Thread: Winter Olympics 2010

Lindsey Vonn skies out of slalom, Olympics
Graham Dunbar, Ap Sports Writer – 1 hr 23 mins ago

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Lindsey Vonn's Olympics is over after she skied out of the women's slalom, her last event in Vancouver.

Vonn straddled a gate in the first half of her run Friday. She could not correct her line after her right, outside ski slid away coming out of a left-hand turn.

She skied down to the finish area and smiled ruefully. "I don't know what's going on," she said.

"I went out there fighting and it just wasn't my day," said Vonn, who won two medals at the games but failed to finish three of her five races.

She won her gold medal as an overwhelming favorite in her signature downhill event, and took the bronze in the super-G.

"I'm totally satisfied with everything I have done here. I have the gold medal I came here for," Vonn said. "Everybody had a lot of expectations of me and you just have to stay realistic. You have to keep in perspective what your goals are."

Her biggest rival and best friend, Maria Riesch of Germany, said Vonn should go home happy from the Olympics.

"She did a great games here. She killed the downhill," said Riesch, who won gold in super-combined and led the slalom after the first run.

Vonn was expected to be a medal contender in all five events. She was a key part of NBC's promotional campaign and was on the cover of Sports Illustrated's preview issue.

However, as the games progressed Vonn appeared unlikely to medal in slalom. She struggled in the event on the World Cup circuit this season even before a series of injuries this month.

She skied Friday with a broken right pinkie that was protected by a hard plastic casing covered by a mitten. She also had back pain from a crash in Wednesday's giant slalom. In addition, Vonn has been troubled by a sore right shin from a Feb. 2 training spill in Austria that prevented her from practicing quick turns through slalom gates.

Asked why she bothered to race the slalom, given her injuries, Vonn said, "That's just my personality. I never want to give up."

Vonn crashed out of the slalom portion of the super-combined when she was poised to win a medal, having led after the downhill run. She then failed to finish the first run in GS.

The 25-year-old from Vail, Colo., failed to complete a two-run slalom in each of her last three races before the Olympics, and had a single top-three finish in seven slalom events this season.

She last won a slalom in January 2009, at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Riesch said Vonn's confidence in slalom was "not so good, because she didn't finish many runs."

Vonn is the two-time World Cup overall champion and will now focus on defending her title, despite the injuries.

"It's something that I can fight through," she said. "At this point I'm looking forward to the next two weeks of the season where I'm fighting for my third overall title."

Vonn is scheduled to arrive next week in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, where she can clinch the season-long downhill and super-combined discipline titles.

Her season is scheduled to end the week after in Garmisch — Riesch's hometown.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100226/...luZHNleXZvbm5z

Canada wins 2 short track golds, Wang gets her 3rd
Paul Newberry, Ap National Writer – 2 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Wang Meng won her third gold medal at the Olympic short track. Charles Hamelin got his first, then quickly made it two.

Apolo Anton Ohno picked up a DQ, then pulled out his eighth career medal Friday in what could be the final Olympic event for the guy with the soul patch.

Quite a closing night for roller derby on blades.

Wang will go down as the biggest short track star of the Vancouver Games, besting teammate Zhou Yang for that honor. Both had two golds apiece going into the final women's event, the 1,000 meters, but Zhou was disqualified for a daring move with three laps to go and she finished last anyway.

Wang has been suffering from a cold in recent days. She had a hacking cough, was sweating heavily and drinking from a water bottle as she spoke to reporters, somewhat breathlessly.

"It was not an easy win," she said. "I feel really tired, exhausted."

Katherine Reutter gave the Americans something to cheer about after Ohno was disqualified in the 500 final, finishing just behind Wang to claim silver. South Korea's Park Seung-hi earned the bronze.

Wang added to her golds in the 500 and 3,000 relay, while Reutter won her second medal of the Vancouver Games. She had been part of the U.S. relay team that won bronze.

"I feel like I've been initiated in this club and not really many people are there," Reutter said, who giddily tossed her flowers into the crowd after the medal ceremony.

One problem, though: How to prevent her Olympic medals from banging together and getting scratched.

"I can't think of a better problem to have," Reutter said, still draped in the U.S. flag as she came through the mixed zone. "I put absolutely everything I had on the line and it paid off."

