Biathlon: The Man in Gold is Greis
Anna Carin Olofsson
Feb 25 2006
The biathlon delivers the XX Olympic Winter Games its symbolic man, the man whom with three gold medals has won more than anyone in Torino 2006. After having imposed his victory upon the individual and relay events, German Michael Greis also took the 15 Km Mass Start. He is the true dominator of the biathlon in these Olympics. Everyone expected king Ole Einar Bjoerndalen whom, who knows, might have abdicated in these Games in favour of the 30-year-old German. Greis took everyone by surprise, putting adversaries in line. He checked the race allowing Bjoerndalen to let off steam, imposing a fast pace from the very start. But in the last session the Norwegian committed two mistakes. The surprise Pole Tomasz Sikora, following him, only got one shot wrong. Greis, instead, was impeccable. So he escaped with the Polish revelation, with Bjoerndalen whom, after two penalty rounds, began a desperate chase. Sikora resisted as long as he could to the German’s attacks. But in the last climb, 500 metres from the arrival, he just had to throw in the sponge. The triumph of Michael Greis: “I surprised myself too” said the radiant, fresh Olympic mass start champion. I did well on the skis, but built the victory in the shooting”. The most disappointed is obviously Ole Einar Bjoerndalen who picked up a third medal, not of the metal he expected, though. Useless was his attempt to chase the fugitives. He gained some seconds but couldn’t even reach the silver Sikora who was ecstatic with joy ”I knew I could do well, but not this well. I tried to respond to Greis’s attacks, but I was really exhausted in the end”. Frenchman Raphael Poiree was a let down again, coming only 12th.
Alpine Skiing: Rocca shocker poops Italy's party
Feb 25 2006
SESTRIERE, Italy, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Italy prepared a huge party for Giorgio Rocca on Saturday, only for their men's slalom favourite to turn up early, wiggle his hips a little and then fall flat on his face in front of everyone.
Rocca's bid to become the first Italian man to win an Alpine skiing gold since 1992 lasted only 34 seconds when, skiing first of the 97 racers in the first leg, he tangled his skis together and landed in an undignified heap just over halfway down the course.
The 30-year-old lay still for several seconds, face down in the snow with his head in his hands, seemingly unable to look up at the hordes of silenced fans sitting stunned in the stands.
Rocca had won five consecutive World Cup slalom races this season and signalled his aim to take Olympic gold by pulling out of the super-G and the giant slalom in order to concentrate on preparing for the shorter discipline.
"Rocca gives us the gold" and "Go Giorgio, give it some!" read some of the banners jiggling among the predominant red, white and green Italian tricolore flags in the stands. More prophetically, another read simply "Rocca `n Roll".
The pressure was increased by the fact Italy's Alpine skiers have had a disappointing Games and in the end it proved too much.
"I went wrong. It's my fault. I'm sorry, it's a pity," he said. "I made a mistake. I didn't even have time to realise what had happened to me because I already had my face in the snow.
"The snow was little bit soft and when you want to go fast, mistakes happen. It's a shame because it's my last time in Italy in the Olympics."
Rocca earned sympathy from rival Ivica Kostelic, the silver medallist from the combined event.
"There was great pressure on him," the Croatian said. "All of Italy is looking at him and going `Rocca! Rocca! Rocca!'."
TOMBA SYMPATHY
The last Italian man to win a gold in Alpine skiing was Alberto Tomba in the giant slalom at Albertville in 1992 and he was watching Rocca's flop on Saturday from the finish area.
"This can happen," Tomba said. "Giorgio tried to push away from the gates during the race as I suggested to him but unfortunately he went wrong ... It shouldn't have happened."
Rocca fans had crammed on to the slopes leading down towards the course to watch his effort and hundreds more gathered before the giant TV screen in the middle of Sestriere.
"We're sad because he was the one we most counted on," said 15-year-old Marco Perozzo.
Rocca will seek consolation for himself and Italy after the Games by trying to retain his lead in the World Cup slalom standings.
With three races to go, the Italian holds a 144-point advantage and, referring to the coveted crystal globe trophy on Saturday, he said: "Now I want this little ball very badly."
Bobsleigh: A German Legacy
Andre Lange, Kevin Kuske
Mar 1 2006
Germany dominated the Olympic bobsleigh. Andre Lange won in the two and four man, renewing a feat not seen since the days of East Germany with Wolfgang Hoppe. Sandra Kiriasis confirmed her net superiority in the women’s field, sending her opponents a clear message: only if she makes mistakes, and they must be serious, is there any hope of beating her. These are certainly not surprising results, because the Teutonic power has everything it needs to reign: athletes, facilities, materials, financial resources and sponsors’ support. Some suspicion was raised on the regularity of their skates, but it came to nothing. The vanquished recognised the quality of the victors, as should be in a fair competition. Starting from next year everyone will compete with the runners provided by the FIBT (Fedération Internationale de Bobsleigh e de Tobogganing) and some hope the difference will be reduced, but they best not nurture too many illusions.
