUER Lukas, Czech Republic
Bronze ANGERER Tobias, Germany

Snowboarding: Women's Snowboard Cross

Gold FRIEDEN Tanja, Switzerland
Silver JACOBELLIS Lindsey, USA
Bronze MALTAIS Dominique, Canada

Skeleton: Men's

Gold GIBSON Duff, Canada
Silver PAIN Jeff, Canada
Bronze STAEHLI Gregor, Switzerland

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Olympic Champion, Skeleton, Snowboard Cross, Duff Gibson, Kristina Smigun, Tanja Frieden, Lindsey Jacobellis, Andrus Veerpalu, Jeff Pain

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 16, 2006

2006-02-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

American Seth Wescott became the first Olympic champion in the snowboardcross. There were many crashes, collisions and hits on the 3,100 foot-long course.

Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was thrown out of the Olympics and stripped of her silver medal for failing a drug test. Pyleva, who won silver at the 15km event Monday, was scratched just before the start of 7.5km sprint, in which she was considered a leading medal contender. France's Florence Baverel-Robert won the sprint. The only favorite to reach the podium was Anna Carin Oloffson of Sweden, who won silver. Ukraine's Lilia Efremova took the bronze. Germany's Wilhelm, the World Cup leader, who won the event in Salt Lake City, was 7th and Disl, the most decorated female biathlete in Olympic history with eight medals, was 34th.

Mario Stecher erased a 20-second deficit during the final leg of the cross-country relay race to lead Austria to the Olympic gold medal in the Nordic combined team event. Austria won the bronze in Salt Lake City with the same team of Stecher, Felix Gottwald, Christoph Bieler and Michael Gruber, but their win in Torino wasn't a surprise as Stecher, Gottwald and Bieler are all in the top five in the current World Cup standings. Norway is the world champion in the event but had to pull out because four of its athletes are ill.

Estonia's pride - Kristina Smigun took the lead by the 7-kilometer mark in the interval start women’s 10km classical cross-country race Thursday, earning her second gold in as many events after winning the 15km pursuit Sunday. Three Norwegians were in the top four, but the favorite - Bjorgen, the World Cup leader - lost again and got only silver.

Yevgeny Plushenko totally dominated men's figure skating. Despite his unemotional program, he finished 27.12 points ahead of Lambiel from Switzerland, the world champion. U.S. champion Johnny Weir had too many errors and finished 5th, passed by Canadian Jeffrey Buttle who took bronze and own teammate - Evan Lysacek.

In men's hockey, the Swiss, who have just two NHL players in their lineup, upset the world champion Czechs, winning 3-2.

Results

Biathlon: Women's 7.5km Sprint

Gold BAVEREL-ROBERT Florence, France
Silver OLOFSSON Anna Carin, Sweden
Bronze EFREMOVA Lilia, Ukraine

Cross-Country Skiing: Women's 10km Classical

Gold SMIGUN Kristina, Estonia
Silver BJORGEN Marit, Norway
Bronze G. PEDERSEN Hilde, Norway

Snowboarding: Men's Snowboard Cross

Gold WESCOTT Seth, USA
Silver ZIDEK Radoslav, Slovakia
Bronze DELERUE Paul-Henri, France

Nordic Combined: Team

Gold GRUBER Michael-STECHER Mario-GOTTWALD Felix-BIELER Christoph, Austria
Silver GAISER Jens-KIRCHEISEN Bjoern-ACKERMANN Ronny-HETTICH Georg, Germany
Bronze KOIVURANTA Anssi-KUISMA Antti-MANNINEN Hannu-TALLUS Jaakko, Finland

Skeleton: Women's

Gold PEDERSEN Maya, Switzerland
Silver RUDMAN Shelley, Great Britain
Bronze HOLLINGSWORTH-RICHARDS Mellisa, Canada

Speed Skating: Men's Team Pursuit

Gold ANESI Matteo-DONAGRANDI Stefano-FABRIS Enrico-IORIATTI Ermanno-SANFRATELLO, Italy
Silver DANKERS Arne-ELM Steven-MORRISON Denny-PARKER Jason-WARSYLEWICZ Justin, Canada
Bronze DE JONG Bob-GROOTHUIS Stefan-KRAMER Sven-KUIPERS Simon-RITSMA Rintje-TUITERT Mark-VERHEIJEN Carl-WENNEMARS Erben, Netherlands

Speed Skating: Women's Team Pursuit

Gold ANSCHUETZ THOMS Daniela-FRIESINGER Anni-OPITZ Lucille-PECHSTEIN Claudia-VOELKER Sabine, Germany
Silver GROVES Kristina-HUGHES Clara-KLASSEN Cindy-NESBITT Christine-REMPEL Shannon, Canada
Bronze ABRAMOVA Yekaterina-BARYSHEVA Varvara-LIKHACHOVA Galina-LOBYSHEVA Yekaterina-VYSOKOVA Svetlana-YAKSHINA Valentina, Russia

