THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006
▼ SPEED SKATING
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 7A
OLYMPICS
U.S. advances to relay final
Ohno leads team to victory in semifinals, Italy also advances
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TURIN, Italy — Apolo Anton Ohno managed to stay out of trouble. With no medals on the line, that's all he needed to do.
Ohno shook off a disappointing start to the Turin Olympics by leading the Americans into the relay final with a vintage short track performance Wednesday night: He put his team out front with a gutsy pass of two skaters and gave an emphatic pump of the fist when he crossed the finish line ahead of everyone else in the chaotic 5,000-meter race.
He also advanced comfortably from the preliminary heats of the 1,000 — an expected result, but one that couldn't be taken for granted after Ohno's mishap on the first night of short track.
The 23-year-old skating star cost himself a chance to defend his Olympic title in the 1,500 with a boneheaded move in the semifinals. Already in position to advance, Ohno bumped the leader in a turn, wobbled and bobbled before regaining his balance, and wound up missing the final.
"It was just total instincts," Ohno said. "I just let it go."
"I know what happened."
Ohno said. "Everybody knows what happened. I had to come out strong."
The only gold medal Wednesday went to China's Wang Meng, who fulfilled the role of overwhelming favorite in the women's 500. The 20-year-old Wang, competing in her first Olympics, led from the opening gun and held off Bulgaria's Evgenia Radanova by the length of her right blade.
Radanova also won silver in
the 500 at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and has three Olympic medals in all. Canada's Anouk LeBlanc-Boucher earned the bronze.
Ohno won a gold and a silver at the last Olympics, and he hopes to lead the men's relay team to its first medal since 1994.
He took control of the semis with one dynamic move, shifting into a higher gear that sent him careening around skaters from China and Italy with 30 laps to go. The crowd let out a gasp, then erupted in cheers at the sight of the soul-patched skater moving so effortlessly from third to first.
China and the Americans swapped the top spot a couple of times before Smith grabbed it for good, then passed off to Ohno for the finishing kick. The leaders didn't have to push themselves too hard after skaters from Japan and Italy wiped out with 21 laps to go, leaving them far behind.
"It was the right move at the right time. It was perfect," said Rusty Smith, one of Ohno's teammates. "They slowed down a little bit, and we took advantage of it."
"It's awesome for me and Apolo to make another Olympic final together," Smith said. "We've been in this sport for a long time, and neither one of us has gold in relay. We have at least one more final in us."
The top two teams in each semifinal advanced to the final, which will be held Feb. 25, the day before the games end. Italy also got in when Japan was disqualified for Takahiro Fujimoto's reckless pass in the turn, which sent him and Yuri Confortola spiraling into the boards.
mericans skate to tie with Latvians
HOCKEY
BY STEPHEN WADE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TURIN, Italy — Medal favorites Sweden, Canada and the Czech Republic started with victories Wednesday on the opening day of Olympic hockey. But Russia, a team that is always a factor, stumbled against Slovakia and the U.S. could only manage a tie against Latvia.
Eric Risberg/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The United States' Chris Drury, left, collides with Latvia's goalie Arturs Irbbe during the third period of Wednesday's Winter Olympics men's ice hockey game in Turin, Italy. The game ended in 3-3 tie.
Eric Risberg/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sweden and Canada picked up identical 7-2 wins. Playing without injured center Peter Forsberg, Sweden overwhelmed Kazakhstan in Group B. In Group A, defending champion Canada beat Italy — the only team of 12 without an NHL player on the roster.
Marian Gaborik scored two goals in the final four minutes, leading Slovakia 5-3 over Russia in Group B.
The Czechs, 1998 Olympic champions, struggled to defeat Germany 4-1 in Group A and suffered a blow when goalie Dominik Hasek had to leave the game after 9 1/2 minutes with an injured left hamstring.
In another Group A game, Finland defeated Switzerland 5-0. The Americans drew a 3-3 tie against Latvia in the day's last game — a hugely disappointing result for the U.S.
When the final horn sounded, the Latvian players raised their arms in triumph while
the Americans slowly gathered around goalie John Grahame.
"We were not expected to win or even get the tie," said former NHL goalie Arturs Itrbe, who made 39 saves — 18 in the third period — for Latvia. "We were big-time underdogs in this game in everybody's eyes except our
own people.
"You can say that this probably means more to us than to the American team."
For Sweden, Minnesota Wild defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist led the team with two goals, which matched his total for the entire NHL season. Sweden
also got goals from twin brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Daniel Alfredsson, P.J. Axelsson and Mats Sundin.
Forsberg will sit out Thursday's game against Russia with a groin injury, and will be evaluated Friday. And there's a chance he won't play at all.
SPEED SKATING
Hedrick won't match record after U.S. loss
BY BETH HARRIS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TURIN, Italy — One teammate didn't show up, another couldn't keep up. And not even Chad Hedrick could do it alone.
ing Hedrick's hope of matching Eric Heiden's record five gold medals in a Winter Olympics.
"The five medals isn't a big thing." Hedrick said. "The most important thing for me right now is to go out and have fun. Things could be a lot worse right now."
Already the owner of one gold medal, Hedrick was hoping to get started on another Wednesday in the two-day team pursuit. But the Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals, dash-
Shani Davis skipped the pursuit to concentrate on his individual races, leaving Hedrick as the strongest skater on the three-man team.
"I can't think what might have
been with Shani there," Hedrick said. "We had a team with good skaters. ... They all went out there and gave their hearts and tried their best.
"There's no one to blame."
Hedrick, KC Boutiette and Charles Ryan Leville lost to the Italian team of Matteo Anesi, Stefano Donagrandi and Enrico Fabris by nearly a half-second after leading through the first four laps.
Boutiette couldn't keep up
with his younger teammates,
lagging about 10 feet behind when Leveille and Hedrick were first across the finish line. The Italians crossed together, giving them the victory on home ice.
A team wins when its third skater crosses the line.
The American women didn't fare much better.
Jennifer Rodriguez, Maria Lamb and Catherine Raney were eliminated from medal contention in the six-lap quarterfinals.
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