KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2010 / SPORTS
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OLYMPICS
Canada grabs gold medal in overtime
ASSOCIATED PRESS
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Sid the Kid has a new label: Olympic hero.
Already considered Canadas greatest player since Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby did something the Great One never did, scoring the winning goal in overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States in perhaps the most important game in the history of this hockey-obsessed nation.
By winning the final event of the Vancouver Olympics, Canada earned its 14th gold medal - the most by any country at any Winter Olympics.
Wow. Even the disappointed Americans had to appreciate what a Hollywood-esque finish this was.
"It doesn't feel real. It feels like a dream. It just feels like a dream," Crosby said.
As much as it stung the Americans, all they had to do was remember the pre-tournament talk about them maybe getting bronze. Of course, expectations changed when they charged into the finals without ever trailing in a game. But in this one, they got behind early and never led.
"Some day we'll be proud of what we accomplished, but we came here with the belief we could win a gold medal," captain Jamie
Langenbrunner said. "It's going to be tough to swallow"
Still, their silver was the 37th medal won by the United States at these games, also the most by any country at any Winter Olympics. The U.S. won the medals race for the first time since 1932.
Crosby's goal set off a wild celebration throughout Canada. In downtown Vancouver, fans set off fireworks in the street, climbed atop bus-stop rooftops and danced on tables in bars.
Even IOC president Jacques Rogge got pumped up, gesturing for the crowd inside the arena to cheer louder before he put the gold medal around Crosby's neck.
"It doesn't feel real. It feels like a dream It just feels like a dream."
Apolicespokeswoman referred to the madness as "good-natured."
Besides, crowds were likely to slow down for the closing ceremony later in the evening.
The 24-year-old skater from Quebec said she was surprised one of the gold medalists wasn't chosen to carry the flag.
Figure skater Joannie Rochette was chosen to carry Canada's flag into the arena. She earned fans throughout the world by winning a bronze medal just days after her mother died of a heart attack while visiting the Olympics.
SIDNEY CROSBY Canada center
"it's been a tough week for me, but I want ... to walk into that stadium with a smile on my face," she said. "I achieved my goals. I want to celebrate with my teammates tonight."
In the next-to-last event, which finished just before the hockey game started and will be honored at
the closing ceremony,
Petter Northug of Norway won the
50-kilometer classical cross-country race. He also became the only man to win four medals at these games; two gold, a silver and a bronze.
Canada red was everywhere — in the stands at all events and throughout the streets, with the
locals savoring their role as gracious hosts.
"We find ourselves in a brand new culture, and it is clear Canadians have taken a stand for sport," said Marcel Aubut, the president-elect of Canada's Olympic committee, which was celebrating the success of its $117 million "Own the Podium" program.
USAS Ryan Miller lies on the ice after Canada's Sidney Crosby's goal during overtime action in the Olympic ice hockey gold medal final in the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, British Columbia yesterday. Canada won the game 3-2 in overtime.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Closing time
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRE
Short track skater Apollo Ohno, center, arrives with other USA athletes at the closing ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver yesterday. The U.S. team won 37 medals in the games
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OLYMPICS
IOC chief backs skating judges
IOC president Jacques Rogge called the figure skating judging "absolutely impeccable," regardless of what Russia's Evgeni Plushenko thinks.
After settling for silver, Plushenko giped that scoring was flawed because his routine was more difficult than the one by gold medalist Evan Lysacek of the United States.
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Rogge said international skating authorities have made it clear they value versatility.
"If Plushenko wants things to be changed," Rogge said, "he has to ask his own Russian federation to work at the level of the ISU to adapt the rules."
Rogge also called Plushenko, a former gold medalist, a "great champion."
Slovakian athlete tests for stimulant
The IOC said Visnovsky declared on his doping control form that he was taking the medication pseudoephrine and didn't know it was prohibited.
LubomirVisnovsky — a Slovakian hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers — tested positive for a stimulant contained in a cold medication and received a reprimand from the IOC.
This is only the second doping violation of these Olympics. A female Russian hockey player was reprimanded after testing positive for a stimulant before the games.
Slovakia lost to Finland 5-3 in the bronze-medal game Saturday night.
Associated Press