Figure Skating: Men's

Gold PLUSHENKO Yevgeny, Russia
Silver LAMBIEL Stephane, Switzerland
Bronze BUTTLE Jeffrey, Canada

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Seth Wescott, Olga Pyleva, Biathlon, Winter Olympics, Kristina Smigun, Medal Table, Marit Bjorgen, Enrico Fabris, Snowboarding, Snowboard Cross, Skeleton, Yevgeny Plushenko, Johnny Weir

American Idol more popular than Olympics

2006-02-15T21:52:00.000-08:00

Fox's "American Idol" is doing much better than the NBC's Winter Olympics.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006, the "Idol" drew 27 million viewers in the 8 p.m. ET/PT hour - 11 million more than the Olympics. Why? Simple - mostly because some of the America's biggest favorites disappointed.

Read the whole story at USATODAY.com - 'Idol' gets gold over Olympics
Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Winter Olympics, American Idol

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 15, 2006

2006-02-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

Jeremy Bloom (USA) was expected to get a medal in the moguls finals, but he finished sixth and now will pursue his NFL football career.

Dale Begg-Smith of Australia won the moguls gold - as expected - as he's been dominating this sport the past few months. America’s only medal - bronze - went to Toby Dawson; Mikko Ronkainen of Finland got silver.

Dale Begg-Smith, 21, has dual citizenship of Canada and Australia, quit freestyle skiing when he was 15, but started skiing again and has been representing Australia since 2003. Interestingly, he's a champion in other area too... At 13 (!), Dale Begg-Smith founded a successful online marketing company that sponsors his skiing and employs 30 people. What a success story, what an inspiration for teenagers...

Anja Paerson of Sweden got bronze bronze in downhill; it's her first Olympic medal in a speed event (she had medals in the slalom and giant slalom in Salt Lake City).

Dorfmeister, who is retiring at the end of this World Cup season, is Austria’s first woman to win the Olympic women’s downhill since Annemarie Moser-Proell won at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Chad Hedrick’s will not match Eric Heiden’s record five gold medals in a Winter Olympics - the US team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of team tonight.

Canada's troubled executive director Wayne Gretzky looked nervous in his private box when his team had early problems with the hosting team (it was 1-1 early in the second period), but his star players finally started to play as expected and won 7-2.

Results:

Alpine Skiing: Women's Downhill

Gold DORFMEISTER Michaela, Austria
Silver SCHILD Martina, Switzerland
Bronze PAERSON Anja, Sweden

Freestyle Skiing: Men's Moguls

Gold BEGG-SMITH Dale, Australia
Silver RONKAINEN Mikko, Finland
Bronze DAWSON Toby, United States

Luge: Doubles

Gold LINGER Andreas-LINGER Wolfgang, Austria
Silver FLORSCHUETZ Andre-WUSTLICH Torsten, Germany
Bronze HASELRIEDER Oswald-PLANKENSTEINER Gerhard, Italy

Short Track: Women's 500m

Gold WANG Meng, China
Silver RADANOVA Evgenia, Bulgaria
Bronze LEBLANC-BOUCHER Anouk, Canada

Technorati tags: Torino, Turin, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Dale Begg-Smith, Toby Dawson, Luge, Winter Olympics, Wayne Gretzky, Medal Table, Michaela Dorfmeister, Freestyle Skiing, Downhill

Torino Olympic Champions And Medalists - Feb. 14, 2006

2006-02-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Biathlon: Men's 10km Sprint

Gold FISCHER Sven, Germany
Silver HANEVOLD Halvard, Norway
Bronze ANDRESEN Frode, Norway

Cross-Country Skiing: Men's Team Sprint

Gold FREDRIKSSON Thobias-LIND Bjoern , Sweden
Silver ARNE SVARTEDAL Jens-HETLAND Tor Arne, Norway
Bronze ALYPOV Ivan-ROTCHEV Vassili, Russia

Cross-Country Skiing: Women's Team Sprint

Gold DAHLBERG Anna-ANDERSSON Lina, Sweden
Silver RENNER Sara-SCOTT Beckie, Canada
Bronze KAISA SAARINEN Aino-KUITUNEN Virpi, Finland

Luge: Women's Singles

Gold OTTO Sylke, Germany
Silver KRAUSHAAR Silke, Germany
Bronze HUEFNER Tatjana, Germany

Speed Skating: Women's 500m

Gold ZHUROVA Svetlana, Russia
Silver WANG Manli, China
Bronze HUI Ren, China

Alpine Skiing: Men's Combined

Gold LIGETY Ted, USA
Silver KOSTELIC Ivica, Croatia
Bronze SCHOENFELDER Rainer, Austria

Notes
Not too many surprises today, although another bad day for the heavily favored biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from Norway. Bjoerndalen won gold in all four biathlon races in Salt Lake City, but he missed two targets in the 20km Saturday and lost to German Michael Greis. Today he was much worse - came in 12th position after poor, nervous shooting. But whole Norway expects him to tie his fellow countryman Bjorn Daehlie, a cross country skier who won eight gold medals - being the most successful athlete in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.