Hamelin came into the Vancouver Games as Canada's best hope for short track glory, but he had only finished fourth in the 1,000 and seventh in the 1,500. Meanwhile, his girlfriend and teammate Marianne St-Gelais had won two silvers.

Hamelin finally came through on the last night. He slipped by South Korea's Sung Si-bak coming off the final turn, then held on when Sung lost an edge and crashed into the padded boards.

Right behind them, Ohno was trying to get inside Canada's Francois-Louis Tremblay, but wound up knocking him into the boards — a move that got the American DQed, denying him a third individual medal at these games after he came across the line second.

Sung slid across the line and wound up with the silver. Tremblay got up to finish and received a bronze for his effort.

"It was just amazing," said Hamelin, who hopped atop the padded boards to hug and kiss St-Gelais, cheering him on from the side of the rink.

Ohno said he didn't deserve to be disqualified, claiming that he put his right hand out merely to protect himself as he surged on Tremblay, looking to make the pass.

"I thought I had eight," Ohno said.

He did before the night was done.

Coming back for the 5,000 relay, he teamed with J.R. Celski, Travis Jayner and Jordan Malone to extend his own record for most decorated short track skater and U.S. Winter Olympian.

But this night belonged to the hosts.

Hamelin joined with his little brother Francois, Olivier Jean and Francois-Louis Tremblay to give the Canadians their second gold, sending the crowd at Pacific Coliseum into a frenzy.

The South Korean team of Kwak Yoon-gy, Lee Ho-suk, Lee Jung-su and Sung Si-bak held on for silver. Kwak got to the line just ahead of Ohno, who slipped inside for the bronze when China's skater went wide coming off the final turn.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100227/...5hZGF3aW5zdHc-

Ohno Earns Bronze in Relay, DQ'd in 500 Final
Apolo Anton Ohno anchors US relay to bronze after getting DQ'd in 500 final
By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer
VANCOUVER, British Columbia February 26, 2010

Apolo Anton Ohno anchored the United States to a bronze-medal finish in the 5,000-meter short track speedskating relay, earning his eighth career Olympic medal.

Earlier Friday, the American was disqualified in the 500 final, apparently for causing a crash in the final turn.

Ohno claimed his third medal of the Vancouver Games, to go with a silver and another bronze that made him America's most decorated Winter Olympian.

Ohno stuck out his left skate but was edged by South Korea's Kwak Yoon-gy at the finish line of the 45-lap relay. Canada won the gold and South Korea earned the silver.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified in the 500-meter short track speedskating final Friday night, apparently for causing a crash in the final turn.

Ohno crossed the finish line second behind Canada's Charles Hamelin, whose momentum spun him into the middle of the ice as the race ended.

Ohno was in last place when he tried to go inside of Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay to move up on the final turn. The American's right leg appeared to hit Tremblay and sent him crashing into the padding.

South Korea's Sung Si-bak also went down, although it appeared he lost his balance.

After several minutes of discussion, during which Ohno skated calmly around the ice, the referees DQ'd him. He threw up his arms as if to say, "What can you do?" and smiled before leaving.

Ohno had gotten by crashes in both of his previous heats to advance to the 500 final, which he won four years ago in Turin.

Hamelin won the gold. Sung took silver and Tremblay got bronze.

Ohno was to anchor the United States' team in the 5,000 relay final later.

The 27-year-old skater from Seattle became America's most decorated Winter Olympian at these games, winning a silver in the 1,500 after two South Koreans crashed in the final turn, and a bronze in the 1,000.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=9961879

The toughest Winter Olympics event? The postrace interview.
Christine K. Jahnke – Fri Feb 26, 9:00 am ET

Washington – Are you like me, sitting in front of your television hoping the Winter Olympics never end? It’s not the record number of medals Team USA is racking up that I can’t get enough of, but the pure joy exuding from the athletes.

Have we ever witnessed a happier lot than the snowboarders? Even after spectacular crashes they simply pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and carry on – smiling all the way.

The Vancouver Games are showcasing winning performances by America’s best athletes on the snow and ice – and off. No member of the women’s snowboard team won a gold medal in the halfpipe, yet you would never know it by their sideline behavior.

There’s no evidence of whining or complaining. The freestyle skiers cheer each other on with every gravity-defying inverted aerial maneuver and revel in how superb execution is upping everyone’s game.

