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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 13, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -- Not even a wobbly orange cone accidentally kicked into his path by a teammate could keep Casey FitzRandolph from a speed-skating gold medal.
FitzRandolph won the 500 meters Tuesday, becoming the event's first American champion since Eric Heiden in 1980.
Hiroyasu Shimizu of Japan took the silver and American Kip Carpenter, who nearly caused Fitz-Randolph to fall, got the bronze.
The Americans have three medals through the first three events at the Utah Olympic Oval, putting the home team in excellent position to reach its goal of 10 overall, including the short-track competition.
FitzRandolph edged the Japanese star by 0.03 seconds -- about the length of a skate.
Heiden, who works with the U.S. team, watched his protege bring the title of world's fastest skater back home. "It's almost like a reward for myself," Heiden said.
Carpenter, paired with FitzRandolph in the final group, actually beat his fellow American in 34.79 seconds, but he finished .24 behind overall.
WOMEN'S LUGE: Two-time defending world champion Sylke Otto led two German teammates after the first two heats at Park City. They were virtually assured of being on the medals podium when the competition ends. Barbara Niedernhuber, who won silver four years ago at Nagano, was second and Silke Kraushaar, defending Olympic champion, faltered on her second run and was third. Becky Wilczak was fourth, but too far back to have any chance of giving the United States its first singles medal.
There was something to celebrate, however. Wilczak's father was there. Tom Wilczak, 55, is fighting for his life, awaiting the call for a liver transplant. He wasn't about to miss the race, watching from a hospitality tent near the finish. A private jet was waiting in case the call came from doctors.
SKI JUMPING: In front of 19,200 cheering, awe-struck fans, 66 jumpers blasted off the 120-meter hill in qualifying at Utah Olympic Park in Park City.
Poland's Adam Malysz, who earlier won a bronze on the 90-meter hill, soared 405 feet (123.5 meters) and finished with 120.8 points as the top qualifier for today's two-round final.
He was followed by Germany's Sven Hannawald, the silver medalist at 90, and Robert Kranjeck of Slovenia, both with 119.1 points. American Alan Alborn of Anchorage, Alaska, finished eighth, and teammate Clint Jones also qualified for the final.
CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: Estonia won its first medals as Andrus Veerpalu took the gold and Jaak Mae bronze in the men's 15K classic-style race at Midway. Norwegian Frode Estil took the silver. American John Bauer finished 12th, the best U.S. showing since Bill Koch won silver in a 30K at the 1976 Innsbruck Games. Among the other Americans, Patrick Weaver was 16th, Kris Freeman was 22nd and Lars Flora 54th.
In the women's 10K classical race, Norway's Bente Skari used a powerful finish to win gold. Russia's Olga Danilova and Julija Tchepalova took the silver and bronze.
Wendy Wagner was the top American, finishing 38th. She was followed by Nina Kemppel (40th), Tessa Benoit (54th) and Aelin Peterson (55th).
CURLING: Skip Kari Erickson knocked out a Japanese stone on the last shot to rally the U.S. women to an 8-7 victory in their opening match in Ogden. Two-time defending world champion Canada edged Norway 6-5, Switzerland beat Russia 7-6 and Sweden topped Britain 7-4. In late games, USA beat Sweden 6-5, Germany topped Denmark 9-5, Canada edged Russia 7-6 and Britain beat Japan 9-1. In men's play, Canada is 3-0 after a 9-4 victory over Finland. Sweden defeated Germany 7-2, Switzerland topped Denmark 10-6 and Norway routed France 9-2.
HOCKEY: Klaus Kathan and Leonard Soccio each had a goal and an assist as Germany advanced to the final round with a 4-1 victory over Latvia in Provo. Germany faces Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic in Group C round-robin play beginning Friday. The United States, Russia, Finland and Belarus vie in Group D. Earlier, Austria beat Slovakia 3-2 in West Valley City. Among countries entered in the preliminary round, Slovakia (0-3) had more NHL players than any other team. Most, however, weren't available Tuesday. In a women's preliminary game, Finland beat China 4-0.
FREESTYLE AERIALS: Australian Jacqui Cooper, the gold-medal favorite, broke her left kneecap and tore cartilage in a practice accident Monday and is out of the Games.
BOBSLEDDING: Steroid levels 1,000 times the limit were found in Sandis Prusis, but the Latvian athlete was allowed to compete despite a failed drug test and a series of moves to ban him. Dr. Christiane Ayot, whose IOC-accredited lab in Montreal ran the test, said the international bobsled federation apparently ignored the results when it imposed a retroactive three-month ban on Prusis. It ended just before Olympic competition.