It was a very good day for Sweden - they got two gold medals in cross-country skiing. Sweden hadn’t won a gold in cross-country since two golds in the 1988 Calgary Olympics (Gunde Svan’s win in the 50km race and a victory in the men’s relay). It's hard to believe, but these two golds ended a long "gold drought" for Swedes. They didn't have a gold since 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games, where they had two gold medals (the alpine skier Pernilla Wiberg and the hockey team).

Women's luge - total domination by strong German athletes. They swept the medals in Salt Lake City and they did it here again. Otto is the champ again - she's being called in Germany "Medallienbank" (the medal bank)...

In men's combined, US gold medal favorite Bode Miller was disqualified for straddling a gate in the first run, having a commanding lead for his first Olympic gold. But it wasn't only Miller who lost today. Fourteen skiers either didn't finish the first slalom run or were disqualified. Among them were medal contenders Aksel Lund Svindal and Lasse Kjus of Norway, downhill silver medalist Michael Walchhofer and Didier Defago of Switzerland, who was second in the downhill portion of the combined. Austrian favorite Benjamin Raich, the leader going into the final slalom run, skied off course and didn't finish either.

Defending Olympic aerials champion Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic hurt his right knee in training Tuesday and may not be able to defend his title next week.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Sven Fischer, Beckie Scott, Biathlon, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Cross-Country Skiing, Luge, Sylke Otto, Bode Miller, Ted Ligety

Torino 2006 Champions And Medalists - Feb. 13, 2006

2006-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

Biathlon: Women's 15km Individual

Gold ISHMOURATOVA Svetlana, Russia
Silver PYLEVA Olga, Russia
Bronze GLAGOW Martina, Germany

Snowboarding: Women's Halfpipe

Gold TETER Hannah, United States
Silver BLEILER Gretchen, United States
Bronze BUAAS Kjersti, Norway

Speed Skating: Men's 500m

Gold CHEEK Joey, USA
Silver DOROFEYEV Dmitry, Russia
Bronze KANG SEOK Lee, South Korea

Figure Skating: Pairs

Gold TOTMIYANINA Tatyana-MARININ Maxim, Russia
Silver ZHANG Dan-ZHANG Hao, China
Bronze SHEN Xue-ZHAO Hongbo, China

In halfpipe, Americans Clark, Bleiler and Teter finished 1-2-3 in qualifying, but Norway's Kjersti Buaas prevented US snowboarders from the medal sweep.

Enjoy a collection of photos of Gretchen Bleiler from the February 2004 edition of FHM magazine at NBCOlympics.com - Snowboarding

In biathlon, the Germans were favorites but lost to the pair of Russians due to poor shooting. Poland’s Krystyna Palka had the first perfect Olympic shoot in the women’s individual race, but wasn't skiing fast enough and took sixth place.

There was no surprise in the Figure Skating - Pairs. The Russians won again - no change since 1964...

Monday, Feb. 13, 2006, was a day of crashes on the alpine skiing hill. There were four of them. First, Montillet-Carles of France lost control during a jump midway through her run, slammed into the protective fencing and landed on her back. Her head hit the snow, but she appeared to be conscious as she was taken to a hospital in nearby Sestriere. Eight skiers later, Lindsey Kildow (USA) was taken by helicopter to a hospital with a severely bruised left hip from landing on the course while traveling 50 miles an hour. Despite that, she still may be competing in these Games. Allison Forsyth from Canada is out of the Olympics with a torn knee ligament as a result of another crash. Finally, Elisabeth Goergl of Austria also fell dangerously, but was able to ski down on her own.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Hannah Teter, Gretchen Bleiler, Biathlon, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Joey Cheek, Speed Skating

Torino 2006 Champions And Medalists - Feb. 12, 2006

2006-02-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Alpine Skiing: Men's Downhill

Gold DENERIAZ Antoine, France
Silver WALCHHOFER Michael, Austria
Bronze KERNEN Bruno, Switzerland

Cross-Country Skiing: Women's 15km Pursuit

Gold SMIGUN Kristina, Estonia
Silver NEUMANNOVA Katerina, Czech Republic
Bronze MEDVEDEVA-ABRUZOVA Evgenia, Russia