Those of us glued to the screen are on the edge of our seats, hanging onto the sheer delight they express with perfection.

As a speech coach to athletes and politicians, I can tell you this exuberance cannot be taught. But an articulate manner can. And for top athletes – who often depend on endorsement deals and speaking engagements after they hang up their skates – savvy media skills can be just as important as performance on the field.

Staged events like Tiger Woods’s recent apology are rare. But postevent interviews are not. That’s why Olympic athletes have to train for them, just as they train to shave off seconds and strokes.

Russian figure skater Yevgeni Plushenko should take note. Mr. Plushenko’s boorish behavior after finishing second in the men’s finals tarnished his Olympic appearance. His comment deriding his competitors as girlie-girls because they didn’t attempt a quadruple jump contrasts sharply with the poise exhibited by the skater who bested him. Gold medalist Evan Lysacek seemed to know better than to take the bait from Plushenko and NBC’s Bob Costas.

In their sit-down interview, Mr. Costas seemed to attempt to elicit a snarky response from Mr. Lysacek: When Costas asked if he could be a true champion without the quad jump, Lysacek graciously praised his competitor. There was no arrogance or self-congratulatory spin. In fact, while making the point that he edged Plushenko in the technical scoring on jumps and spins, Lysacek good-naturedly joked that the Russians probably would not allow him into their country to defend his title in the 2014 Games slated for Sochi, Russia.

Athletes with the ability to follow those rules in life and on the slopes deserve our admiration.

The pregame buildup surrounding downhill skier Lindsey Vonn led me to fear she was just a Pepsodent smile. The perception was dispelled with her skillful handling of the media onslaught about her ability to ski while injured and the way she brushed aside inane questions from CNN about how it feels to be considered a “sex goddess.” Ms. Vonn’s deft handling of reporters helped show that she isn’t a gloating ice princess, but an athlete with grit who gave a heartwarming shout out to her grandparents watching at home.

These Olympians are skilled athletes and savvy communicators. They slalom through the media circus that envelops the Olympic Games, not allowing it to dampen their camaraderie or competitive spirit. Their joy helps explain why so many, like Bode Miller, keep going back again and again. What a thrill it is to watch them. They’re stoked and their ability to communicate it makes us feel good, too.

Christine K. Jahnke is a speech coach. She prepped the US Olympic Committee, first lady Michelle Obama, and reigning decathlete champion Bryan Clay.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100226...V0b3VnaGVzdHc-

US sets medals record, Canada ties gold record
Jaime Aron, Ap Sports Writer – 1 hr 47 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – While the Vancouver Olympics aren't finished, the medal races are — and in spectacular fashion for North Americans.

The United States is guaranteed 37 medals and Canada will finish with at least 13 gold medals. Both are the best of these games and part of the greatest hauls ever at a Winter Olympics.

The Americans will leave with the most medals by any country at any Winter Games. They also will win the medal count for only the second time, the other being at Lake Placid in 1932.

Steven Holcomb and the "Night Train" delivered the 36th medal, and ninth gold, for the United States by winning the four-man bobsled event Saturday. The 37th will come from the men's hockey team. Whether it is gold or silver will be determined Sunday.

Canada invested $117 million and five years into an "Own the Podium" program that was supposed to win the medals race. At least it bought the top step.

The Canadians have matched the record of 13 golds set by the Soviets in 1976 and Norway in 2002. It's also the most gold Canada has won at any Olympics, winter or summer, and its the most for any Winter Olympics host country; both those marks had been 10.

And how's this for timing: Lucky No. 13 came in the nation's second-favorite sport, curling, with beloved skip Kevin Martin shoving aside the Norway guys wearing those tacky trousers. The record-setting 14th could come Sunday in the nation's far and away favorite sport, hockey, with Sidney Crosby and friends facing the Americans.

Canadians also will finish third on the overall medals list. They've claimed 26, counting the one in hockey. Germany is second with 29.

All told, it's a staggering list of achievements for the hosts and their nearest neighbor.

Bottom line: The rest of the world is probably glad the next two Winter Games will be held in other continents.

Among the other highlights Saturday:

_The U.S men's team pursuit squad in speedskating took silver, finishing just behind — guess who? — Canada.

