OFFICIAL OLYMPIC SPOILER THREAD

[Goldmember]

I saw it discussed in Olympic thread and had this article here so decided to start the thread.

 

 

 

**SPOILERS**

(for those who can't read a topic title )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skater Hedrick Wins First U.S. Gold Medal

Saturday, February 11, 2006

 

 

TURINO, Italy — Chad Hedrick of the United States won the 5,000 meters Saturday, the first of five speedskating golds he is seeking at the Turin Olympics. The medal is the first for the United States.

 

Michael Greis of Germany won the first gold medal of the Games, pushing favorite Ole Einar Bjoerndalen into second place in the 20-kilometer biathlon, while Germany's Georg Hettich won the Nordic combined individual event.

 

One more medals — women's moguls — was set to be awarded later in the day in this gritty industrial city.

 

For full Olympic coverage, go to FOXSports.com.

 

The brash-talking Hedrick, a Texan, skated the grueling 12 1/2 laps in 6 minutes, 14.68 seconds, about 17 hours after marching in the opening ceremony of his first games.

 

With first lady Laura Bush and daughter Barbara cheering him, Hedrick pumped his right fist and yelled "Whoo!" on his cool-down lap. The predominantly orange-clad Dutch crowd applauded him and tossed Hedrick an orange cap.

 

Sven Kramer of the Netherlands earned the silver in 6:16.40. Enrico Fabris of Italy, skating in the final pair, delighted the hometown fans by taking bronze in 6:18.25.

 

In the biathlon, Bjoerndalen started the biathlon as the strong favorite, but the Norwegian missed two shots early in his run. He would have won if he had not missed one of those shots.

 

Instead, the defending champion's misses relegated him to silver and jeopardized his quest to become the top gold medal winner in Winter Olympic history.

 

Greis missed only once, on his first round of standing shots, on his way to gold in 54 minutes, 23 seconds, 16 seconds ahead of Bjoerndalen.

 

Halvard Hanevold of Norway took third, 1:08.9 behind Greis.

 

The 32-year-old Bjoerndalen swept all four biathlon events four years ago at the Salt Lake City Games, adding to a gold he won in 1998 at Nagano.

 

This year, he aimed to go one better by competing in four individual races and a relay. He now needs to win his remaining four races to give him more Winter Games golds than any other athlete.

 

The current record for golds is held by another Norwegian, cross country skier Bjoern Daehlie, who reached eight golds in Nagano.

 

Bjoerndalen was not the only Olympian on a drive for five.

 

In the Nordic combined event, Georg Hettich of Germany took the lead after the ski jumping portion of the Nordic combined individual event.

 

Hettich had jumps of 101.5 and 104 meters on the normal hill for 262.5 points. Petter Tande of Norway was second with 262 points, followed by France's Jason Lamy Chappuis and Finland's Jaakko Tallus, who shared third place.

 

That gave Hettich a two-second head start over Tande in the 15-kilometer cross-country race that was to complete the event Saturday afternoon. Lamy Chappuis and Tallus were to start an additional 20 seconds back.

 

Also, Michelle Kwan took to the figure skating rink Saturday, but got off it again quicker than expected, cutting short her practice after struggling on several jumps.

 

The 25-year-old American Kwan was given a medical bye onto the U.S. team after a groin injury sidelined her for the national championships a month ago.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184563,00.html

[Goldmember]

U.S. Boarders Go 1-2 Again in Halfpipe

By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer

 

 

Not to be outdone by the boys, Hannah Teter won gold and Gretchen Bleiler won silver — another set of Olympic medals for the United States on the halfpipe. And just like the men, the women came painfully close to a sweep.

 

The top two women in a distinctly American sport, Teter and Bleiler dominated every part of the snowboarding event Monday from qualifying through finals. They gave the United States four of the possible six medals over two days of competition in sunny Bardonecchia.

 

"I just kind of felt the same standing up there," Teter said of the moment before her final run. "It's like, 'Here we go again, another run on the pipe — but at the Olympics.' I just felt super positive."

 

A day earlier, it was Shaun White and Danny Kass won gold and silver respectively, with Mason Aguirre in fourth.