Cross-Country Skiing: Men's 30km Pursuit

Gold DEMENTIEV Eugeni, Russia
Silver ESTIL Frode, Norway
Bronze PILLER COTTRER Pietro, Italy

Luge: Men's Singles

Gold ZOEGGELER Armin, Italy
Silver DEMTSCHENKO Albert, Russia
Bronze RUBENIS Martins, Latvia

Short Track: Men's 1500m

Gold AHN Hyun-Soo, South Korea
Silver LEE Ho-Suk, South Korea
Bronze JIAJUN Li, China

Ski Jumping: Men's Normal Hill

Gold BYSTOEL Lars, Norway
Silver HAUTAMAEKI Matti, Finland
Bronze LJOEKELSOEY Roar, Norway

Snowboarding: Men's Halfpipe

Gold WHITE Shaun, USA
Silver KASS Danny, USA
Bronze KOSKI Markku, Finland

Speed Skating: Women's 3000m

Gold WUST Ireen, Netherlands
Silver GROENEWOLD Renate, Netherlands
Bronze KLASSEN Cindy, Canada

Not too many surprises, but as always, there were some:

Marit Bjorgen - a big favorite from Norway - didn't finish women's 15km pursuit. She dropped out before the midway point with a stomach problem. Huge success for Estonia, though

another big favorite - Walchhofer - was only second in men's downhill and there was no medal here for the USA

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Olympic Champion, Marit Bjorgen, Kristina Smigun, Michael Walchhofer

How many medals will USA get in Torino?

2006-02-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

Vicki Michaelis at USA TODAY wrote about Team-USA's hopes for medals in Torino.

In her article, she gives a very detailed prediction, with sport-by-sport, event-by-event projections. In my opinion, Vicki may be right with regards to the total numbers to be won by the Americans, although they may have some problems with getting those gold medals in alpine skiing.

The article is available at USATODAY.com - Ambitious USA ready to 'surprise the world'

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites

Hedrick wins 1st U.S. gold, dominates 5,000 - Speedskating, short track

2006-02-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

Chad Hedrick won 1st U.S. gold medal, dominating 5,000 speedskating, short track event.

Italian Enrico Fabris won the host country’s first medal - just a bronze, but it's a good start - on the first day of the games.

Hedrick's goal for Torino is to equal Eric Heiden’s record five gold medals at a Winter Olympics. Read the full story at MSNBC.com

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Chad Hedrick, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Short Track

Canadian Heil takes moguls

2006-02-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

For Americans, it is a 2006 Winter Olympics Stunner! But not for the Canadians... U.S. got blanked in women's moguls on Saturday February 11, 2006, but the win was expected in Canada!

Canadian Jennifer Heil, was the World Cup champion in the last two years and is leading the standings again this season.

Heil beat defending champion Kari Traa of Norway by 0.85. Sandra Laoura of France won the bronze.

Heil’s jumps — a 360-degree spin and a backflip with her skis crossed — were not as difficult as those performed by Traa, but the Canadian was faster than most and handled the moguls better.

You may recall that I called "interesting" SI's prediction regarding Traa's chances for gold as I felt that it was Jennifer's turn to win gold in Torino...

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Jennifer Heil, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Moguls

Germany’s Hettich wins Nordic combined gold

2006-02-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

Germany’s Georg Hettich won Nordic combined gold in Torino on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006.

Hettich's win was a surprise as Finland’s Hannu Manninen was a super-favorite to win this event. Manninen, the leading Nordic combined competitor in recent years with 11 World Cup victories this season, finished distant ninth. He he still has no an individual Olympic medal despite being in four Olympic Games.

Read more about Nordic combined event in Torino.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Georg Hettich, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Nordic combined

Germany wins first gold of Olympics

2006-02-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

Michael Greis from Germany won the first gold medal at the Torino Olympic Games for his first-place finish in the 20 km men’s biathalon on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006.

Silver went to Ole Einar Bjoerndalen from Norway, who swept all four biathlon golds at Salt Lake City and remains the favorite in the four remaining races, including the mass start, which was added for the 2006 games.

Greis was a surprising winner, whose 20-km win at San Sicario on Feb. 9, 2005, was his only other non-relay win in international competition.

Read more about first gold medal in Torino - at MSNBC.com.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Michael Greis, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Biathlon

Opening ceremonies of Torino 2006

2006-02-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

It was a spectacle of passion and beauty - what else to expect from the Winter Olympics host country that gave the world Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Petrarca, and many more - like Sophia Loren and Luciano Pavarotti who, by the way, both participated in the opening ceremonies of Torino 2006.

