U.S. skater sets short-lived record, earns silver

SALT LAKE CITY -- The U.S. Olympic team wanted a fast start, and with a pair of silver medals it got one.

Speed skater Derek Parra wishes it were just four seconds faster.

Parra set a world record in the 5,000-meter speed skating, then watched as the Netherlands' Jochem Uytdehaage smashed his mark by about 31/2 seconds to take the gold medal and leave the American with a silver on the first day of competition Saturday.

Earlier, Shannon Bahrke won the first American medal with silver in the women's freestyle moguls as the U.S. team, at home for the Winter Games for the first time in 22 years, delivered for the vociferous Utah crowds.

Parra, skating on the Utah Olympic Oval ice that many believe is the world's fastest, appeared on his way to a gold after his record.

But the Dutchman, skating in the next-to-last pair, made sure Parra's record was short-lived. Jens Boden of Germany took the bronze in 6:21.73.

The surprising medal bodes well for Parra because his best event lies ahead in the 1,500. Parra's time was 15 seconds better than his best in the 5,000.

"To be on the medal podium for a 5K is definitely a surprise for me," Parra said. "The Dutch are dominant in this sport."

It was the first American medal in the 5,000 since Eric Heiden, now a member of the team's medical staff, took his second of five gold medals in 1980.

Ten countries won medals, and Austria and the United States were the only countries with two.

Heavy security, a staple of the first post-Sept. 11 Olympics, didn't dampen the enthusiasm of fans. And the Americans appeared intent on exceeding the highest U.S. winter medals haul of 13.

"We want to win medals on everything we can," said freestyle coach Jeff Wintersteen, who trained Bahrke. "But we had a lot of people coming up to us before this, saying, "Get off to a good start.' So, yeah, I guess this one is pretty important.' "

CROSS-COUNTY SKIING: Silver goggles concealed Stefania Belmondo's tears twice. And she always will remember both.

Belmondo won the first gold medal of the Games, taking the women's 15-kilometer race in 39 minutes, 54.4 seconds. Larissa Lazutina of Russia took silver in 39:56.2 and Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic won bronze in 40:01.3.

"I am very, very happy," said Belmondo, who won her second gold medal. "It's incredible. It's such a wonderful feeling."

Americans Nina Kemppel, Barbara Jones and Kristina Joder were 30th, 44th and 54th, respectively. Kemppel finished nearly three minutes behind Belmondo.

Belmondo's tears began at the 10.5-kilometer mark. Racing with the leaders, she broke a ski pole, faded from the front and lost her composure.

"At that point, I thought the race was over," the 33-year-old said. "I cried. I screamed like never before."

She started sobbing but never stop skiing.

She pushed with one pole for 700 meters, falling to 10th and about seven seconds behind the leaders. But just when she was about to lose hope, a team trainer appeared and gave her another pole. With the leaders in sight, she knew she was in the race.

"I gave it all I had," she said.

She regained her composure, increased her confidence with every pass and caught up to the leaders, setting up a frantic finish.

Lazutina and Belmondo broke away from the lead pack during a steep climb about 1.5 kilometers from the finish. Lazutina charged ahead and entered the home stretch in first place, but Belmondo broke inside and sprinted past her in the final 100 meters.

In the men's 30-kilometer race, Johann Muehlegg of Spain broke away early and cruised to his first gold medal in 1:09:28.9. Christian Hoffmann of Austria took silver in 1:11.31.0, and Mikhail Botvinov, another Austrian, won bronze in 1:11.32.3.

Andrew Johnson led the way for the Americans, finishing 22nd, and Lars Flora and Carl Swenson were 56th and 58th, respectively. Justin Wadsworth did not finish.

FIGURE SKATING: Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the pairs short program, edging Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier.

In taking seven of the nine judges with a display of precision skating typical of the Russians, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze showed why it's been 42 years since another nation won pairs gold.

"It's dedication, it's enthusiasm, tradition and art in sport, education in theater, psychology and the quality to adjust to any circumstance," said Russian coach Tamara Moskvina, who has trained three Olympic champion pairs.

Sale-Pelletier's string of worldwide victories is nine, three times over Berezhnaya-Sikharulidze. To make it 10, they'll have to overtake the Russians in Monday night's free skate, worth two-thirds of the total score.

"We know we cannot take this responsibility on our shoulders," Pelletier said. "We're not coming here to break a streak of the Russians and Soviets."

China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo placed third. Americans Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman were fifth after a slightly flawed program. The other American pair, Tiffany Scott and Philip Dulebohn, was 11th after she fell twice.

NORDIC COMBINED: American Todd Lodwick moved into position for a historymaking finish but faces long odds of winning a medal after finishing seventh in the event's ski-jumping portion at Utah Olympic Park.

Nordic combined consists of Saturday's ski-jumping competition (two jumps off a 90-meter hill) and a 15-kilometer cross-country ski race today. In 76 years of competition, no American has finished better than ninth.

Lodwick jumped 91.5 and 92.5 meters. American Bill Demong, 21, turned in a surprisingly strong eighth-place finish with jumps of 91 and 92.5 meters.

A tough field stands in his way, led by Finland's Jaakko Tallus, who starts the 15K race first after leading the jumping. Tallus was the only athlete to top 100 meters, soaring 100.5 on a first effort.

MEN'S HOCKEY: Oleg Mikulchik, who last played in the NHL six years ago, scored the only goal as Belarus beat Ukraine 1-0 to start the preliminary round. In other first-round action, Germany beat Slovakia 3-0 and Latvia beat Austria 4-2.

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