_A few minutes later, Canada got another gold when Jasey-Jay Anderson won the men's parallel giant slalom.

_Norway's Marit Bjoergen was a photo finish from getting her fourth gold medal of these games. She wound up settling for silver and becoming the first person in Vancouver with five medals; nobody else even has four.

There are only two events on Sunday, the hockey game and a 50-kilometer men's cross-country race.

___

BOBSLED

The Americans hadn't won gold in four-man bobsledding since 1948.

And they did it by knocking off a German crew led by Andre Lange, who had won all four Olympics races he's ever entered. His crew wound up with silver, one-hundredth of a second faster than the Canadians.

"No more 62 years," Holcomb said. "We'll start the clock over. Now it's going to be four years."

A slew of U.S. teammates rushed to Holcomb's sled to celebrate. Among the first to offer congratulations was Geoff Bodine, the 1986 Daytona 500 champion who was behind the group that paid for and built the team's sleds.

___

SPEEDSKATING

Chad Hedrick and a pair of 19-year-old teammates couldn't keep up with the Canadians.

Hedrick took silver in the final race of his career. He goes out with five medals in five events, joining Eric Heiden as the only American men to win that many at the oval.

Germany repeated as the gold winners in women's team pursuit, edging Japan by two-hundredths of a second in the final after escaping the semifinals with Anni Friesinger-Postma's belly slide across the line to beat the Americans.

Poland claimed the bronze, overcoming the United States when Catherine Raney-Norman couldn't keep up with teammates Jennifer Rodriguez and Jilleanne Rookard. They crossed ahead of the Poles, but the time only counts when all three skaters finish.

___

SLALOM

Bode Miller wasn't able to add anything beyond the gold, silver and bronze he'd already won. He bailed out just a few gates into the slalom, a casualty of "grabby" snow that bedeviled a slew of skiers.

Miller is one of only five men to get three Alpine medals at a games, a record performance for a U.S. skier. His five career Olympic medals are tied for second on the career list behind Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who has eight.

"I really couldn't be much happier," Miller said. "I came out, I was ready, I was prepared — that's all the stuff you can do."

Giuliano Razzoli won, giving Italy's first Alpine medal in the Winter Games in 16 years.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia picked up his second silver in Vancouver, while Austria's usually powerful men's team finished an Olympic shutout.

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SNOWBOARDING

Anderson, a seven-time World Cup champion, carved through the rain-sluiced, fogged-in course to take down Austria's Benjamin Karl, the top-ranked rider in the world.

It was his first Olympic medal in four tries, adding it to his four world championship golds and a career that has done more than anyone's to spread the word of snowboarding across his wintry country.

Bronze medalist Mathieu Bozzetto of France called the conditions "ugly," and American Tyler Jewell said if this had been a World Cup event, "they probably would have canceled it."

American Chris Klug — who won bronze in 2002, 18 months after a lifesaving liver transplant — knocked off the top seed but later skidded out. He finished seventh, Jewell 13th.

___

CURLING

Eight years ago in Salt Lake City, Martin's final stone went inch too far and the Canadians lost the gold medal to the Norwegians. This time, with a sellout crowd singing the national anthem, Martin's final stone didn't even matter.

Canada stormed through the tournament 11-0 to win gold for the second straight Olympics. (Martin, however, wasn't on the 2006 squad.)

Switzerland swept past Sweden for the men's bronze medal, getting two points on its final rock.

___

MEN'S HOCKEY

Finland became the first to win three medals since the NHL let its players compete at the 1998 Winter Games with a 5-3 win over Slovakia. Finland is the only team to be a repeat medalist, following up the silver it won four years ago.

Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was solid in the net with 19 saves, regaining his confidence just one day after he was pulled when the U.S. scored four goals on seven shots in just 10 minutes.

"We believed that we could come back, and it was a huge comeback," Teemu Selanne said. "After 23 years playing for the national team, after five Olympics, this is a dream come true."

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CROSS COUNTRY

Canada turned in its four cross-country skiers for the 50-kilometer mass start classic race on Sunday, and it doesn't include legally blind Brian McKeever, who was hoping to become the first competitor in both the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The 30-year-old McKeever — who started going blind in college because of a degenerative disease, but still has peripheral vision — said he understands the decision.

"Olympic dream over," he wrote on his Twitter account. "I don't think I've ever been so sad."