 

On Monday, Kelly Clark got bumped out of the third spot when Norway's Kjersti Buaas had one of the runs of her life. Clark, the 2002 gold medalist, had a great run going in an attempt to overcome her, but fell in her attempt to land a 2 1/2-spin jump at the end.

 

"I felt like this was the time to pull out all the stops," Clark said. "I really went for it."

 

She finished with 41.1 points to 42 for the Norwegian.

 

Again, though, it was hard to complain — at least not for the American side. Even Clark seemed to be soaking this one in, standing at the bottom and congratulating her teammates who finished up after her.

 

During the awards ceremony, Teter wrapped the American flag around her waist and jumped up and down on the podium. Both she and Bleiler wore stars-and-stripes bandannas, the same as White wore the day before.

 

Teter's road to victory was also a lot like White's.

 

Riding with the cords from her iPod dangling about, she scored a 44.6 on her first run to take the lead, an advantage that none of the other 11 riders could match. It made her second trip down the icy pipe a victory lap, just like White's, except she outdid the first, scoring a 46.4 on the strength of a frontside 540 followed by a frontside 900.

 

Like most of the best athletes in this so-called "alternative lifestyle" sport that is quickly going mainstream, Teter has taken a quirky path through life and athletics.

 

The 19-year-old lists one of her favorite hobbies as making syrup out of the sap from trees near her home in Vermont. Her entire family is involved in snowboarding, from two brothers who also are on the U.S. team, to another who is the manager of what they call Team Teter.

 

Bleiler, meanwhile, is no stranger to photo shoots and could have a career in modeling once the snowboarding is over. She missed the Olympic team on the strength of a tiebreaker in 2002, a motivator that landed her next to her teammate four years later.

 

Their wins combined with those of the boys' is likely to push this once-fringe sport even further into the spotlight. A good sign of how far it's come is that both top finishers skipped the X Games late last month to be better prepared for the Olympics. No snowboarder would have thought to do that 10 years ago.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060213/ap_on_..._s_halfpipe_tr1

[Goldmember]

American Joey Cheek wins gold in 500-meter speedskating

 

 

TORINO, Italy (AP) -- Joey Cheek won the men's 500 meters Monday, giving the United States its second speedskating gold medal of the Torino Olympics.

 

Cheek's victory was the second straight by an American in the furious sprint race. Casey FitzRandolph won a gold at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

 

Cheek skated 1 1/4 laps in 34.94 seconds, giving him a combined time of 1 minute, 9.76 seconds. He was the only man to break 35 seconds on the slow Torino ice -- and he did it in both his races.

 

Dmitry Dorofeyev of Russia won the silver in 1:10.41 and Lee Kang Seok of South Korea earned a bronze in 1:10.43

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/5104370/de...html?qs=pt=espn

[Goldmember]

Miller disqualified

Bode Miller's hopes for a gold medal in the combined event vanished Tuesday when he was disqualified for straddling a gate in his first slalom run.

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html

[greasywheels121]

That dude is just going to get ripped to shreds now. He definitely does not know how to walk the walk.

[SoxFan562004]

The U.S. Woman's Curling team gets destroyed bythe Canadians... but Cassie Johnson, the U.S. Captain is easy on the eyes.

[Soxy]

http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html

What a douche.

[DonkeyKongerko]

Ted Ligety managed to skip that whole talking the talk step straight to a gold medal. A nice way to end the day.

[Goldmember]

US gets its first bronze:

 

Dawson, Not Bloom, Earns Medal in Moguls

By EDDIE PELLS, AP National Writer

 

 

In the run that meant the most, Jeremy Bloom looked like a football player who also happened to ski. Toby Dawson was more impressive than that, and that means he's the American going home with a medal, not Bloom.

 

Bloom finished sixth on the Olympic moguls course Wednesday in what will probably be the last stop in a skiing career that forced him to put his football dreams on hold. Dawson, meanwhile, was awesome, finishing in third place behind silver medalist Mikko Ronkainen of Finland and champion Dale Begg-Smith of Australia, who has been dominating this sport for the past few months.

