Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › Sports › Olympics

Olympics digest, February 22

Published February 22, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

More Olympics

More stories »

NORDIC COMBINED

Gottwald grabs his second gold, Austria's eighth

Still breathing hard and red-faced, Felix Gottwald took a big gulp of water, grinned and described how much another gold medal means to him and his fellow Austrians.

Gottwald used a powerful sprint to rally for victory in the Nordic combined sprint, giving Austria its record eighth gold medal of the Turin Olympics.

"It's unbelievable," Gottwald said. "It's an unbelievable Games for Austria."

Gottwald won his second gold of the Games by making up a 54-second deficit from the morning's jumping portion of the event, skating to a total winning time of 18 minutes, 29 seconds - 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.

Americans Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane, both from Steamboat Springs, finished ninth and 10th.

Gottwald, who started 12th after the jumping portion, completed the 7.5-kilometer cross-country portion of the race in 17:35.

He skied down the final stretch through the stadium alone, then raised his arms as he crossed the line.

Individual sprint

at Pragelato, Italy

(Jump; 7.5-kilometer sprint results in parentheses)

1. 1. Felix Gottwald, Austria (12, 112.1, 54; 1, 17:35.0), 18:29.0, 0.0. 2. Magnus Moan, Norway (13, 111.8, 56; 2, 17:38.4), 18:34.4, 5.4. 3. Georg Hettich, Germany (1, 125.7, 0; 26, 18:38.6), 18:38.6, 9.6. 4. Jason Lamy Chappuis, France (2, 124.4, 5; 29, 18:46.5), 18:51.5, 22.5. 5. Jaakko Tallus, Finland (4, 120.9, 19; 27, 18:39.1), 18:58.1, 29.1.

U.S. finishers

9. Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs (19, 107.3, 1:14; 6, 17:57.4), 19:11.4, 42.4. 10. Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs (14, 109.5, 1:05; 11, 18:10.2), 19:15.2, 46.2.

BIATHLON

Germany wins relay

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen's brilliant finish wasn't enough to keep Germany from winning the men's 4x7.5-kilometer biathlon relay.

Bjoerndalen gave the Norwegians a fifth-place finish by skiing a dazzling final leg for the prerace favorites but could not make up for his teammates' poor performances.

The Americans took ninth, led by Jay Hakkinen, who gave the United States the lead after the first of four legs.

The Germans - Ricco Gross, Michael Roesch, Sven Fischer and Michael Greis - covered the San Sicario course in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 51.5 seconds for their fourth Olympic gold in the event.

Men's 4x7.5-kilometer relay

at San Sicario, Italy

1. 1. Germany, (Ricco Gross, Michael Roesch, Sven Fischer, Michael Greis), 1:21:51.5 (1+8). 2. Russia, (Ivan Tcherezov, Sergei Tchepikov, Pavel Rostovtsev, Nikolay Kruglov), 1:22:12.4 (0+6). 3. France, (Julien Robert, Vincent Defrasne, Ferreol Cannard, Raphael Poiree), 1:22:35.1 (0+6). 4. Sweden, (Jakob Borjesson, Bjorn Ferry, Mattias Nilsson, Carl Johan Bergman), 1:22:35.1 (0+12). 5. Norway, (Halvard Hanevold, Stian Eckhoff, Frode Andresen, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen), 1:23:03.6 (2+9).

U.S. finish

9. United States, (Jay Hakkinen, Kasilof, Alaska; Tim Burke, Paul Smiths, N.Y.; Lowell Bailey, Lake Placid, N.Y.; Jeremy Teela, Anchorage, Alaska), 1:24:23.4 (1+17).

FREESTYLE SKIING

Americans fall short

Americans Emily Cook and Jana Lindsey failed to qualify for tonight's aerials final. Lindsey finished 16th, four spots out of the last qualifying spot, and Cook 19th. Jacqui Cooper of Australia won qualifying by nearly 10 points over Guo Xinxin of China.

Women's aerials qualifications

at Sauze d'Oulx, Italy

(First and second jumps in parentheses)

1. Jacqui Cooper, Australia, (113.80, 99.56) 213.36 (Q). 2. Guo Xinxin, China, (105.45, 99.42) 204.87 (Q). 3. Li Nina, China, (98.87, 90.06) 188.93 (Q). 4. Evelyne Leu, Switzerland, (83.60, 96.77) 180.37 (Q). 5. Veronika Bauer, Canada, (94.29, 82.37) 176.66 (Q).

U.S. finishers

16. Jana Lindsey, Black Hawk, S.D., (79.38, 70.85) 150.23. 19. Emily Cook, Belmont, Mass., (60.32, 84.10) 144.42.

How Coloradans fared

• David Aebischer, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Switzerland) - Stopped 32 of 35 shots in 3-3 tie against Italy.

• Rob Blake, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Canada) - Registered one assist in 3-2 victory against the Czech Republic.

• Chris Drury, Castle Rock, hockey (United States)- Registered one assist in 5-4 loss against Russia.

• Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Czech Republic) - Took two shots in 3-2 loss against Canada.

• Antti Laaksonen, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Finland) - Took one shot in 2-0 victory against Germany.

• John-Michael Liles, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (United States) - Took three shots in 5-4 loss against Russia.

• Todd Lodwick, Steamboat Springs, Nordic combined - Ninth in the sprint.

• Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Canada) - Took one shot in 3-2 victory against the Czech Republic.

• Karlis Skrastins, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Latvia) - Took two shots in 5-2 loss against Kazakhstan.

• Johnny Spillane, Steamboat Springs, Nordic combined - 10th in the sprint.

• Marek Svatos, Colorado Avalanche, hockey (Slovakia) - Took three shots in 3-0 victory against Sweden.