In the women's 30k classical race, Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk beat Bjoergen in a photo finish. Kowalczyk, the World Cup leader, now has a medal of each color.

American Kikkan Randall finished 24th.

___

CHILEAN ATHLETES

Alpine skier Noelle Barahona of Chile is sticking around for the closing ceremony after learning her family was safe following the devastating earthquake in her country.

Barahone actually was planning on going home Saturday, but couldn't get a flight. The rest of the delegation still in Vancouver includes a team spokesman and a physical therapist; they both also heard that family and friends are OK.

Chile's two other Olympians already had left Vancouver, one to France and the other to Seattle.

___

LONDON 2012

The head of the next Olympics — the 2012 Summer Games in London — hopes to match the full venues and lively crowds he's seen in Vancouver.

"Not since Sydney (in 2000) have I seen a city embrace the games the way they've been embraced here," Sebastian Coe said. "My gut instinct is that is what these games will be remembered for."

Coe and about 50 staffers have been in Vancouver to see how things are being done.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100228/...V0c21lZGFscw--

Okay here is my 2cents for the last few days at the O's. I feel Apolo should NOT have been disqualified for putting his hand on the Canadians hip. He touched him. A guy did it to him in the qualifying round but Apolo did NOT fall. The Canadian who grabbed the skate of the Chinese or whatever did not get disqualified so how is that fair? Plus the Canadians got all mad when Apolo made a statement about how he felt it was a little bit slided. IT WAS!
Also in Hockey today in OVERTIME they should play the whole 20 freaking mins. Not just till someone gets a goal!!
In basketball or any other sport they play out the time they put on the clock, so that is what they should have done. IMO

An exuberant end to a bittersweet Olympics
David Crary, Ap National Writer – 3 mins ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – An Olympics that began with the death of a luger ended Sunday with an exuberant celebration of Canada — reflecting a determined comeback by the host country's organizers and athletes.

A festive crowd of 60,000 jammed into BC Place Stadium for the closing ceremony, many of them Canadians abuzz over the overtime victory by their men's hockey team earlier in the day to give the host nation a Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals.

The gaiety — capped by a boisterous rock concert — contrasted sharply with the moment of silence at the opening ceremony Feb. 12 for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old luger killed in a horrific training-run crash on the sliding track in Whistler just hours before that ceremony.

The speakers of honor on Sunday, chief Vancouver organizer John Furlong and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, each paid tribute to the young athlete.

"We are so sorry for your loss," Furlong said, addressing himself to the nation of Georgia. "May the legacy of your favorite son never be forgotten and serve to inspire youth everywhere to be champions in life."

Furlong then shifted to a more upbeat tone.

"I believe Canadians tonight are stronger, more united, more in love with our country and more connected to each other than ever before," he said.

He paid tribute to moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau, winner of Canada's first gold medal at these games, and said of the final gold, won by the hockey team, "Our last one will be remembered for generations."

Rogge then pronounced the games closed, after describing them as "excellent and very friendly."

Neil Young, the durable Canadian folk-rock star, performed a lyrical version of his "Long May You Run" — and the Olympic flame faded away as he ended.

Canadian officials ensured an extra measure of poignancy at the ceremony by selecting figure skater Joannie Rochette as their flagbearer. Her mother died of a heart attack hours after arriving in Vancouver last weekend, but Rochette chose to carry on and won a bronze medal, inspiring her teammates and fans around the world.

"Yes, it's been a tough week for me," she said before the ceremony. "But I walk tonight into that stadium with a big smile on my face. ... I accomplished my goals, and I want to celebrate with my teammates."

Her entire team was greeted with a mighty roar when they joined the fast-moving, informal parade of athletes into the stadium. Among the cheerleaders was Prime Minster Stephen Harper, wearing a Canada jacket.

The U.S. flagbearer was Bill Demong, a veteran of four Olympics who won a gold and silver medal in Nordic combined.

There were plenty of reasons for Canada and the United States to celebrate after 17 days of competition. The U.S. won 37 medals overall — the most ever for any nation in a Winter Olympics.

Canada, after a slow start, set a Winter Games record with 14 golds and sparked public enthusiasm in Vancouver that veterans of multiple Olympics described as unsurpassed.