 

Bloom was one of the faces to watch in these Olympics. His good looks and his story about how he gave up football because the NCAA wouldn't let him pursue ski endorsements at the same time made him one of the most compelling figures in Italy.

 

But his 25-second run down the mountain was pretty average by his standards — and he nodded knowingly at the bottom of the hill after his score popped up, placing him in fourth, out of the medals with three more skiers to go.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060215/ap_on_...en_s_moguls_tr1

[Goldmember]

Hedrick's bid for five medals ends

Posted: Feb.15, 2006, 12:28 pm CST; Updated: Feb.15, 2006, 12:39 pm CST

 

 

TORINO (AP) -- Chad Hedrick 's pursuit of Eric Heiden's record five gold medals in a Winter Olympics ended when the Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals of team pursuit Wednesday night.

 

Hedrick, KC Boutiette and Derek Parra lost to the Italian team of Matteo Anesi, Stefano Donagrandi and Enrico Fabris by nearly a half-second after leading through the first four laps.

 

Parra and Hedrick were first across the finish line, but Boutiette lagged about 10 feet behind. The Italians crossed together, giving them the victory.

 

A team wins when its third skater crosses the finish line.

 

Hedrick won the 5000m Saturday.

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/5109288/detail.html

[Goldmember]

Wescott wins first Olympic gold in snowboard cross

 

 

BARDONECCHIA, Italy (AP) -- American Seth Wescott  used a sweet little slide move to nudge into first place and become the first Olympic champion in the wild sport of snowboard cross Thursday.

 

Wescott gets a gold medal. Everyone else gets warm compresses and aspirin. It is the third gold medal in three events for the U.S. snowboarding team at these Games.

 

Some said snowboard cross resembled NASCAR on icy snow, with four riders at a time vying for space through the tight corners on the 3,100 foot-long course. But not even NASCAR would allow some of the things that happened over these 90-minutes of side-by-side racing.

 

Wescott won by being able to stay out of any messes over his four trips down the slope. In the final heat, he took the lead over silver medalist Radoslav Zidek of Slovakia with a deft passing move in the middle of the course and led the rest of the way, barely beating Zidek past the finish line.

 

Paul-Henri Delerue of France took bronze.

 

"I just knew if I was patient and confident that I'd reach the part of the course that I could work a little better, catch the speed on him," Wescott said. "Then coming into that one turn, I dove the inside line on him like clockwork. That's how it worked out."

 

Wescott, winner at last year's World Championships who has devoted most of his life to this dangerous discipline of snowboarding, was the exception on a day full of thrills and spills.

 

Only about five seconds had elapsed before the first wreck of the finals and it was significant. Drew Neilson of Canada, the fastest qualifier in the tame morning runs, got tripped up by Polish competitor Rafal Skarbek-Malczewski, who slipped and slammed into the netting. Neilson bounded down the course, hurting his back and pelvis on the way.

 

Thirty minutes later, the favorite and one of the best riders in the world over the past few years was limping home, bemoaning the realities of his sport.

 

"His nose caught my tail and I was down before you knew it," Neilson said. "That's the beauty of it."

 

He wasn't alone.

 

Wescott's three teammates all lost in heats after contact, or what looked like contact and one of the collisions resulted in some bad blood between two Americans.

 

Jason Smith  was leading and looking good in the semifinals before Delerue nudged him out of the lead. That left Smith to battle with Wescott for second and Smith lost.

 

One race earlier, American Nate Holland  had the most curious ride.

 

Going four-wide with the riders in his heat, including Smith, he took huge air on a jump about one-third of the way down the course -- so high that he could plainly be seen wiggling back and forth in the air. He was in the jumble because Smith had slowed down in front of him.

 

"I don't know what he's doing speed-checking in the course on an Olympic game day," Holland said.

 

After the jump, Holland landed on his backside and when it was over, tried to protest, saying he had gotten hit.

 

Who didn't?

 

The biggest wipeout of the day came in a semifinal near the top of the hill when Spain's Jordi Font appeared to lose his balance, then reached out and grabbed Canada's Jasey Jay Anderson  from behind.