Behind the German champions, the male characters of Torino 2006 were especially three. Canadian Pierre Lueders, in the two man race, not capable though of repeating his Olympic gold from in Nagano 1998 and those gained in 2004 and 2005. He is 35, but hasn’t ruled out Vancouver 2010 yet. Swiss Martin Annen was the only one, together with Lange, to get two medals. Both were bronze, a metal dominating the Swiss man’s collection in international events. The one coming closest to beating Lange was Russian Alexandre Zoubkov, gaining silver only 13 hundredths away from the lead in the four man bob. It was the first Russian medal of the Olympics. America’s Todd Hays disputed his last race and for lovers of this sport it’s sad news. The Americans who had the women’s title from Salt Lake City with Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers (who didn’t make it back on the podium) were the most threatening opponents in Cesana Pariol for Sandra Kiriasis, with Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming. Italy went through very exciting moments, thanks to Gerda Weissensteiner and Jennifer Isacco, capable of delivering a historical bronze. The passionate 37-year-old, got her medal after her triumph of 12 years ago in the Lillehammer 1994 luge. An unforgettable satisfaction, which put an end, in the best way, to an unmatchable career.
Cross-country skiing: Italy enthrones "Giorgio II"
Feb 26 2006
PRAGELATO, Italy, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Italians flocked to the Alps this weekend to see Giorgio win gold. They did not expect their hero to be Giorgio di Centa.
A day after Giorgio Rocca dashed a nation's hopes by tumbling out of the men's Alpine skiing slalom race, his namesake di Centa made amends by winning the final cross-country skiing event of the Olympic programme.
The mood could hardly have been more different after the two races, staged within a few kilometres of each other.
On Saturday, thousands of despondent Italian fans trudged away from the slalom in snow and heavy mist in Sestriere, while on Sunday, they celebrated in brilliant sunshine at Pragelato.
The host nation has ended the Olympics with four medals in cross-country skiing, di Centa aiding the haul with two golds.
Reflecting on his nation's mixed fortunes over the weekend, the 34-year-old spared a thought for Rocca.
"Unfortunately, this is what happens sometimes at the Olympics and, indeed, in everyday life," he said.
"Giorgio is a great athlete and has won five races in a row in the World Cup. There was of pressure on him in Italy.
"I'm sure that as soon as the World Cup restarts Giorgio will be back. At the next Olympics too, Giorgio will be back."
Di Centa's medal haul in Pragelato puts him on a par with his sister Manuela, who won two Olympic gold medals in the 1990s, although he has some way to go to match her total medal count -- two golds, two silver and three bronzes.
He brushed off the comparison, saying such things did not interest him.
"I won this medal for myself, because leaving a mark on your sport is what every athlete aims for," he said.
"In this sport, you always need a bit of luck and finally after so many second, third, fourth and fifth places finishes, I got lucky today."
Meanwhile, Giorgio Rocca can only hope that at the next Olympics, the luck will be with him.
Curling: Historical Victory of Italy over Canada
Canada-Italy
Feb 19 2006
For Curling, the 18th February 2006 will be a historical and unforgettable date.
At the ninth competition session in the men’s tournament, the impossible has become reality.
The Italians immediately attacked the Canadian team with a 2:0 in the first end.
Usually in the curling event, teams dedicate the first ends to studying the ice and pay the utmost attention to the technical gaps of their opponents.
On the contrary, Italy immediately adopted a particularly aggressive strategy and at the fifth end, the highest margin of the entire competition was created with an all-Italian incredible 5:1.
The team headed by Brad Gushue, from the sixth end had to do the best it could in order to make up for the disadvantage.
We must underline the high professional level of the Canadian curling that can afford to develop in the Trials a selection among the many teams out of the million competitors.
The Italian reality, despite being in the development stage, is structured in far more modest numbers with its 500 athletes enrolled in the Fisg curling sector.
A second part of the competition with a clear recovery of the Canadians was obviously predictable. At the tenth end, Canada drew the result with a score of 6:6. Thus, the extra end began.
The tension reached a peak level and the audience went wild. The match ended with an extraordinary teak out with the last available stone to our skip Joel Retornaz and a historical end result for Italy by 7:6.
Thus, this is the fourth victory for the Italian men’s team and a good climb up the first spot of the standings.
Men’s standings in the 9th session – Great Britain 6 points, Finland and USA 5, Canada and Italy 4, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden 3, New Zealand 0.
The first 4 will make it through to the semifinals. In case of equality, it will be over to the Tie Break.
Freestyle skiing-Begg-Smith wins Aussie gold
Feb 15 2006
SAUZE D'OULX, Italy, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Favourite Dale Begg-Smith lived up to his pre-Olympic billing to snatch Australia's first gold of the Turin Games in the men's freestyle skiing moguls on Wednesday.
The Canadian-born Australian, 21, topped qualifying to ski last in the final but he coped with the pressure to earn 26.77 points out of 30 from the judges.
It was Australia's third gold in Winter Olympics history following their breakthrough in Salt Lake City in 2002.
"It's awesome. I obviously didn't see the other runs so I didn't know if it was a gold medal run but it was definitely one of my best," Begg-Smith told reporters.