The comeback by the Canadian athletes was mirrored by the resilience of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. It struggled with a series of glitches and weather problems early in the games, adjusted as best it could, and reached the finish line winning widespread praise for an exceptional Olympics — albeit one tinged with sadness.

Right from the start of the closing show, there was a spirit of redemption as the producers made up for an opening-ceremony glitch in which one leg of the Olympic cauldron failed to rise from the stadium floor. On Sunday, the recalcitrant leg rose smoothly and former speedskating medalist Catriona LeMay Doan — who missed out on the opening-night flame lighting because of the glitch — got to perform that duty this time.

Later came the traditional handover ceremony, during which the Olympic flag was lowered and presented to the hosts of the next Winter Games in 2014. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson handed over the five-ringed flag to IOC president Jacques Rogge, who passed it on to Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, Russia. That was followed by the Russian national anthem and a presentation about Sochi featuring opera, ballet, ice skating and giant glowing spheres called "zorbs."

Other key moments in the closing:

_ The awarding of medals for the men's 50-kilometer cross-country ski race, won by Petter Northug of Norway.

_ The swearing-in of two new members of the International Olympic Committee chosen by their fellow athletes — U.S. hockey player Angela Ruggiero and British skeleton racer Adam Pengilly.

_ The singing of the Olympic anthem by renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner.

_ A tongue-in-cheek revue of Canadian icons and symbols, featuring singing-and-dancing Mounties, tabletop hockey players, dancing canoes and flying moose and beavers.

_ A segment in which Canadian actors — including William Shatner and Michael J. Fox — made fun of national stereotypes. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, received a huge ovation. "I lived in the U.S. for 30 years," Fox said. "But if the U.S. is playing Canada in hockey, I'm sorry, I'm wearing a maple leaf on my sweater."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oly_closi...hodWJlcmFudA--

News and notes from NBC's Olympics coverage
David Bauder, Ap Television Writer – 12 mins ago

NEW YORK – A look at NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics: O CANADA: Well, it wasn't 1980 again, was it?

Canada's 3-2 overtime victory over the United States for the gold medal in men's hockey undoubtedly left many fans south of the border disappointed Sunday. But it marked a thrilling conclusion to Winter Olympic competition from Vancouver, and certainly a feel-good story for the host Canadians. The hockey tournament brought forth many of the strengths and weaknesses of NBC's work from Vancouver.

Arguably, it was hockey that was central to NBC's biggest missteps of the games. The negligible prime-time attention given to the U.S. team's early-round victory over Canada was a big misreading of interest in the contest. The network compounded the problem by showing a later U.S. game on a tape-delayed basis out West, an odd decision that it seems could have been avoided because it was so quickly corrected moving forward.

Perhaps NBC misread the situation because it was so used to the poor ratings NHL hockey gets on its own network. That was quickly corrected, too: NBC smartly ran an advertisement for an upcoming NHL telecast during the gold-medal game, trying to take advantage of the excitement.

The gold-medal game was a technical achievement for NBC. It was shot beautifully, taking full advantage of high-definition, with super slow motion shots giving plenty of viewpoints of goals. The sight of the puck hovering near the Canadian goal line, just begging to be nudged in, was great.

We also like Joe Micheletti's post-game interviews with Sidney Crosby, who scored the game-winning goal, and American goalie Ryan Miller. He resisted the temptation to be fawning in the former and funereal in the latter, simply seeking information.

Mike Emrick is a superb hockey play-by-play man, and he kept in control while keeping you fully aware of the stakes. Unfortunately, the moment cried out for more than a good hockey play-by-play man. He should have been more mindful that many casual, non-hockey fans were in his audience, and not make it seem like they were entering a private club.

Every hockey fan knows what icing is, for instance, but it would have been helpful to define the term for others.

Similarly, when the game ended in a tie — and even before — NBC's team should have better explained to viewers what would happen in that instance, and what might happen if sudden-death overtime didn't produce a winner.

Those are, by the way, pretty good problems to have. It means people care about what you're doing.

HIGHLIGHT: Seems so typical these days for networks to rush away after an event is completed that NBC's decision to stick with the hockey game's aftermath felt welcome. It was important to watch what was, in effect, an entire nation's roar of appreciation for Crosby. The American men looked miserable getting silver medals hung around their necks.

