Raich captures gold in men’s giant slalom
Austria’s Benjamin Raich ended his 10-day struggle at the Olympics with a win in the men’s giant slalom.
Raich, who won the last two World Cup giant slalom races before the games, was only fifth after the opening leg but vaulted onto the top step of the podium with a brilliant second effort, crossing with a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 35.00 seconds.
Joel Chenal of France, ranked only 17th in the World Cup GS standings but second after the first run, showed remarkable nerve and won the silver, .07 behind. Hermann Maier of Austria won the bronze, .16 back, to go with his silver in the super-G.
American Bode Miller, who was just 12th after the opening leg, tied for sixth in 2:36.06 with Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, after a red-hot second run.
WOMEN’S ALPINE SKIING
Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister won her second gold medal of the Turin Games and Janica Kostelic of Croatia became the most decorated woman in Olympic Alpine skiing history with a silver in the super-G.
Dorfmeister, the last of the top 30 skiers to race, overcame a course softened by the sun to edge Kostelic by .27 seconds in a time of 1 minute, 32.47 seconds.
The 24-year-old Kostelic’s silver was her sixth Olympic medal — four of them gold – and her second these games. No other woman Alpine skier has more than five.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY No more Swedish surprises. Hockey is Canada’s game, and their 4-1 win over Sweden in the gold-medal game was a fitting finale for the most dominant women’s team ever assembled.
Gillian Apps’ goal on a surreal backhand just 3:15 in, showed Canada was on its game. The Canadians’ relentless forechecking, heady passing and sturdy defense — improbably questioned by the cocky Swedes beforehand — were practically flawless in a game just as one-sided as every other in their 46-2 march through Italy.
In the bronze-medal game, the U.S. women hustled to loose pucks, finished their checks and showcased their superior talent, jumping to an early lead and dominating Finland.
Katie King scored two of her three goals in the first period to give the Americans a three-goal lead, and they glided to a 4-0 victory over Finland on Monday, playing in the third-place game they would’ve rather watched on TV from their dressing room.
MEN’S CURLING Canada clinched the fourth and final spot in the medal round with a late rally that secured a 6-3 win over the U.S. in men’s curling.
The Americans (6-3) had already wrapped up a spot in the medal round. They will face Canada (6-3) again Wednesday in one semifinal. Finland (7-2) is to play Britain (6-3) in the other.
WOMEN’S CURLING Norway and Canada clinched the final two spots in the women’s curling medal round.
Sweden (7-2) is to face Norway (6-3), while Switzerland (7-2) faces Canada (6-3) in semifinals Wednesday. The winners play for gold Thursday, while the losers play for bronze.
Russia (5-4) and Japan (4-5) both kept their medal-round hopes alive with wins in the morning session.
Britain (5-4) ended the tournament for the Americans (2-7). Only Italy (1-8) had a worse record.
FREESTYLE SKIING Jeret “Speedy” Peterson was the lone American of four to advance to finals in men’s aerials, a disappointing effort for a U.S. freestyle team considered one of the best in the world.
While Peterson made it, Joe Pack, Ryan St. Onge and Eric Bergoust all failed to advance to Wednesday night’s 12-man finals.
Xiopeng Han of China led the qualifying, followed by Dmitri Dashinki of Belarus and Warren Shouldice of Canada.