Men’s Giant Slalom

Now playing in Nagano: “Herminator II.”

After the curtain quickly dropped on Olympic veteran Alberto Tomba, Austria’s Hermann Maier took center stage with his second gold medal in four days both coming after a frightening wipeout in his Winter Olympics debut.

The silver in the giant slalom went to Stefan Eberharter of Austria, while Michael Von Gruenigen of Switzerland won the bronze.

Tomba’s Nagano debut, 13 days into the games, wasn’t worth the wait.

The powerful Italian skier, whose resume includes three Olympic golds and two silvers, skidded through a gate near the top of the giant slalom course and plowed into a snow fence. Tomba, who lost a ski in the spill, gingerly rubbed his left hip while getting up, but said he hoped to race in Friday’s slalom.

Women’s slalom

Germany’s Hilde Gerg mastered a steep and dangerously icy course to edge Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni by .06 seconds for the gold medal. Gerg, whose bronze in the women’s combined two days earlier was her first Olympic medal, won with a brilliant second run on a hill that had humbled some of the top medal contenders. The bronze went to Zali Steggall, who won Australia’s first skiing medal.

Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden, the defending World Cup overall and slalom champion, slipped and fell for the second time in as many slalom races this week.

Women’s biathlon relay

The German team of Ursula Disl, Martina Zellner, Katrin Apel and Petra Behle won the gold medal in the 30-kilometer relay, finishing in 1 hour, 40 minutes, 13.6 seconds.

Russia won the silver and Norway the bronze.

Men’s Nordic combined

The first half of the team combined brought disappointment for the home team, two-time defending champion Japan. When the ski jump portion was finished, the top three were Finland, Austria and Norway. The Japanese were fifth heading into tonight’s 20-kilometer cross-country relay race.

Women’s figure skating

U.S. teens Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski were 1-2 after the short program, turning in near-flawless efforts to soar to the top of the standings at the Nagano Games.

The 15-year-old Lipinski finished second with what she called “the best program I thought I’ve done, ever.” Third place heading into tonight’s free skate belongs to Maria Butyrskaya of Russia.

America’s other skating medal hope, Nicole Bobek, finished 17th and out of medal contention after falling once and stumbling twice.

Men’s ice hockey

While America floundered, losing 4-1 to the Czech Republic, Canada flourished. The gold medal favorites, on a mission after their 1996 world championship loss to the United States, whipped Kazakstan 4-1 behind goalie Patrick Roy. The undefeated Canadians take on the Czechs in one of Friday’s semifinals.

The path to the gold appeared a little easier after Wednesday, with the United States eliminated and defending gold medalist Sweden - forced to play without defenseman Ulf Samuelsson - upset 2-1 by Finland. Samuelsson was barred from playing because he holds a U.S. passport.

Russia, which defeated Belarus 4-1, will face Finland in the other semifinal.

Men’s biathlon

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen grew up in a Norwegian village where biathlon was just about the only fun boys could have. Now, the fun has turned into gold.

Bjoerndalen won the 10-kilometer sprint in 27 minutes, 16.2 seconds. He struck all 10 targets. Teammate Frode Andresen pushed himself in the skiing department for the silver in 28:17.8. Finland’s Ville Raikkonen settled for the bronze medal.