Italians loved to see their greatest athletes to light the Olympic torch - from Alberto Tomba to Stefania Belmondo, who touched the flame to a wire that ignited fireworks and lit the Olympic caldron.

Over 2,500 athletes walked in the parade of nations. Three guards in dark suits followed the Danish team as it marched to prevent any t violence by Muslims enraged at recent cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad published in Danish newspapers.

Another unusual moment was the fact that for the first time, eight women carried the Olympic flag - Italian actress Sophia Loren, Chilean writer Isabel Allende, American actress Susan Sarandon, Nobel Peace-prize winner Wangari Maathai of Kenya, three Olympic medal winners (Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, Manuela Di Centa of Italy, Maria Mutola of Mozambique)and Cambodian human rights activist Somaly Mam.

I was really impressed with Peter Gabriel's rendition of John Lennon's song "Imagine". I got goose bumps watching him sing - it was so powerful...

Let's hope that the peace message will be weel received all over the world. Wouldn't it be nice if at least during the Olympic Games there was now war and nobody got killed. Let's follow John's message and be one - have more love and understanding to each other and the world will be much better.

And for now let the best athletes in the world compete in exciting, peaceful and fair games. Good luck to everybody!

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Olympic Medals, Winter Olympics, Opening Ceremonies

Let the Games begin!

2006-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

The 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino are about to start in a moment.

We wish all the athletes "Good luck!" Let the best win...

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Olympic Medals, Winter Olympics, Medal Table

SI.com's help for our Sweepstakes participants

2006-02-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Sports Illustrated just posted a last-minute predictions about medals in Torino. Most interesting picks:

Sasha Cohen, USA - in figure skating,
Kari Traa, Norway - in moguls,
Jakub Janda, Czech Republic - in ski jumping at both hills,
lots of medals for China in short-track speedskating (women).

Take a look here:

SI.com - Magazine - Medal Picks: Who Will Win - Wednesday February 8, 2006 12:42PM

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Olympic Medals, Winter Olympics, Medal Table

Torino Olympics Sweepstakes

2006-02-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

Are you in the Winter Olympics mood already? Then what about having of some competition of our own?

Let's have some fun and try to guess which country will get most olympic medals in Torino - yes, the rules are very simple - tell us and the world which country will win most medals and what medals during the Winter Olympics in Torino.

We've even found a sponsor for these "Torino Sweepstakes" and are able to provide a prize for the winner! Courtesy of Fish Of Paradise/Cheetah Consulting, the prize for the 1st place in our Torino Sweepstakes is:

"Let's Go To Disneyland®!" e-book valued at $19.97

It's available here, but the winner will get it for free!

So, how to play? Simply click on the "- comments" link below, write your response and you'll be entered and will have a chance to be the winner - win not only a great prize , but also your portion of world-wide-fame!... Provide us with your name and a way of contacting you (e.g. email) so that we could find you when you win.

Here is the best format for the response - we need here the name, contact and the guess - the name of the country that will get most medals and how many golds, silvers, bronzes and medals in total that country will win. Very, very easy, but fun - isn't it?

So, it's just a sample here, but I'm using it as the first official entry into the sweepstakes:

My name: Fiat Voluntas
My contact: fiat.voluntas@gmail.com
My medal guess: Norway - 10-10-10-30

So yes, it's that easy and it shouldn't be difficult to find a winner. I will announce her or him soon after the Torino Olympics closing ceremonies.

Have fun and good luck!

P.S. One entry is allowed...

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Olympic Medals, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Closing Ceremonies

Winter Olympics in Torino are just around the corner!

2006-02-09T11:40:00.000-08:00

The 20th Winter Olympics - Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games are finally coming. Maybe with less trumpeting than the Salt Lake City Winter Games, but we hope that they will be enjoyed by both the athletes and the spectators all over the world. Interestingly, the 1st Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France, not far from Torino.

The Torino 2006 Opening Ceremony will be starting on Friday February 10, 8 PM (Italian time) at the newly built Stadio Olimpico (Olympic Stadium in Torino.

The Olympic competition will be taking place at 14 sites - in Torino and in six villages in the mountains of the Piedmont Region.

Olympic medals will be presented at Piazza Castello (Torino's central square, in a ceremony starting at 8 PM (Italian time) each evening. 84 Gold Medals will be presented in total during these Winter Olympics.

Approximately 2500 athletes from 85 countries will be competeing in the following 15 sports (disciplines): Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Bobsled, Cross-country Skiing, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Ice Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard, Speed Skating (look for more info on each in the sidebar to the right).

Which country will win most medals?

Here is the top of the medal table from the Salt Lake City (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Total):

1. Germany 12 16 7 35
2. Norway 11 7 6 24
3. USA 10 13 11 34

The other countries had much fewer medals.

