Turin Olympic Winter Games Blog (Home)

U.S. Reaches Quarterfinals in Men’s Hockey, Will Face Finland
The U.S. reached the quarterfinals in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics after Latvia lost 5-2 to Kazakhstan in its final group game today.
Full Story (Source: Bloomberg)

Kostelic’s medal run aims to add slalom gold
Back home in Croatia, Janica Kostelic’s fans are calling the Winter Olympics the “market place.”
Full Story (Source: CBS Sportsline)

Rivals Out to Snatch Gold From Slutskaya
Twenty-eight of the world’s most talented and skillful figure skaters have only one aim at the Winter Olympics — to stop Irina Slutskaya from climbing to the top of the podium.
Full Story (Source: Moscow Times)

Little time for rest for Moyse
Heather Moyse won’t get a lot of time to rest following the Winter Olympics.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Turin lacking in spirit
The colour of the sky is a telling murky grey. The denseness of the thick air never seems to change.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

The eyes have it
It was going to be her night and she knew it. She felt strong, she felt confident, she felt like the Olympics were about to become her stage. She just needed to convey that to the judges, to put some passion into her program, to move them emotionally, not just technically.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

iPod wins Olympic Gold in Turin
Apple’s iPod is clearly in evidence across the Winter Olympics in Turin.
Full Story (Source: Macworld UK)

Austria hog limelight
The Austrian Alpine team took the honours on Day 10 of the Turin Winter Olympics on Monday.
Full Story (Source: NDTV)

S Korean claims US skier his son
A South Korean man has claimed he is the natural father of US skier Toby Dawson, who won a bronze in the Winter Olympics last week, media reports said.
Full Story (Source: BBC)

Meissner basking in aura of Olympics
Kimmie Meissner giggles when she talks and soars when she skates. She’s at the Winter Olympics, she’s 16, and she’s an underdog, which, based on recent history, means there’s a good chance she could be standing on the medals podium Thursday.
Full Story (Source: Chron)

Bellevue’s Ludlow happy just to finish Super-G
Inspiration for the aging flew faster than anyone down a mountain, as 32-year-old Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria collected her second gold medal of the Turin Games shortly before her upcoming retirement.
Full Story (Source: Seattle Times)

United States 4, Finland 0
Katie King wishes she could’ve thrown her gloves in the air like a graduation cap and jumped into a pile of her teammates on the ice.
Instead, she and the rest of the U.S. women’s hockey team had to settle for some hugs — and a bronze medal.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Canada 4, Sweden 1
Danielle Goyette wanted to skate circles around this moment forever, wearing a gold medal around her neck and waving a Canadian flag wildly over her head.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Miller: ‘I could be sitting on four medals’
All those Olympic medals Bode Miller insists he can live without? Turns out he also believes they could just as easily be his. Instead, they’re going to other skiers — and other countries.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

U.S. Hockey Coach: Team Will Bust Out
Peter Laviolette was all smiles as he and the U.S. hockey team lined up for a group photo on their day off at the Olympics. He says it’s just a matter of time before the team’s play on the ice has him really grinning.
Full Story (Source: Washington Post)

Everybody dance, Americans win silver medal
Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto were still on the ice long after getting their silver medals. They posed for pictures, clowned for the crowd, waved the flag and tried to thank every single fan who showed up to cheer them.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Rinks roll into playoffs
Both Canadian curling rinks needed victories in their final round-robin games Monday to qualify for the semifinals at the Winter Olympics. And both teams executed.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Gretzky: Canada needs more heart, emotion and, yes, goals
Wayne Gretzky understands the shortage of goals. What he can’t accept is the lack of passion and desperation. Gretzky ended nearly a week’s silence at the Olympics on Monday with a critical evaluation of Canada’s underperforming men’s hockey team. He wasn’t angry, but his message was clear.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Canuck skiers shut out
Canada just missed the medal podium this morning in both the men’s giant slalom and the women’s super-G as Francois Bourque and Kelly Vanderbeek wound up fourth in their respective events.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Doping scandal hits Winter Olympics
With the threat of a new doping scandal threatening to overshadow the games, Italy won its third gold and the everpresent Dutch speedskating fans cheered Marianne Timmer to a gold in the women’s 1,000 meters.
Full Story (Source: Times Of India)

Finland 2, Canada 0
All this talent on the Canadians’ men’s hockey team, and nothing to show for it. No wins in two weekend Olympic games. No chemistry. Worst of all, no goals. 0 Canada, indeed.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Winter Olympics slide into disappointment
Whatever you may think of the Winter Olympics - if you are thinking about them at all - those watching the television coverage can only be impressed by the expertise of the commentators. They’re a class act, if ever you heard one.
Full Story (Source: NZ Herald)

Timmer wins gold in the 1,000 meters
Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 1,000-meter Sunday, eight years after winning the same event at the Nagano Games.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

15 Austrians dope-tested in police raids
Italian police raided Austria’s biathlon and cross-country skiing team bases on suspicion of doping yesterday, casting a pall over the Winter Games.
Full Story (Source: NZ Herald)