 

They slammed into the gate and while Zidek raced 10 seconds ahead of them, they gathered themselves up and continued down the hill. Anderson beat Font easily for second, which would earn him the spot in the finals, but he was unable to keep his board inside the gate and was disqualified.

 

A video review showed no conclusive evidence to overturn the call and Font advanced.

 

"I thought I had it because I intentionally put my board on the other side of the gate," Anderson said. "That's boardercross."

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/snowboarding/5111239/detail.html

[Goldmember]

Jacobellis flub makes Frieden a champion

BARDONECCHIA, Italy (AP) -- Women's Snowboard Cross

 

Lindsey Jacobellis  had the Olympic women's snowboard cross won, and then -- incredibly, inexcusably -- she made one last move on the next-to-last jump and fell.

 

She lost.

 

Coasting to what should have been an easy victory, the American grabbed her board on the way to the finish line. It caused her to fall and while she scrambled to her feet, Switzerland's Tanja Frieden sped past and became the first champion in the strange and wild sport of Olympic women's snowboard cross Friday.

 

Jacobellis won silver, but should have had the gold. She was well, well ahead of Frieden, and the other two women in the four-rider final had fallen long before.

 

Snowboarding is about style, though, so Jacobellis decided to show off for the fans in front of the grandstand near the end of her ride. But after she landed from her grab, she caught an edge, then went tumbling outside the blue line. When she recovered, she trailed Frieden over the finish line, then put her hands on her knees and held her palms up.

 

Jacobellis insisted she wasn't showing off.

 

"When you grab in boardercross you're trying to get back on the ground as fast as possible," she said. "You try to be stable in the air."

 

U.S. coach Peter Foley fell onto the ground in disbelief.

 

He said Jacobellis has always had a tendency to grab her board for stability, although very few U.S. boarders over the two days of racing -- which began with American Seth Wescott  winning gold in the men's race -- were seen doing that.

 

"Sometimes it's subconscious, but that was putting on a show," Wescott said. "It's one of those things. I did it in my early rides yesterday but you've got to choose your time and make sure you don't miss."

 

That debate will linger. Either way, it was hard to think the only American rider in the women's finals -- one of the best in the world -- could blow this one.

 

But she did.

 

Her flub left the American contingent standing in the bleachers stunned and shocked -- Frieden, as well. She knew she had no business winning the gold.

 

Thus ended another strange and memorable day on the snowboard cross course, where it's the side-by-side racing that usually causes the thrills and spills.

 

That was very much the case at the top of the course in the finals. Canadian Maelle Ricker, the fastest woman in qualifying, came off a jump, rotated awkwardly, caught her backside edge on the landing and smacked her back and head onto the ground. She was taken off the course on a stretcher. She was conscious and was being taken to a hospital in Torino for observation.

 

A few moments later, teammate Dominique Maltais, the eventual bronze medalist, went careening into the netting after a jump.

 

That made it a two-woman show and it wasn't even a contest. Jacobellis could have practically crawled the rest of the way to the finish line. She probably wishes she had.

 

During the awards ceremony, she stood on the podium beneath Frieden and smiled, but there looked to be some tear stains there.

 

Jacobellis came into the Olympics as one of the best-known Americans, a poster child for her sport, to say nothing of the credit card company she endorsed. She'll also leave as a poster child for something much different -- the whole idea of making sure the victory is sealed before you celebrate.

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/snowboarding/5113610/detail.html

[SoxFan1]

^^^^^

 

Easily the best sig evar.

[YASNY]

3 minutes to go ... Swiss beating Canada 2-0 in men's hockey. A goaltending clinic being put on by the Swiss Goalie.

[YASNY]

Unreal! The Swiss are going to win this game. 40 seconds left with Swiss on a power play.

[YASNY]

I love this! Final Switzerland 2 Canada 0.

Edited February 18, 2006 by YASNY

[Goldmember]

Fabris tops Americans for 1500m gold

Posted: Feb.21, 2006, 11:02 am CST; Updated: Feb.21, 2006, 12:42 pm CST

 

 

TORINO (AP) -- Something happened on the way to the showdown between Americans Shani Davis  and Chad Hedrick . Italian Enrico Fabris  doused the smoldering U.S. rivalry by winning Olympic gold in men's 1500m speed skating on Day 11.