But this year can be much different. I've got the feeling that Canada, Finland and Russia will be much closer to the Big Three this time. We'll see.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Olympic Medals, Winter Olympics, Medal Table, Opening Ceremonies

Gretzky's wife, Tocchet and NHL players involved in gambling ring?

2006-02-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

According to SI.com - Wayne Gretzky's wife - Janet, his coaching assistant at the Phoenix Coyotes - Rick Tocchet and a number of NHL players are involved in gambling ring. While talking to the media after the fact was revealed, Wayne was apparently uncomfortable. For many reasons... First of all, it's one of his best friends in the middle of it and even his wife is involved (and maybe he really didn't know about it!). Secondly, it's bad news for the NHL that is trying to rebuild the fans' support. Thirdly, it's not helping the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team of which Wayne is the executive director. Canadian fans are now worried that it may complicate their chances for repeat gold.

Naturally, we have to wait for the results of the investigation (called - accordingly - "Operation Slapshot"), to see how really bad all the affair was. So fair we know that it involved betting and gambling and most probably it was illegal. But who doesn't gamble and bet - on hockey, horses, football? If you're a Canadian - weren't you missing the office hockey pool during the latest NHL lockout?

Funny thing is that I had Rick Tocchet a couple years ago in my play-off office hockey pool and he did well for me. Read here the whole story about Rick Tocchet, Wayne and Janet Gretzky and their involvement.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Ice Hockey, Winter Olympics, Wayne Gretzky, Rick Tocchet

Tomba hopes to light the Torino Olympics flame

2006-02-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

Alberto Tomba, the only athlete to ever win alpine skiing gold at consecutive Winter Olympic Games would like to light the flame in Torino. He was known not only for great performances at Olympics and in World Cup, but also for throwing wild parties. According to Reuters, Alberto Tomba said: "I don't know but I really hope so. It would be one of the most beautiful memories of my life."

But Stefania Belmondo, an Olympic gold medalist in cross-country skiing also has high hopes for being chosen the last Olympic torchbearer and is quite serious about it...

Read the whole story at the Reuters Sports website.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Alpine Skiing, Winter Olympics, Alberto Tomba, Olympic Torch

Interesting Predictions By CBS SportsLine.com

2006-02-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

Larry Dobrow wrote a special column on Torino Olympics at the CBS SportsLine.com website. Dobrow is a regular baseball columnist, but his comments on Winter Olympics are a light, nice and funny read. Canadians will love reading his piece as he considers Canada team to be the gold medal contenders in ice hockey...

Read more here

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games

Medal For Zorro?

2006-02-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

Will Zorro capture a medal at this year's Winter Olympics? Well, this Zorro is not from California and is not riding a horse...

This Zorro is one of the biggest chances for the host country to win some medals. His specialty is cross-country skiing, he is the two-time Olympic medalist Cristian Zorzi and is called "Zorro" by the fans.

Other Italy's medal hopes are:

- still in cross-country skiing - 2002 gold medalist Gabriella Paruzzi, 2005 Worlds silver medalist in men's pursuit - Giorgio Di Centa as well as Fulvio Valbusa and Pietro Piller Cottrer
- in alpine skiing - Giorgio Rocca, winner of two bronze medals at he 2005 World Championships (combined, slalom), Elena Fanchini, who won silver in the women's downhill and Lucia Recchia who got silver in women's super-G
- in figure skating, Carolina Kostner who earned bronze at the 2005 World Championships
- in speed skating - Enrico Fabris, European allround champion and Chiara Simionato who won the 1000m World Cup title in 2004-05
- in luge - double luge and Armin Zoeggeler who has won a luge medal at each of the past three Winter Games, including gold in 2002 and the 2005-06 World Cup winner

Italy ranks 11th all-time with 77 Winter Olympic medals (31 gold, 31 silver, 28 bronze), with 13 of them won during the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Enrico Fabris, Armin Zoeggeler, Carolina Kostner, Zorro, Cristian Zorzi

Figure Skater Sasha Cohen Responds To Emails

2006-02-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Sasha Cohen, one of the US hopefulls for gold medal in figure skating at the Torino Winter Olympics responded to the email questions from the fans. The answers can be found at NBCOlympics.com - Figure Skating - Sasha Cohen's mailbag. Here are some of the most interesting questions to Sasha Cohen:

Do you think that Irina Slutskaya gets over-marked on the program components? Have you been following her skating this season?
Do you thank your parents for your good genes?
Was that a Kabbalah bracelet you were wearing at Nationals?

Find all the questions and answers by Sasha Cohen here.

