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 Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Torino Winter Olympics (Turin, Italy)
Follow The Olympic Flame
(From Torino Winter Olympics official website)
Meet the italian emotion: We are in Val Gardena Today
The Olympic Torch Relay started in Rome on the 8th of December and for two months will travel across national territory. The celebrations will expand through 600 communities of all the Italian regions until February 10, 2006, when the last, mysterious, torchbearer will light the XX Olympic Winter Games’ cauldron.
Last edited by sportsworld, 1/25/2006, 2:05 pm
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1/25/2006, 2:02 pm
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Re: Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Short track skating: Ahn wins 1,500, Ohno slips
(From Torino Olympics official website)
TURIN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Three-times world champion Ahn Hyun-soo won the men's 1,500 metre title at the Olympic short track skating on Sunday, taking revenge on South Korea's old foe American Apolo Anton Ohno, who failed to make the final.
Ahn has stormed his way up the rankings since the Salt Lake City Games and winning the first short track gold in Turin was a fitting tribute to his domination of the sport.
The 20-year-old's win also goes some way to settling scores from the 2002 Winter Games when Ohno was given gold after South Korea's Kim Dong-sung, who crossed the line first, was disqualified for blocking him.
South Korea hotly contested Ohno's title and the American was bombarded with hate mail. Some South Koreans called for a boycott of U.S. goods and frequently made reference to the controversial call at subsequent sporting events.
Asked if he was saddened not to have had what some media had billed as a South Korean rematch with Ohno, Ahn said: "I was expecting to race head-to-head (with Ohno) and I was a bit disappointed not to but obviously I did what I had to do in the competition."
Ohno stumbled coming into the closing lap of his semifinal and only made the B Final, where racers contest places seven to 12. In fact, he almost missed that race entirely, jumping over the barriers onto the ice as the others lined up.
"It's disappointing. I wanted to make that final," said the 23-year-old, who ultimately finished eighth.
"In my heart I felt I could have been there. I put everything on the table today.
"Prepared myself mentally, physically the best I can. I was really looking forward to it."
The South Koreans showed they were the force to be reckoned with as Ahn and 19-year-old Lee Ho-suk hung back around the first few laps of the final. They then doggedly but carefully worked their way through the pack and over the line first.
Ahn spun straight around the track and banged into the side pads to hug his coach before taking the South Korean flag on a victory lap with triple junior world champion Lee.
China's Li JiaJun, competing in his fourth Olympics, won bronze to the glee of the women's relay team who ran from their semifinal victory to the tribune to cheer him on.
The men next meet on Wednesday for the 1,000 heats.
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2/13/2006, 2:41 pm
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Re: Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Short track skating: China's Wang Meng wins
(From Torino Olympics official website)
China's Wang Meng brought home the Olympic gold everybody expected her to win in the women's 500 metres short track skating at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday, keeping her head in a tight race against her top opponents.
It was the first gold of the Games for the Chinese, a powerhouse in Summer Games but who only won their first Winter gold in Salt Lake City four years ago, also in short track.
Bulgaria's Evgenia Radanova did her best to capture gold in the last metres of the race but it was the Chinese 20-year-old who made it across just ahead, punching the air in glory.
Wang won all four World Cup 500 races this season and was by far the favourite to win here in Turin but she looked tense before the final, repeatedly wiping her blades and fiddling with her boot.
At the end of the race, she had no doubts that she had won, roaring in delight and speeding across to her coach for a hug and to pick up a huge Chinese flag which she took on a victory lap of the Palavela rink.
Radanova, who gave Wang a run for her money in the semi-finals, again skated right on her heels and fell as soon as she crossed the line a whisker behind Wang.
The 2002 silver medallist and European champion looked disappointed as she took the second step on the podium while Wang jumped up and down on the gold spot, giving the thumbs up and V for victory sign and kissing the Chinese flag on her top.
Canada's Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, seen as an outsider coming into the Olympics, crossed the line almost at the same time as China's Fu Tianyu and thought she had been pipped to the podium until Fu was disqualified for crossing.
