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Russian is first drug casualty
By wire services
Published February 17, 2006
France capped a surprising day in the women's biathlon when Florence Baverel-Robert won the 7.5-kilometer sprint after Russian superstar Olga Pyleva was suspended for failing a doping test.
Ukraine's Lilia Efremova took the bronze. The only favorite to reach the podium was Anna Carin Olofsson of Sweden, who won silver.
It was a Thursday full of the unexpected, as the heavy snowfall at the start of the race turned to sunshine and slush by the end.
The biggest stunner was Pyleva becoming the first to test positive at the Turin Games. She was favored to win her second medal of the Games. As athletes were walking up to the starting line, an announcer told the crowd that Pyleva was scratched because she was ill.
But it didn't take long for news of the real reason to spread. A urine sample Pyleva submitted after the 15K Monday tested positive for the stimulant carphedon, which she said was in an over-the-counter medication she'd taken.
Favorite Germany had another tough day on the difficult, high-altitude course, with Kati Wilhelm taking seventh despite a clean shoot and Uschi Disl finishing in 34th.
QUICK HITS: American Rachel Steer was 35th, a step up from her 49th place in the 15K individual event. Teammates Tracy Barnes, Sarah Konrad and Carolyn Treacy were 71st, 75th and 80th, respectively, out of 83 competitors.
UP NEXT: Saturday, men's and women's pursuit.
NORDIC COMBINED: Comeback earns Austria title
ON THE SNOW: Mario Stecher erased a 20-second deficit during the final leg of the cross-country relay to lead Austria to the gold in the Nordic combined team event, which had been delayed a day because of high winds.
In a thrilling finish, Stecher overtook Germany's Jens Gaiser midway through the last leg of the 4x5K cross-country race. Austria won in 49 minutes, 52.6 seconds. Germany was 15.3 seconds behind.
Defending champion Finland won the bronze, 26.8 seconds back of Austria.
Germany had a 10-second lead over Austria after the wind-delayed second jump and led for most of the cross-country race, widening its advantage to as much as 47 seconds after the second exchange.
QUICK HITS: Norway is the world champion in the event but had to pull out because four of its athletes are ill. ... Italy was forced to withdraw before the second round of jumps because one of its athletes, Davide Bresadola, was taken to the hospital with a suspected appendicitis.
UP NEXT: Tuesday, individual men.
CURLING: U.S. men win, women lose
ON THE ICE: Pete Fenson converted a double takeout in the ninth and another in the 10th as the United States rebounded from its loss to upstart Italy with a 10-6 victory over first-place Sweden.
Fenson's combo shot helped the Americans take two points in the ninth end. In the 10th, he made another two-stone ricochet and Sweden conceded with one stone left, trailing by two.
In the women's match, Cassie Johnson left her last rock short and Sweden held on for a 5-4 victory in extra ends, sending the U.S. women's team to its fourth loss in five games. The Americans will need to win their last four matches in the round-robin to have a chance at the medal round.
The Americans scored two in the ninth to take the lead. In the 10th and final frame, the Swedes scored one to tie and send it into extras.
Swedish skip Annette Norberg put some pressure on Johnson by putting her last throw on the lip of the button. Johnson tried to bounce her last throw - called the hammer - off a Swedish stone, but it stopped short of center.
QUICK HITS: Canada is tied for first with Britain in the men's tournament, both 4-1 after Canada beat Norway 6-5.
UP NEXT FOR U.S.: Today, men vs. Switzerland, women vs. Russia.
SKELETON: Swiss claim first medal
ON THE TRACK: Switzerland's Maya Pedersen, who parked her sled to become a mother two years ago, is an Olympic champion after winning her country's first gold medal of the Winter Games.
Showing zero fear in a headfirst, freezing free fall down one of the world's fastest sliding tracks, Pedersen completed her two runs in 1 minute, 59.83 seconds, an astonishing 1.23 seconds ahead of Shelley Rudman of Britain - the first medal of these Games for the Brits.
Canada's Mellisa Hollingsworth-Richards won the bronze.
Katie Uhlaender of the United States finished sixth, more than two seconds behind Pedersen. It was not the result Uhlaender, whose father, Ted, was a major-league baseball player, was planning on. And it was another disappointment for the U.S. skeleton team, which has had its share of problems leading into the Games. The Americans qualified only one woman slider; had a coach fired and saw their top male racer suspended for a year on the eve of the Opening Ceremony.
QUICK HITS: Pedersen finished fifth in Salt Lake City and skipped the 2003-04 World Cup season to have a baby.
UP NEXT:: Today, men's singles.
SPEED SKATING: Italy takes inaugural event
ON THE ICE: Italy sent the home crowd into a frenzy by winning the first gold in men's team pursuit, defeating Canada in the final after upsetting the United States and the Netherlands.
On the women's side, the powerful German team, led by Anni Friesinger and Claudia Pechstein, lived up to its role as favorite and handed Canada another silver medal.
The Dutch came back to claim a men's bronze with a win over Norway in the third-place race. Russia took bronze for the women, taking advantage of a fall behind a Japanese skater.
QUICK HITS: The Italians got a break against the favored Dutch when 5,000-meter silver medalist Sven Kramer crashed on a turn and took out Carl Verheijen as well with three laps remaining in the semifinal race.
UP NEXT: Saturday, men's 1,000.
CROSS COUNTRY: Estonian wins second gold
ON THE SNOW: Estonia's Kristina Smigun watched World Cup leader Marit Bjorgen collapse across the finish line, glanced at the time, then raised her arms and screamed for joy in celebration of her second gold medal of these Games.
Smigun took the lead by the 7-kilometer mark in the interval start women's 10K classical cross-country race, earning her second individual gold in as many events. She won the 15K pursuit Sunday.
She finished in 27 minutes, 51.4 seconds, a commanding 21.3 seconds ahead of silver medalist Bjorgen of Norway. Hilde Pedersen of Norway took the bronze - and Kristin Stormer Steira made it three Norwegians in the top four.
QUICK HITS: Pedersen, 41, became the oldest woman to win a medal at a Winter Games. Raisa Smetanina won a cross-country relay event in 1992, a few days before her 40th birthday.
UP NEXT: Today, men's 15K classical.
[Last modified February 17, 2006, 02:15:35]
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