Oh, well, you want more about Sasha Cohen? Here - courtesy of NBC Olympics - you'll find a lots of Sasha's pics where she attends movie premieres and poses for fashion magazines. Isn't she beautiful?

Good luck, Sasha, in Torino!

By the way, while you're at the NBC Olympics website, look for more of the short videos about just anybody who has a chance to win a medal in Winter Olympics in Torino. One of our favorite ones is about Simon Ammann - the Swiss double-gold ski-jumper from Salt Lake City - "I'm not Harry Potter!"

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Figure Skating, Winter Olympics, Sasha Cohen, Simon Ammann

Shroud, Vermouth and FIAT

2006-02-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

Torino is a beautiful historic city located in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, close to the French and Swiss borders.

Like so many other European cities, it's famous for great castles, cathedrals, churches, museums, galleries as well as classy restaurants and cafes.

Torino is best known for the Shroud of Torino, a centuries old linen cloth resting at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It's believed to be the cloth that was used to cover the body of Jesus Christ after he was taken down from the cross.

Torino is also a place where one of the most popular alcoholic drinks was invented. In 1786, Vermouth - that delicious drink - was born here. The recipe is secret, but it's known that Vermouth is made with white wine and over 50 different varieties of herbs and spices.

Finally, Torino is also famous for FIAT - a car very popular in all over Europe. FIAT cars have won European Car of the Year Awards 8 times, the last time in 2004 for Fiat Panda. However, their quality is often subject of many jokes in different languages. For example, in English - FIAT acronym is explained as "Fix It Again, Tony" and in German - "Fehler In Allen Teilen" ("defects in every part"). Still, FIAT is one of the most popular European cars and the FIAT group includes such popular makes as: Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati, Citroen, Autobianchi and ALFA-Romeo.

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Tourism, Shroud of Torino, Vermouth, FIAT, Fiat Panda

Olympics And Money (To Be Earned)

2006-02-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

This post is about money. Big money being earned by the best paid athletes in the world. Forbes.com announced recently it's 2005 Celebrity 100 ranking that also has "Athletes" category.

Who is on the top?

The first five athletes who earned most money in 2005 are:

Tiger Woods (USA) (Pay Rank 4) ($87 mln) - golf
Michael Schumacher (GER) (PR 8) ($60 mln) - racing
Oscar De La Hoya (USA) (PR 18) ($38 mln) - boxing
Shaquille O'Neal (USA) (PR 26) ($33.4 mln) - basketball
Michael Jordan (USA) (PR 27) ($33 mln) - basketball

Where is the money coming from? Contracts, endorsement deals and winning tournaments. For example, in golf, Tiger Woods (USA) for winning the last Buick Invitational tournament won $0.918 mln - yes, that's almost 1 million!

Who is the best-earning woman athlete? Yes, it's the beautiful tennis star from Russia - Maria Sharapova ($18.2 mln). And as we know that the soccer fans wouldn't forgive me if I didn't show the earnings of their hero David Beckham - well it was $32.5 mln and it gave him Pay Rank 28 in 2005.

Let me digress for a moment here... I remember those times when the Olympic Games were only for amateur athletes and nobody who had and official professional contract was allowed to participate in the Olympics. Obviously the rules were superficial and some of the best athletes in the world were not participating. It was all question of politics inside the IOC and the stupidity culminated during the Moscow Olympics in 1980 when the best countries didn't participate at all.

Now going back to the athlete money ranking...

You are probably thinking how much are earning those athletes who will be participating in the Torino Olympics... Some of them - especially NHL hockey players - are being paid handsomely (some fans say they get too much for what they are showing on the ice) - in the $5 - $7 mln range. Naturally, they wouldn't be allowed to play in those old-time/cold war Olympics...

Anyway, the athletes in disciplines other than hockey earn much less money. According to the official news coming from the FIS, those athletes are earning peanuts... Let's compare (using the money figures by FIS News):

- in alpine skiing, Michael Walchhofer (AUT) netted the greatest single weekend earnings by winning CHF 102,000 during the World Cup weekend in Kitzbuehel (AUT)
- in ski jumping, the most prize money so far this season has been won by the World Cup leader Jakub Janda (CZE) with CHF 167,000, followed by Janne Ahonen (FIN) with CHF 146,000
- in nordic combined, Hannu Manninen (FIN), who already confirmed his overall World Cup victory in the Warsteiner FIS World Cup Nordic Combined, has brought home CHF 154,100
- in cross-country skiing, the overall World Cup leaders Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and Tobias Angerer (GER) lead the prize money ranking with CHF 86,000 and CHF 92,000 respectively.
Note: 1 CHF = US$ 0.77

Obviously, they are participating in the Olympics for fame and fan affection, but also for more money that will come in form of the endorsement deals - if they get any gold...