 

Davis earned silver and Hedrick settled for bronze.

 

Fabris posted a time of 1 minute, 45.97 seconds, then waited anxiously to see if any of the remaining four pairs could better him on the slow ice.

 

Davis, the former world-record holder, went in the final pair, knowing full well the time he had to beat. He finished in 1:46.13.

 

So focused on the task ahead, Hedrick didn't acknowledge the cheers for his introduction. He skated in the next-to-last pair, covering 3 3/4 laps in 1:46.22, going much slower on his last lap than Fabris.

 

Typically, Hedrick's strength is his closing lap when he powers across the ice. But the Texan, who holds the world record, knew he wasn't going to win when he crossed the line, shaking his head. He skated a cooldown lap with his hands on his knees, staring down at the ice.

 

The Italian broke up the American hold on gold medals at these games, becoming the first non-U.S. skater to win one in an individual race. It was Fabris' second gold, having helped the Italians win the team pursuit. He also won bronze in the 5000m.

 

While Fabris and Davis skated a victory lap together, an irritated Hedrick plopped down and took off his skates.

 

Americans Joey Cheek  and Derek Parra , the defending Olympic champion, were ninth and 19th.

 

"I'm a little surprised,'' Cheek said. "I had thought it would be between Shani and Chad, but if I knew what was going to happen, I'd be a gambler.''

 

Parra -- a close friend of Hedrick -- yelled encouragement on Davis' last lap. Cheek hugged Davis after the race.

 

Davis came out on top in the rivalry between him and the brash-talking Hedrick by virtue of finishing higher in this race.

 

Each has a gold medal -- Davis in the 1000m and Hedrick in the 5000m.

 

Hedrick was sixth in the 1000m and Davis finished seventh in the 5000m.

 

The two aren't fond of each other and that was evident on the awards podium.

 

Hedrick smiled and halfheartedly waved his bouquet. Davis raised both arms, smiled and waved to the crowd.

 

Fabris jumped onto the top spot -- in the middle of the Americans -- and waved in all directions. After the bouquets were presented, Davis and Hedrick stepped up and joined Fabris. Davis tousled the Italian's hair and they talked to each other. Not Hedrick. He stared straight ahead. There was no traditional handshake between the medalists.

 

"If people watch the sport because of that and find they like it, it will be good for us,'' Cheek said, "but if it's blown into this big thing, all the negative things, it's not good.''

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/speedskating/5123565/detail.html

[Goldmember]

Rohbock snaps U.S. sliding slump with silver

Updated: Feb.21, 2006, 1:28 pm CST

 

CESANA, Italy (AP) -- Blasting down the Alps in a shiny, black American convertible, Shauna Rohbock  won a silver medal in women's bobsled Tuesday, ending an 0-for-Olympics skid for the U.S. sliding teams.

 

With roommate Valerie Fleming  providing the push and applying the brakes, Rohbock completed her four runs just .71 of a second behind Germany's Sandra Kiriasis and Anja Schneiderheinze and ahead of Italy's Gerde Weissensteiner and Jennifer Isacco.

 

"It's a dream come true, it's amazing," said Rohbock, who wrapped herself in a U.S. flag immediately following the race.

 

Bumped from an Olympic ride four years ago, Rohbock finally ended a U.S. winless streak on the Olympic track that was chilling the Americans every bit as much as the biting winds blowing down from France.

 

The U.S. was skunked in the first six events on the 19-curve track, which had proved treacherous for many countries and thorny to the U.S. luge, skeleton and bobsled squads.

 

But Rohbock and Fleming busted through the ice for the U.S. As they crossed the finish line, the pair pumped their fists and Rohbock pounded both hands on the front of her USA-1 sled in celebration.

 

Susi-Lisa Erdmann , who was in second place in Germany's second sled after Monday's first two runs, dropped to fifth place overall behind Helen Upperton  of Canada.

 

In USA-2, Jean Prahm  and Vonetta Flowers  improved vastly over Monday's ninth-place performance but finished out of the medals in sixth.

