Olympic roundup

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 15, 2002

Canadian wins 2nd speed-skating gold

KEARNS, Utah -- Canada's Catriona Le May Doan won her second straight Olympic 500-meter speed-skating title Thursday night, putting her within one gold medal of matching retired American Bonnie Blair.

[AP photo]
Canada’s Catriona Le May Doan celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 500m speed skating on Thursday. Photo gallery of Thursday’s action

Le May Doan's aggregate time of 1 minute, 14.75 seconds in the two-day event easily outpaced a pair of Germans. Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt (1:14.94) won silver and Sabine Volker (1:15.19) bronze.

Le May Doan, who arrived in Utah having won 18 of her last 19 races, took a victory lap lugging a red-and-white Canadian flag, with a small banner attached to it representing her home province of Saskatchewan. The Americans were not a factor. Chris Witty, still weak after a bout with mononucleosis, was 14th out of 31 skaters. The 500 is not her best event, but she wanted to use it as a warmup for Sunday's 1,000.

Becky Sundstrom was 20th, Elli Ochowicz slipped once and finished 22nd, and Amy Sannes wiped out on the first turn.

WOMEN'S HOCKEY: The gloves came off, the hats came off, and another rout was on at Provo.

Cammi Granato had her first Olympic hat trick as the United States turned back a physical challenge and beat China 12-1 to clinch a berth in the medal round.

The win put the United States (2-0) opposite Finland (2-0) in Saturday's play. The loser faces a semifinal matchup against the winner of the later game between Sweden (2-0) and No. 1 overall seed Canada (2-0).

The Americans met some resistance from China, which used bodies and sticks to slow them and took chances that resulted in several good scoring opportunities.

The only Chinese goal was a fluke when Yang Xiuqing lofted the puck from just inside the center line and Sarah Tueting misplayed the bounce and let it trickle through her pads.

The only other blemish was Tricia Dunn's game misconduct penalty after checking Chinese forward Zhang Jing from behind. Dunn told teammates she caught a skate edge and lost her balance.

ALPINE SKIING: Janica Kostelic already is pictured on a postage stamp in Croatia, meaning the country is going to have to find another way to honor its star.

Kostelic, 20, became the first Croatian to win a Winter Olympic medal when she triumphed in the women's combined.

She completed the two slalom runs and the downhill that make up the event nearly 11/2 seconds ahead of Renate Goetschl of Austria, who captured her second medal in three days -- she won bronze in Tuesday's downhill. The bronze medal went to Martina Ertl of Germany.

The top U.S. finisher was 17-year-old Lindsey Kildow, who turned in the best performance of her career against international competition with a sixth place. Caroline Lalive's hope of joining Bode Miller as an American medalist disappeared when she fell in the slalom and dropped out.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: Johann Muehlegg of Spain won his second gold medal of the Games, dominating the pursuit event despite a fall.

Norwegians Thomas Alsgaard and Frode Estil tied for the silver medal. Alsgaard lunged his left ski forward at the finish line to create the tie before falling.

Muehlegg won the 10K classic-style race earlier in the day, giving him a 13-second lead to begin the second leg of the event -- the 10K freestyle pursuit. He won by 28.5 seconds.

Muehlegg won the 30K freestyle event Saturday by more than two minutes.

Americans Kris Freeman (15th), John Bauer (20th), Justin Wadsworth (44th) and Patrick Weaver (47th) were not factors.

MEN'S CURLING: On the brink of elimination from medal contention at 1-3, the United States defeated Switzerland 6-2.

The Americans are alone in seventh place among 10 teams. The top four advance to the semifinals. But the U.S. team appears to have most of its difficult matches behind it and is just one win out of fourth place with four matches left.

WOMEN'S CURLING: After winning its first two games, the U.S. team now has lost three straight and may not reach the medal round. A 9-4 loss to Denmark, followed later in the day by a 7-6 loss to Switzerland, could keep the Americans out of Wednesday's semifinals. Only the top four teams in the 10-team round-robin tournament advance.

MEN'S HOCKEY: Martin Gerber made 54 saves and Martin Pluss scored twice as Switzerland beat Austria 4-1 in the 11th-place game at West Valley City.

SKI JUMPING: The men's 90K Nordic combined team competition at Utah Olympic Park, postponed because of inconsistent winds, has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. EST Saturday. The 4x10K relay portion of the event will be held at 3 p.m. EST Sunday at Soldier Hollow.