Former world champion Mikko Ronkainen of Finland had earlier come from nowhere with an exhilarating run to end up with silver, having been in the gold medal position until World Cup leader Begg-Smith stole his glory.
Toby Dawson of the U.S. took bronze in a high quality and close final under the floodlights on the artificial snow.
Several riders found tremendous height off the air bumps and managed to cross their skis while performing tricks with Begg-Smith producing a 720 degree off-axis spin to win.
Begg-Smith, whose brother Jason was knocked out in qualifying earlier, was born in Vancouver and was part of the Canadian development squad.
However, he moved to Australia with his brother and gained citizenship in order to work with respected coach Steve Desovich.
American contender Jeremy Bloom was hoping to grab an Olympic medal before he jets home for the NFL Combine, a training camp for American Footballers crawling with big league scouts, but he could only finish sixth.
Canadian fans, deprived of supporting Begg-Smith, at least had Marc-Andre Moreau's fourth place to celebrate. Unheralded Swede Jesper Bjoernlund finished fifth.
Hockey: A Surprising Olympic Tournament
Russia-Czech Republic
Mar 1 2006
The most captivating match was the quarter final Canada-Russia, victory of the Russians 2-0 with power-play goals by Ovechkin andKovalev during the third time, shutout by Evgeni Nabokov who saved 27 shots out of 27, Martin Brodeur 31 out of 33. Attacks were continuous on both fronts.
Sweden and Finland, gold and silver, played like really great teams, showing a wonderful group set up, precise system ideas, perfect applications of game philosophies and field articulations. Honour goes to the coaches Erkka Westerlund (Finland) and Bengt-Ake Gustafsson (Sweden) for their intuitions and interpretation of modern day hockey. Finland won 7 games out of 7, with 5 shutouts, losing dramatically by only one goal the final for the title, put on the ice a very costly game type, paid by knee bends in occasion for the final. The Swedish Tre Kronor (two absolute individual pearls for the final: the slap-shot left of the blue line by 3-2 of Nicklas Lidstrom; the save of Henrik Lundqvist – 23-year-old rookie of the New York Rangers - 23 seconds from the end on a shot past the goal post of not further than three metres by Olli Jokinen) which expressed organised power, more control of the game, of the puck of the different areas of the pack with four offensive lines (Forsberg-Mats Sundin-Modin, Holmstrom-Zetterberg-Samuelsson, Axelsson-Pahlsson-Alfredsson, Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Jorgen Jonsson) all with a superior production capacity.
The world champion Czech Republic won the bronze without leaving the impression of having fought an important Olympics. They were penalised by nasty injuries right at the beginning of the tournament, those of Hasek and Patrik Elias. Jagr, struck by a series of shady accidents, closed with 2 goals and 5 assists in 8 matches. Strong and lucid in puck circulation and with very airy attacks, Hadamczik’s team was pretty sterile in the moment of finalization. Out of all, best were defenders Zidlicky, Kubina and Tomas Kaberle and centre player Martin Straka. The top for the Czechs was the excellent third period played against Canada in the preliminary-round and the victory in the quarter finals against Slovakia. Slovakia, on its part, was impressive in the preliminary round beating Russia 5-3 (with two final unforgettable goals by Marian Gaborik), but in the decisive match, the quarter final against the Czech cousins, was not able to express its usual qualities, seeming grounded. No sparkling game, offensive, supersonic speed which characterised the turbo team.
The Russia of the mythical triplet of coaches, Krikunov-Mikhailov-Yurzinov emphasised its you jewels Ovechkin and Malkin, showing some creative play, with marvellous skating and individual class, but it was suffocated in semi-final by perfect Finnish organization which absolutely denied them a right to expression.
North American hockey exited noisily in quarter finals. During presentation we though that the USA of Modano, Guerin, Tkachuk would do more. Laviolette’s team in any case left a good impression. It gave way in the quarter finals not finding a way to counter the surprising, perhaps unexpected organization of Finland. Once over that hurdle, the USA would have been in the final. More disappointing as a team, in our opinion, was Canada, strong with forte individual super-stars (Martin St-Louis our mvp) and a unique capacity for passing and puck circulation, but rather heavy and uncreative and inventive in the overall manoeuvre. Switzerland coached by Ralph Krueger ha performed a great Olympics (historical victories against Canada and the Czech Republic), confirming their world top-eight position. They left in the quarter finals against Krueger’s Sweden, which he defined “An adversary still too strong for our current level”.
Nothing exciting came form Germany and Latvia (3-3 though with the USA) in the encounter between the two powers. Excellent instead was Kazakhstan which made Russia suffer (0-1) as well as Slovakia (1-2) and beat Latvia by 5-2, ending 9th. For the Italy of Michael Goulet and captain Joe Busillo, which just missed its aim of beating Germany and Switzerland (two draws 3-3) thanks only to poor final management of the advantage, bringing them 11th before Latvia, a fundamental accumulation of experience in view of what is the real finish line of 2006: to find salvation in the world championship with Group A of Riga.