Women’s Giant Slalom

Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni became the first Alpine skier to capture gold medals in three Olympics, surviving a tough course to win the women’s giant slalom. She won the same race four years ago in Lillehammer. In 1992, she took gold in the super-G.

Compagnoni has overcome a series of physical woes over the years: operations on both knees, a broken shinbone, intestinal surgery. Yet she won a pair of medals in Nagano, coming back to do what no Olympian had previously achieved.

“Deb-Deb-Deborah!” her fans chanted at the bottom of the course. After winning the gold, Compagnoni faced them and raised her arms in triumph.

Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria, a bronze medalist in the super-G, took the silver. Germany’s Katja Seizinger, already a double gold medalist here, won the bronze.

Speedskating

American speedskater Chris Witty sports a pierced navel and a leprechaun tattoo. She’s added a couple of other accessories in Nagano: silver and bronze medals.

The 22-year-old from West Allis, Wis., became the U.S. team’s first multiple medalist of the Nagano Games with her performance in the 1,000-meter race. She finished 0.28 seconds off a gold medal in winning the silver.

Witty finished behind Dutch skater Marianne Timmer, who set an Olympic record in taking her second gold medal at the M-Wave arena. The bronze went to Canada’s Catriona LeMay Doan, who had won the 500 meters.

Witty’s first medal came after a surprising third-place finish in the 1,500 meters.

Cross country skiing

Larissa Lazutina of Russia added her fifth medal of the Games, collecting a bronze in the women’s 30-kilometer race. Lazutina had already won three golds and one silver, the most of any athlete here.

Her Russian teammate Yulia Tchepalova took the gold medal and Stefania Belmondo of Italy won the silver.

Short track skating

Amy Peterson, a bronze medalist in Lillehammer, couldn’t make it past her first heat in the 500-meter women’s race. The Americans’ best hope for a medal in the race finished a half-second out of first place, a disappointing finish after she overcame a yearlong bout with chronic fatigue syndrome.

The gold medal went to Canada’s Annie Perreault; Yang S. Yang of China won the silver and Chun Lee-kyung of South Korea - originally the fifth-place finisher - took the bronze after a crash eliminated two of the competitors in the finals.

Hockey

Aside from the room-trashing U.S. squad, some teams were still making news on the ice. Men’s hockey resumed late last night and early this morning with the semifinal showdowns: Canada (4-0) against the Czech Republic (3-1) and Finland (2-2) against Russia (4-0).

The Czechs and the Canadians was a showdown of topnotch NHL goalies - Dominik Hasek against Patrick Roy.

The Russians, with NHL stars Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov, were a win away from their first gold-medal game since 1992, when the Unified team won. The former Soviet Union won seven of eight gold medals from 1964 to 1992.

The winners play in Sunday’s gold medal game. The losers meet for the bronze on Saturday.

Nordic combined

The two-time defending Olympic champion Japanese, despite the home advantage, failed to medal in the team event at the Nagano Games. Norway, led by individual combined gold medalist Bjarte Engen Vik, took the gold; Finland won the silver and France the bronze following Friday’s 20-kilometer cross-country race. The Japanese wound up in fifth, to the disappointment of Emperor Akihito and 18,000 fans.