Technorati tags: Torino, Torino Olympics, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Alpine Skiing, Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined, Tiger Woods

Great Performances at FIS World Cup Hint About Current Favorites

2006-02-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

According to the News from the World of Skiing, the last week at FIS World Cup brought plenty of snow and stellar performances.

During the last weekend, six venues in four nations hosted a total of 12 World Cup competitions. Austrians were most successful, winning 11 podium places, closely followed by Finland with ten and the USA with seven.

Here are some of the most convincing wins.

Freestyle Skiing
At Madonna di Campiglio (ITA), in powdery conditions, Jennifer Heil (CAN) delivered her sixth podium performance in seven World Cup starts while Dale Begg-Smith of Australia, a former member of the Canadian ski team program, won for the fourth time this season.

Snowboarding
At the “Jump & Fun Arena” in Winterberg (GER), the 16-year-old Christophe Reynders of Belgium delivered the first-ever Snowboarding World Cup podium place for his home country whilst Matevz Petek (SLO) repeated his victory from last year’s World Cup debut competition at Winterberg.

Ski Jumping
In the e-on Ruhrgas FIS World Cup Ski Jumping in Zakopane (POL), more than 65,000 fans saw the Finnish ‘eagles’ took a triple victory on Saturday and the first two podium places on Sunday. The last time the Finns managed the same feat was at the Ski Flying World Cup in Oberstdorf in 2001. Sunday’s event was overshadowed by the exhibition hall roof tragedy at nearby Chorzow and a minute of silence was observed before the competition.

Nordic Combined
In Seefeld (AUT), Hannu Manninen got his 10th and 11th season victories and confirming his third successive overall World Cup victory with six competitions remaining in the FIS World Cup Nordic Combined calendar. Sunday’s victory was Manninen’s 42nd World Cup victory in total.

Alpine Skiing
In Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA), in the strong snwfall, Sweden’s Anja Pärson won Friday’s super-G. She now have won at least once in four of the five events this season. Michaela Dorfmeister (AUT) confirmed victory in the overall downhill World Cup on Saturday after finishing 4th (her team mate Renate Goetschl earned her first victory of the season, but it was also her ninth in Cortina). Another Austrian, Nicole Hosp’s got her first victory in more than two years in Sunday’s giant slalom on the Olympia delle Tofane course.

In the men’s Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, the Austrians also dominated the 3455-meter long Kandahar downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER). Hermann Maier won ahead of two of his teammates.

Read full article at FIS website.

Technorati tags: Torino, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Alpine Skiing, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, Freestyle Skiing, Torino Olympics

Skating Judging Controversy Revisited

2006-02-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a very interesting article about the infamous skating judge from France and two pairs - Jamie and David, Elena and Anton - who got two gold medals at the same Olympics - in Salt Lake City.

Hopefully it won't happen again in Torino...

courant.com | Skating Controversy On Tour

Technorati tags: Torino, Olympic Games, Torino Favorites, Figure Skating, Olympic Judges, Torino Olympics

Top Athletes To Be Watched During Torino Olympics

2006-01-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

According to Dave Golokhov, Fitness Specialist at AskMen.com, we can expect the most from the following athletes participating in the 2006 Torino Olympics, listed here in the descending order, with the one most exciting at the end:

Number 10 - Evgeni Plushenko, Russia - men's figure skating
Number 9 - Marit Bjorgen, Norway - cross-country skiing
Number 8 - Vonetta Flowers, United States - bobsled
Number 7 - Janica Kostelic, Croatia - alpine skiing
Number 6 - Li Nina, China - aerial skiing
Number 5 - Shani Davis, United States - speed skating
Number 4 - Bode Miller, United States - alpine skiing
Number 3 - Irina Slutskaya, Russia - figure skating
Number 2 - Hermann Maier, Austria - alpine skiing
Number 1 - Jeremy Bloom, United States - freestyle skiing

So Dave nominated here 5 women and 5 men to the prestigious "all-star" team of the most promising olympians. At least some of the candidates have great chances to earn medals, possibly most of them. See full details at AskMen.com website.

Write your comments if you'd like to add to that list any of your favorite athletes.

Technorati tags: Torino, Olympic Games, Torino Olympics

Hi, Everybody!

2006-01-30T10:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog!

Torino Olympics are fast approaching so it's high time to start celebrating this great event when the best of the best athletes meet and compete in honest, spirited games.

I will help here to follow the Olympic Games and will provide interesting comments on the participants, the hosting city and the winter sports.

Please participate - everybody can post his or her comments here. I will soon announce here our own quiz with prizes, so please check out this blog again in a day or so.

Fiat Voluntas

Technorati tags: Torino, Olympic Games, Torino Olympics