Hasek, Elias out of Olympics
Dominik Hasek will be unable to compete for the remainder of the 2006 Winter Olympics because of an undisclosed leg injury he suffered in the Czech Republic’s opening game of the tournament, a win over Germany.
Full Story (Source: NHL)

Swiss can play hockey
First, the Swiss stunned the world champion Czechs. They topped that Saturday, embarrassing defending men’s Olympic gold medalist Canada 2-0 — the latest upset in only three days of men’s hockey.
Full Story (Source: Taipei Times)

Winter Olympics proves popular on the internet
The Turin Winter Olympics is proving to be more popular on the internet than the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
Full Story (Source: Stuff)

Ice storm
If you’re ever going to be on the edge of your seat watching a speedskating race, Tuesday’s 1,500 meters will be the one. Everybody here is looking forward to what should be the premier race in this Olympics.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Lueders, Brown grab silver
The snow came down white, but the medal is silver for Canadian bobsledders Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Sweden 2, United States 1
Too bad Rick DiPietro can’t defend one net and shoot at the other. The American scoring woes have become so stark, something’s got to give if the U.S. is going to make any noise in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament. If only their stickhandling goaltender could provide help on offense and defense.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Problems follow Austrian ski coach across the border
Banned Austrian ski coach Walter Mayer left behind a tangled web of problems when he took off from the Winter Olympics after a doping raid. But he ran into even more trouble after he crossed the border.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Klassen skates into second, wins third medal of Games
Canada has a new Olympic star and she is shining brightly at these 20th Winter Olympics.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Drug raid casts pall over Winter Olympics
Italian police raided the Austrian biathlon team, casting a shadow over a super Saturday that had seen two stirring performances on the slopes and a landmark gold won by a black American skater.
Full Story (Source: Mail & Guardian)

Austrian biathlon team’s quarters raided
Italian police staged a late-night raid on the Austrian biathlon team’s Winter Olympics quarters on Saturday, an Austrian Olympic chief and investigative source told Reuters.
Full Story (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)

U.S. hopes to build on success at Olympics
Hump day of the 2006 Winter Olympics didn’t determine who will emerge as this year’s faces to remember. But on several fronts, Saturday set the agenda for what is to come in the next eight days.
Full Story (Source: Chron)

Finland 4, Czech Republic 2
Blood on the ice. Hockey’s biggest scorer being helped off with an ugly and unnecessary injury. A rivalry created. Olympics men’s hockey isn’t supposed to be this nasty, this violent, especially not so early in the games.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Herminator set for Super-G
Olympic champion, World Champion and 23 World Cup victories, “Mr Super G” Hermann Maier has won everything in his discipline. Ahead of Saturday’s showdown, the Herminator speaks to us through his press officer about his current health status and hopes for the super-G.
Full Story (Source: Eurosport)

Slovakia 2, United States 1
Short-handed and down by a goal in the third period, the U.S. had one shot ring off the crossbar and another thump off the goaltender’s stick.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Canada shut out
Team Canada is the latest gold-medal favourite to fall to the surprising Swiss, who rode a hot goalie and a modest NHL grinder from a decade ago to their second straight shocking Olympic win.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Both Canadian rinks suffer shocking upsets
Italian skip Joel Retornaz survived a furious Canadian rally and made a nervy draw to the button in an extra end for a 7-6 upset win over Brad Gushue at the Olympics on Saturday.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Just another race, another record for Kostelic
It’s almost as if Janica Kostelic expects her tremendous success. On Saturday, the Croatian won the women’s combined event and became the first woman to win four Olympic gold medals in Alpine skiing. And she did it despite being sick enough that she thought she might not be able to race.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Putting the ‘fun’ in dysfunction
The Winter Olympics’ best soap opera returned to the ice here Saturday, where Shani Davis made history by taking gold in the 1,000 meters, Chad Hedrick made things more contentious by taking shots at Davis, and Joey Cheek continued to make nice with everybody, especially the refugee children of Sub-Sahara Africa.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Ahn takes second gold in 1,000
South Korea’s Ahn Hyun-soo won his second gold medal of the Turin Winter Olympics on Saturday when he nudged ahead of compatriot Lee Ho-suk to take the 1,000 meter short track skating title.
Full Story (Source: Reuters)

Shani Davis does it his way, wins gold medal
Say what you want about Shani Davis. Call him a trailblazer. Accuse him of selfishness. Snicker at him for being a momma’s boy. Just don’t forget this: He’s also an Olympic champion.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Sweden stun US at Winter Olympics
In Italy, it’s Friday the 17th that’s considered bad luck — and it certainly was for US gold medal favorites, with the women’s hockey team shockingly upset by Sweden and Lindsey Jacobellis squandering an almost certain win in the new snowboardcross event.
Full Story (Source: Times Of India)