Leblanc-Boucher looked as happy as if she had won the gold, hardly believing she was stepping up on to the Olympic podium having only ever won one World Cup medal in the 500 in 2004/05.
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2/16/2006, 5:14 am
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Re: Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Short track skating: South Korea dominates; Ahn Hyun-Soo (KOR) wins his second gold medal
(From Torino Olympics official website)
TURIN, Feb 18 (Reuters) - South Korea stamped its authority on short track skating at the Winter Olympics on Saturday as 17-year-old Jin Sun-yu swept past the pack to win the women's 1,500 metres and Ahn Hyun-soo won his second gold of the Games.
Ahn nicked past compatriot Lee Ho-suk by a whisker to add the men's 1,000 title to the 1,500 gold he won earlier in the week. He had also pipped Lee to silver in the longer race.
It was a different story in the women's event where Jin, who has dominated the strategic 1,500 this season, overtook the pack a few turns from the end and stretched out an easy lead to cross the line well in front.
Again, it was another South Korean, Choi Eun-kyung, who took the silver, much to the delight of the packs of Koreans in the crowd, waving flags and cheering madly.
Byun Chun-sa, who crossed the line third, was disqualified after the race, denying South Korea a clean sweep and handing the bronze to China's Wang Meng, who won the gold medal in the 500 metres on Wednesday.
On the podium, Jin looked as if winning an Olympic gold was the most normal thing in the world as she simply waved to the crowd and smiled shyly.
The men's 1,000 bronze went to American Apolo Anton Ohno, who won the silver in Salt Lake City in 2002.
That race went down as one of the most bizarre in Olympic history when the front pack crashed and collapsed into the side pads on the last curve, leaving Australian Steven Bradbury, who had been lagging badly, to step over them and win gold.
South Korea set up a bitter rivalry with Ohno at the last Games after one of their skaters was disqualified from the 1,500 final, handing the American gold.
On Saturday, all the bad blood seemed to be flowing away as Ohno, who was visibly disappointed when he crossed the line third, smiled and congratulated his rivals on the podium before waving to the crowd.
Short track skating: World No. 1 Jin Sun-yu (KOR) wins women's 1,500 metres gold
(From Torino Olympics official website)
Top ranked Jin Sun-yu of South Korea easily won the women's 1,500 metre short track skating title at the Olympics on Saturday, overtaking the pack and stretching out her lead to cross the line well in front. The 17-year-old has dominated the strategic 1,500 event this season, picking up two golds, a silver and a bronze in the four World Cup competitions.
Jin's compatriot Choi Eun-Kyung took silver but Byun Chun-sa, who crossed the line third, was disqualified, denying South Korea a clean sweep. The bronze medal went instead to China's Wang Meng, who won the gold medal in the 500 metres on Wednesday. South Korea's Ahn Hyun-soo won his second gold medal of the Turin Winter Olympics on Saturday when he nudged ahead of compatriot Lee Ho-suk to take the 1,000 metre short track skating title.
Ahn, who won the 1,500 earlier in the Games, sped around the last corner neck and neck with Lee and American Apolo Anton Ohno but scrambled up to the finish and just managed to tip the front of his blade over the line first. Ohno, who took silver in the 1,000 at Salt Lake City, came third and was visibly disappointed having scrapped with the two South Koreans for the last three laps.
The 1,000 went down in sporting history at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics as one of the most bizarre races. The front pack all fell on the last corner leaving fifth-placed Steven Bradbury of Australia to step over them all and get gold.
Last edited by sportsworld, 2/19/2006, 11:57 am
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2/19/2006, 11:53 am
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Re: Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Freestyle Skiing: Swiss Leu wins aerials gold, World champion Li Nina (CHN) clinches silver
(From Torino Olympics official website)
Evelyne Leu rose best out of the fog to continue Switzerland's extraordinary day and win gold in the women's Olympic freestyle skiing aerials on Wednesday.
Leu's triumph was Switzerland's second gold of the day and fourth overall and a big surprise after China had looked poised for a clean sweep of the medals after the first of two jumps.