 

Sledding isn't Rohbock's only skill. The National Guard member is also a two-time soccer and track All-American.

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/bobsled/5123635/detail.html

[Soxy]

US women have 3 of the top 7 skaters in women's figure skating after the short program.

[Goldmember]

Meuli wins gold in PGS, Fletcher claims bronze

Posted: Feb.23, 2006, 9:06 am CST; Updated: Feb.23, 2006, 10:45 am CST

 

 

BARDONECCHIA, Italy (AP) -- As they so often do in this Swiss-dominated era of parallel giant slalom, clanging cowbells announced the winner.

 

But the cacophony Thursday also included American cheers, as the bronze went to Rosey Fletcher , the first U.S. woman to climb an Olympic podium in a discipline that combines American-invented snowboarding with old-style racing through gates.

 

Three-time defending world cup champion Daniela Meuli  of Switzerland gave her country and its red-clad, raucous, flag-waving Alpine fans a second gold in as many days. Philipp Schoch  won the men's event Wednesday, with brother Simon Schoch  winning silver.

 

"Of course I feel the pressure, from myself and also people around," a relieved Meuli said. "But I always try to take it positive because I told myself, 'Everybody's believing in you ... what could be better?' It's just great that I did it. In the morning it was really hard because I was nervous."

 

But she didn't have to work as hard for this victory, cruising across the line in the semifinals after Fletcher's fall, then winning the championship heat easily after Amelie Kober crashed and slid into the safety fence just as it appeared the German might overtake Meuli.

 

Meuli threw her arms skyward even before crossing the finish in the gold-medal race, then collapsed and slid to a stop on her back with her hands on her head.

 

In the bronze-medal race, Fletcher took a 1.5-second lead in the first run after Austrian Doris Guenther went down. Fletcher still needed to make that lead stand up when she switched to the red course, which had been the slower and more treacherous course throughout the event.

 

Racing cautiously, Fletcher allowed Guenther to make up ground on the top of the course, but then the American put it in overdrive on the bottom and won easily.

 

She came to a stop bent over with emotion, hands over her goggles. Then the hugs started and the tears flowed.

 

It was a huge victory for the U.S. team, as the 30-year-old Fletcher, in her third Olympics, and 22-year-old Michelle Gorgone  were considered long shots to make it to the medal stand.

 

"Unlike the other two times, I was a dark horse, and I prefer being the dark horse," Fletcher said.

 

Gorgone never made it to the finals, getting spun around coming past a gate on her first qualifying run, a mistake that cost her too much time.

 

Fletcher knows all about those kinds of disappointments.

 

The approachable, oft-smiling Alaskan arrived in Italy haunted by a pair of stunning failures in her previous two Olympic appearances. She crashed out in qualifying both times, the 2002 setback especially disappointing because she was ranked third in the world at the time.

 

"My first two Olympics were just really devastating," Fletcher said. "Salt Lake was probably one of the worst days of my life."

 

She came into the Torino Games ranked eighth this season on the World Cup circuit.

 

She raced like a gold-medal contender for most of the day, however, setting the second-fastest qualifying time, then ousting Swiss racer Ursula Bruhin in the quarterfinals, winning in a photo finish with an impressive second run on the tougher red course. Bruhin came in ranked third in the world.

 

Fletcher then took a .24 lead over Meuli after the first semifinal run, but the American's board went out from under her when the pair switched courses, allowing Meuli to coast into the final round.

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/snowboarding/5128465/detail.html

[Soxy]

Oh Sasha. . . :headshake :headshake :headshake

[aboz56]

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/se...=56923035&cdi=0

 

http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/se...=56922986&cdi=0

 

Pictures say it all

[SleepyWhiteSox]

It's kinda what she does.

[aboz56]

It's kinda what she does. 

Choke in the clutch?

 

Japanese firmly into first with three skaters remaining.

[Soxy]

Choke in the clutch?

 

Japanese firmly into first with three skaters remaining.

Yeah, I was going to make a Cubs joke, but refrained.

 

I don't think Sasha is going to medal.

 

Well, here's hoping Kimmie delivers. . .