Golden goals: Canada faces Sweden in final
For once, the U.S. isn’t standing in the way of Canada’s bid for gold in women’s hockey.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Kostelic second, Paerson fourth after slalom portion
Heavy snow, fierce winds, and race delays. Marlies Schild is the only one who didn’t seem to mind. Now comes the real fun: the downhill portion of the Alpine combined, where two of her toughest rivals — Olympic champion Janica Kostelic and Sweden’s Anja Paerson — excel.
Full Story (Source: CBS Sportsline)

So far, Games are a nightmare for U.S.
They got a hold of “Miracle” and started watching, over and over, sometimes twice, three times a day. Only, in their dreams, it was Sweden’s women’s hockey team playing the role of the underdog United States and the U.S. playing that of the indomitable, overconfident Soviet Union.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Jacobellis drew attention to her sport, but couldn’t win the race
Lindsey Jacobellis won over legions of fans and promoters to the new Olympic sport of snowboardcross. What she didn’t do was win the race. She lost it — in astonishing fashion — a jaw-dropping collapse that will go down as one of the most unforgettable moments of the 2006 Winter Games.
Full Story (Source: ESPN)

Skeleton season ends without Olympic medal for U.S. trio
It all seemed so easy four years ago. Jim Shea Jr. and Tristan Gale slid to gold at the Salt Lake City Games, Lea Ann Parsley added a silver and no skeleton team seemed more powerful than the Americans.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

U.S. beats Swiss team, finds itself in tie for second
The ice is curling, and the United States men are rolling in the first round of the Olympics. With slower and swingier ice that allowed them to take more chances, the Americans beat Switzerland 7-3 Friday and moved into a second-place tie in the Olympic curling round-robin tournament.
Full Story (Source: CBS Sportsline)

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.
Full Story (Source: Mail & Guardian)

Dramatic Day At Turin Winter Olympics
A derailed snowboarder, a dreadlocked Ethiopian and a Siberian biathlete facing an Italian criminal inquiry into taking drugs hogged the limelight at the Winter Olympics today.
Full Story (Source: Newswire)

Even ailing, Maier leads talented men’s super-G field
It was a rare sight: Hermann Maier utterly defeated, flopped over his poles, his barrel chest heaving with exhaustion. Blaming a persistent cold for his failure to medal in the Olympic downhill, the Austrian ski star hardly looked in shape for his sovereign event, the super-G.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Race of the games: Speedskating stars align for 1,000 meters
The Olympic oval was quiet and pristine on the first off day for speedskating. The stands were barren. The distinctive clicks of the skates — normally drowned out by the crowds — were easily heard as two Americans got in some last-minute training.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Winter Olympics Ratings Giving NBC the Chills
Skier Bode Miller isn’t the only one suffering through a tough Winter Olympics. NBC Universal, which is covering the Turin events on its broadcast and cable networks, is struggling with some of the lowest ratings in the history of the Games.
Full Story (Source: LA Times)

Another heartbreaker for Kiwi curlers
New Zealand’s heartbreaking run of narrow defeats continued at the Olympic Winter Games curling competition in Pinerolo today when the team lost 6-5 to Italy in a thrilling match that went to an extra end.
Full Story (Source: NZ Herald)

Kleibrink beats Olympic champ
Canadian Shannon Kleibrink whipped defending Olympic champion Rhona Martin and her British rink 9-3 on Friday to maintain a share of second place in the women’s curling tournament.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Davis, Hedrick, Cheek, Miller, Ohno all in action Saturday
Shani Davis may have a speedskating world record, but his three American teammates already know what it takes to win gold medals.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Dominant Plushenko skates to gold; Weir fifth
The Olympic gold medal and everything that went into winning it felt so good to Evgeni Plushenko that he wants to do it again.
Full Story (Source: CBS Sportsline)

Two for Turin: Canada downs Germany 5-1
Tired, jet-lagged and in unfamiliar surroundings, Team Canada probably needed to ease its way into the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Full Story (Source: Slam! Sports)

Americans bounce back with 4-1 victory over Kazakhstan
Rick DiPietro reached for the water bottle after one save and less than 30 seconds of action. It didn’t take long for the pressure to ease on the U.S. goalie and his teammates in a 4-1 victory Thursday night over Kazakhstan.
Full Story (Source: CBS Sportsline)

Wescott wins a wild one, brings home gold for America
Suspended in midair, Seth Wescott’s biggest worry was making sure he didn’t land on top of his opponent and crush him. Not exactly a typical Olympic moment. Then again, snowboardcross isn’t a typical Olympic sport.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)

Stetcher’s late run nets Austria gold; U.S. bickers
Carl Van Loan watched the Austrians rally for their first Nordic combined gold medal Thursday and criticized the Germans for putting their weakest skier last.
Full Story (Source: CBS Sportsline)

Gretzky, wife won’t be charged criminally, lawyers say
Wayne Gretzky will not face criminal charges in connection with a multimillion-dollar sports betting ring busted in New Jersey last week, and he is unlikely to be called to testify against others in the case, his lawyer said Thursday.
Full Story (Source: Yahoo! Sports)