World champion and World Cup leader Li Nina of China had to settle for silver while Australia's Alisa Camplin, the 2002 champion, took bronze after China's Guo Xinxin fell badly on the final jump of the night with a medal in her sights.
Leu, 29, followed up Philipp Schoch's gold in the snowboard parallel giant slalom earlier, where his brother Simon also bagged silver.
She suffered a slight backslap, falling backwards on landing a particular jump, but produced a solid landing with her second effort to set a score of 202.55.
"After that first jump I thought a medal was possible but I tried hard not to think about it and just concentrated on my second jump," Leu told reporters.
"That second jump was the best jump I ever did. When I landed it I knew I would get a medal but didn't think it would be gold."
However, the Chinese challenge fell away as first 1998 silver medallist Xu Nannan had a shaky landing and then Li failed to sufficiently impress the judges.
Guo's tumble on the final jump prompted a cry of delight from Leu but she quickly covered her mouth so not to cause offence.
Camplin's joy at winning another medal was clear, especially after only recently battling back from a serious injury. The Australian had a tendon from a dead donor grafted into her knee during radical surgery.
"This is as good as the first gold," she said.
The final was delayed for 30 minutes because of fog and visibility continued to be a problem for skiers and the crowd, with the competition halted twice temporarily.
In aerials, competitors ski down a slope onto a launch pad, or kicker, and then perform twists in the air before trying to land straight on the soft snow. Five judges look at the quality of the pre-determined jump while two rate the landing.
Men's aerials qualifying took place on Monday with the final scheduled for Thursday.
South Koreans win 4th relay gold in women's short track skating
(From Torino Olympics official website)
TURIN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - South Korea made it four golds in a row in the women's short track skating relay at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday but the loudest cheers went to the Italian team when they slipped into third after China was disqualified.
In the tense 3,000-metre race, which was restarted twice, the young South Korean team battled at the front of the pack with their long-time relay rivals China and Canada, their bright suits blurring as they rushed into their handovers.
Still hot on each other's heels coming into the last pass, the Chinese seemed to knock their rivals and were denied their third place.
"It was very difficult to be on the outside and everyone was pushing. There was nothing we could have changed," said China's Fu Tianyu, who handed over the last leg to 500 winner Wang Meng.
"It's hard to say whose fault it was."
The South Korean dream of keeping up the gold streak seemed to shatter at the very start, when they crashed going into the first turn. But because they slipped just before the midpoint of the corner, the race was allowed to begin again.
"If we didn't win the gold, it would have been bad to have broken the chain," said Jin Sun-yu, who won the 1,500 this week.
"We felt the burden of this being our fourth in a row, but we had to forget about that and focus on tactics."
It was also South Korea's fourth short track gold of the Turin Games, setting them way at the top of the medals table.
TEAM SPIRIT
Canada also had history on its side, having won a medal in every women's relay since short track joined the Olympics in 2002. After two bronzes, they upgraded to silver in Turin.
"We always train as a team and only then go into individual events. Our team spirit makes us an awesome team," said Anouk Leblanc-Boucher.
The only unpleasant spirit came from the crowd who whistled and booed when it seemed Italy, who crossed the line a good three seconds behind the others, had lost out on a medal.
While the referees checked replays for obstructions, the host of the evening pleaded over the loudspeaker: "Show some good sportsmanship here, please".
The boos changed to cheers when China was disqualified.
"I hope we didn't lose the medal just because we were in Italy," Chinese skater Yang Yang said.
Asked if they would contest the disqualification, the 2002 double gold medallist replied: "It's the referee's decision. It's very disappointing but I hope sport is always fair play."
Last edited by sportsworld, 2/24/2006, 10:09 am
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2/24/2006, 10:02 am
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Re: Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Figure Skating: Shizuka Arakawa Queen of the Ice
(From Torino Olympics official website)
Japanese cheered, clapped and grinned on Friday after Shizuka Arakawa captured the nation's first Winter Olympics figure skating gold metal and ended the country's depressing medal drought in Turin.
Arakawa, 24, surged from third after the short programme to vault over early pace-setters Sasha Cohen of the U.S. and Russian favourite Irina Slutskaya with a mesmerising free programme.