LOWLIGHT: Spectacularly wrongheaded decision by NBC to interrupt its coverage of the closing ceremony for the debut of Jerry Seinfeld's "The Marriage Ref." Those enjoying the festivities were told to come back in an hour — at 11:30 p.m. on a night before work or school — for the conclusion. Let's just imagine if CBS had stopped the Super Bowl after three quarters to show "Undercover Boss," telling people to come back in an hour for the fourth quarter. Incredible that NBC would wrap a show it has high hopes for, and one of its biggest stars, in ill will.

MILLER TIME: It says an awful lot for goalie Miller's character that he attended the closing ceremony, and sharp of NBC to find him.

RATINGS: Saturday night's telecast, featuring a U.S. gold medal in the four-man bobsled, was seen by an average of 20.6 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Co. Through Saturday, Nielsen estimates that 185 million people have seen at least some of its Olympic coverage, and the network expects that to be the most for a Winter Olympics since the Lillehammer games in 1994.

Tragedy, glitches and glory at star-crossed games
Erin Mcclam, Associated Press Writer – Sun Feb 28, 6:56 pm ET

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – These Olympics will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

For every golden moment, there was a glitch. Opening day of an electrifying hockey tournament in Vancouver was also the day 20,000 tickets had to be canceled for Cypress Mountain.

Even the games' emotional high point — a figure-skating bronze for Canada's Joannie Rochette, whose mother had died four days earlier — was tinged with sorrow.

And it all began, of course, with the worst news imaginable.

Son of a Soviet-era slider, pride of a spruce-nestled ski town half a world away, member of an almost laughably small Olympic delegation, Nodar Kumaritashvili shot down the luge track at nearly 90 mph.

Athletes had suggested the course at Whistler was so fast it tempted fate, and Kumaritashvili himself was terrified of it. He raced anyway. "I will either win or die," he told his father.

He lasted 49 seconds before the track claimed his life. The start of a star-crossed Olympics. The Vancouver Games opened with grief, and they end under a shadow as everlasting as those cast by the hooded assassins of Munich and the midnight thunder of Atlanta.

Kumaritashvili came to rest on a metal walkway that runs along the track, one foot awkwardly propped on the wall of the course. His sled skidded to the finish line. It was a death in the Olympic family.



"May you carry his Olympic dream on your shoulders, and compete with his spirit in your hearts," Vancouver organizing committee chief John Furlong said at the opening ceremony.

It wasn't much later that the games suffered their first glitch — nothing compared with the luge tragedy, but also a lasting symbol of these Olympics. The indoor cauldron at BC Place malfunctioned, spoiling perhaps the most climactic moment of any games.

An outdoor cauldron, meanwhile, was blocked by an unsightly chain-link fence. Complaints that it made for lousy photographs led organizers to open a rooftop viewing plaza and replace part of the fence with clear plastic.

Weather played havoc with the schedule. It was alternately too mild, too wet, too foggy or too snowy, forcing one postponement after another. "Wouldn't mind racing already," tweeted ticked-off American skier Ted Ligety.

Human error marred the games, too. On a single day at the biathlon, a Swedish woman was held up at her start gate for 14 seconds, and two of the men went off too early. Officials later corrected for the errors. "It is embarrassing," said Norbert Baier, the technical delegate of the International Biathlon Union. "Why do we have this incompetence?"

And in men's speedskating, a gaffe of historic proportion: Sven Kramer of the Netherlands cruised to what would have been easy gold and an Olympic record time in the 10,000 meters — but was disqualifed because his coach sent him into the wrong lane at the end of the back straightaway.

If Kramer needs consolation, all he has to do is look at the gold he won in the 5,000. He managed an Olympic record there, too — one that actually stuck.

Elsewhere, competition provided a welcome distraction. Lindsey Vonn, she of the most famous shin at the Olympics, skied to gold in her signature event, the downhill, and picked up a bronze in the super-G. She failed to finish three of her five races, but the haul was fine by her. "I have the gold medal that I came here for, and I couldn't be happier," she said.

At the speedskating oval, Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick shared the podium — Davis with a gold and a silver, Hedrick with a silver and a bronze. This time, unlike in Turin, they actually looked like they could stand each other.

If you wanted drama, you had to look to the figure skating rink. American Evan Lysacek won gold, but without even attempting the celebrated quadruple jump — drawing open contempt from Russia's defending champion Evgeni Plushenko, who took the silver.

In fact, Russia went home without a figure-skating gold of any kind, the first time that's happened since 1960. Russia's overall Olympic performance was so dismal that members of parliament back home were calling for sports officials to resign. Not exactly a happy family for a nation that hosts the next Winter Games, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014.

South Korea's Kim Yu-na was no drama. Only Queen. Her breathtaking routine — five minutes of twists and twirls, a routine called one of the greatest of all time — was more than good enough for gold.

U.S. skier Bode Miller, party boy of Turin, finally got his gold medal — and went home with a silver and a bronze, too. In fact, the U.S. — not the usual suspects like Switzerland, Sweden or Germany — dominated the mountain, even taking gold in a Nordic event for the first time.

On the halfpipe, Shaun White already had his gold medal, not to mention celebrity status, in the bank. For an encore, he advanced his sport and unleashed the Double McTwist 1260 — two board-over-head flips inside 3 1/2 twists. What's next, the movies? "Only action-packed ones," he said. "Slo-mo running. Flying off buildings."

Apolo Anton Ohno became the most decorated American Winter Olympian ever, racking up his eighth lifetime medal — though he went home without a gold in Vancouver.

In all, the United States won 37 medals, a record for the Winter Games, including nine gold. It was the first time the Americans had led the winter medals count since 1932.

As for the host nation, which invested $110 million before these games with the goal of dominating the medals stand? They never did own the podium, but they owned the top step.

And how Canada cheered.

For Alexandre Bilodeau, who bounced down the moguls course to give Canada its first gold in three Olympics on home soil, ending a drought that lasted 34 years and stretched across six provinces, from Montreal to Vancouver.

For the women's hockey team, which tore through the tournament and celebrated with cigars and booze on the ice. They later apologized — and apologizing, one Olympic TV host here said, is almost inherently Canadian.

For the men's curlers at Vancouver Olympic Center, where fans clanged cowbells and burst into song. The same sport gave us the most recognizable athletes of the games — Team Norway, with its garish, diamond-patterned pants, an online hit.

Only in Canada could a sport that literally requires looking at rocks for three hours become a party destination.

The biggest party of all? No doubt about it — Canada Hockey Place, site of an impossibly tense gold-medal hockey game. Sidney Crosby wristed the puck past American goalie Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime. Canada 3, U.S. 2.

Canadian national honor was served, and it typified the host nation's Olympic comeback. With the Americans playing with an empty net, Canada blew a 2-1 lead with 24.4 seconds remaining in regulation when Zach Parise tied the game.

Crosby's goal completed a gold rush unmatched in Winter Games history. Canada's 14th was the one that mattered most.

Still, some of the loudest cheers were for a bronze — for Rochette, the figure skater whose mother died in Vancouver during the games and who still managed to skate for a medal. "I just thanked my mother for the strength she could give me," Rochette said. "I don't know if she was there with me, but she definitely raised me up to have strength."

There were two doping violations — hockey players, a Russian woman and a Slovakian man, both for stimulants contained in cold medication, neither deemed worthy of more than a reprimand. That was one more than in Turin.

Organizers praised the people of Vancouver for embracing the games, and suggested the glory of Olympic competition should be considered separately from the tragedy on the games' first day.

But even IOC chief Jacques Rogge conceded the young luger's death would forever be linked to the Vancouver Games — just as the massacre in 1972 was to Munich and the park bombing in 1996 was to Atlanta.

The days that followed were not pretty. The international luge federation blamed Kumaritashvili's tactical handling of the course, not the track itself, for the death. Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili, saw it differently: "No sports mistake," he said, "is supposed to lead to a death."

The luge track was shortened for competition, and the course altered, but officials said the changes were to soothe athletes' emotions, not make them safer. Later in the games, on the same track, overturned bobsleds became a common sight.

And across the world, in the heartbroken Georgian town of Bakuriani, was another mother of another Olympian. Dodo Kumaritashvili joined the lone other luger on the Georgian team as her son's body arrived back home.

She threw herself on the flag-draped casket and cried: "Why have I survived you?"

Olympic officials, their hearts heavy and their Vancouver Games now history, could be forgiven for asking the same. But the memories survive, the haunting and the proud.

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