"It was beautiful. I felt moved as I watched," said one woman in a crowd of about 100 fans -- many waving Japan's national flag -- who had clapped and cheered as they watched Arakawa perform on a giant screen at a Tokyo hotel.
Arakawa and her compatriot, Fumie Suguri, had represented Japan's best and likely last hope of winning a medal at the Winter Olympics, which began with high domestic expectations.
"Women's figure skaters carry hopes of entire nation," blared a headline in Friday's English language edition of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, published before the results were known.
"The question is now how to save face? Two brave souls have emerged from the ashes to hopefully rescue Japan from the embarrassment of not winning a Winter Olympic medal for the first time in 30 years," the newspaper said.
The governor of Arakawa's home prefecture of Miyagi said the local government would give her an honorary award.
"She gave the people of the prefecture dreams and hopes," Kyodo news agency quoted Governor Yoshihiro Murai as telling reporters at the prefecture offices, where windows were adorned with signs saying "Congratulations, Gold Medal".
CONGRATULATORY RUSH
Cabinet ministers also joined in the congratulatory rush.
"I was really happy because I thought it was a bit sad if the Turin Olympics ended the way things had been going," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told a news conference.
"I'd like to say congratulations from my heart to Ms Arakawa, who won a gold medal by overcoming adversity and hardship."
Arakawa seriously considered retiring two years ago but decided to persevere until she delivered the perfect performance.
On Thursday, she sounded almost stunned after doing just that.
"I still can't believe it. I didn't think that I could win a medal and just felt that it would be good if I could enjoy the Olympics," Arakawa said on public broadcaster NHK.
"Tomorrow, the day after, as the days go by I think I will start realising that it is reality," she said.
Japanese Olympic officials had originally set a target of achieving five medals before the competition began, although few if any experts outside the country saw that as a realistic goal.
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2/24/2006, 10:05 am
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Re: Torino Winter Olympics Articles, Updates and Results
Freestyle: Aerials, The King is Xiaopeng Han
(From Torino Olympics official website)
Han Xiaopeng won China's first Olympic gold medal on snow when he triumphed in the men's freestyle skiing aerials on Thursday.
The Chinese, who has never won a World Cup event but had topped qualification, corkscrewed through the night air and nailed both his landings to register 250.77 points and edge Belarusian Dmitri Dashinski (248.68).
Russian Vladimir Lebedev took a surprise bronze with 246.76 points from the two rounds of jumping before a packed crowd.
It was China's second gold of this Olympics after Wang Meng's short track speedskating win and their ninth medal overall.
Their two previous golds in the Winter Olympics were both in short track speedskating and their team members celebrated by hurling their Canadian coach Dustin Wilson into the air in the finish area.
"I never thought this would happen," said 22-year-old Han, whose jumps were less difficult than some of his rivals' but much better executed.
"I'm overjoyed with such a win. I feel like I'm in a dream. I'm so happy to win the first gold medal for the Chinese team in history on the snow."
Dashinski, the 1998 Olympic bronze medallist, had looked on course to win Belarus's first Winter Olympics gold medal when he executed a superb effort to lead after the first round.
However, a backslapped landing on his second effort, even though it had a greater degree of difficulty than Han's, cost him victory.
NO REGRETS
On a bad night for Canada and the United States, World Cup leader Kyle Nissen could manage only fifth place. The Canadian paid for a poor first jump that left him seventh.
Another Canadian, Warren Shouldice, who is second in the World Cup rankings, was sixth. "I'm devastated but I'm going to have to stick around for four more years," he said.
American Jeret Peterson slipped from third after the first jump to seventh after attempting the most difficult jump of the night in the second round.
Peterson's effort had a 4.9 out of five degree of difficulty but he put his hand down on the landing.
He had no regrets.
"It was the toughest jump that's ever been done in competition and I'm very glad to say I threw it in the Olympics," said the 2004-05 World Cup champion. "That's what it's all about."
The 2002 Olympic champion Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic and last year's world champion, Canadian Steve Omischl, both failed to qualify for Thursday's final.
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2/24/2006, 10:13 am
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