International Capsules: Vonn dominates in World Cup downhill win
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn dominated yet another World Cup downhill on Saturday, and winning by 1.42 seconds on the Engiadina course.
On another sunny day at St. Moritz, the American found speed that eluded her rivals to clock 1 minute, 43.65 seconds on the relatively flat 1.57-mile track.
"I'm extremely happy with the win," said Vonn, whose eighth World Cup victory this season extended her lead in the overall and downhill standings. "It's been an amazing year so far."
Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, the defending overall champion, was runner-up. Tina Weirather of Liechenstein was third, 1.47 behind Vonn.
Vonn's closest challenger in the overall standings, Tina Maze of Slovenia, was fourth, 1.65 seconds back.
With 100 World Cup points for victory, Vonn leads Maze by 352 with half the season's scheduled races completed.
Barring injury, Vonn seems unstoppable in her quest to reclaim the title she lost last year after winning the giant crystal globe trophy for three straight years.
"Last year I had eight wins for the entire season. I already have eight this year and it's only the end of January," she said. "I'm never tired of winning and I'm never tired of skiing."
Vonn, who won the super-combined event here Friday, got her 49th career World Cup victory and 24th in downhill. It was her third success in Alpine skiing's glamor event this season.
Her margin Saturday was stunning for any racer yet it was her narrowest downhill victory this season. In her two wins at Lake Louise, Alberta, last month, the runners-up were France's Marie Marchand-Arvier and Weirather by 1.68 and 1.95, respectively.
"It's a weird feeling," Vonn said. "I just feel so relaxed and enjoying what I do so much."
Hoefl-Riesch said she was happy just to finish second behind Vonn, matching her best result in what has been a difficult season. She stands third overall, yet with barely half of Vonn's points total.
"It seems like Lindsey is really hard to beat. She's skiing perfect," said the reigning overall champion, who hugged Vonn standing in the leader's box after skiing immediately after her friend.
Weirather, who took the early lead, laughed after being asked to explain the feeling watching Vonn attack her time.
"It's strange because you know she is going to be fast and you are waiting to see just how much it is," Weirather said.
The 22-year-old Weirather moved up to second in the downhill standings, 190 points behind Vonn with four races remaining.
On a good day for the American team, Julia Mancuso tied for fifth place, Leanne Smith finished seventh and Laurenne Ross was 16th.
Mancuso was faster than Vonn at the first intermediate time check, and seemed poised for at least a podium finish until hitting a tough line at a traverse approaching a tight left hand turn. Mancuso moved up one place to fifth in the downhill standings.
Smith got her career-best World Cup result, having been eighth in a super-G one year ago at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
"It was exactly how I wanted to ski. I executed my plan," said Smith, who had been fourth in Friday's downhill portion.
Vonn can complete a St. Moritz treble in a super-combined scheduled Sunday, which includes super-G and slalom legs.
Success at the ritzy Swiss resort was a long time coming for Vonn, who was 25 when first winning here two years ago in a super-G. Saturday's victory was her first in downhill here on the seventh attempt.
Vonn has now won the event at 11 different World Cup venues.
-- Graham Dunbar
Cuche wins Men's World Cup downhill race
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Didier Cuche won his second consecutive World Cup downhill race on a shortened Kandahar course on Saturday.
The 37-year-old Swiss veteran, who is retiring at the end of the season, was coming off his record fifth win in Kitzbuehel, Austria — which was also run on a shortened course.
"I am very proud of this win today," Cuche said.
Cuche's third downhill victory of the season took him to the top of the event standings.
Erik Guay of Canada finished second on a slope where he won the world championship title last year ahead of Cuche. Hannes Reichelt of Austria was third, leaving his team still without a win in a speed event this season.
Guay, still feeling the effects of a cold, had a rocky run on the course, nearly hitting the snow with his hip, then almost crossing skis and going off his line, but made up in the bottom part. Guay does well in the German resort, where he also clinched the super-G World Cup by winning the last race of the 2010 season.
"I always feel relaxed here, I love skiing here," Guay said. "I took some chances today. I hit the snow with my boot, I thought it would be tough to make it to the finish and I was ecstatic when I saw I was first.
"Didier then beat me today, but it's only fair because I beat him here last year," Guay said. "I've no idea why I do so well here, but I feel relaxed and it's a course that encompasses everything that a downhill course should have."
Thick fog forced organizers to lower the starting gate, taking a significant chunk out of the classic course — nearly half of the vertical drop — and making the race about 50 seconds shorter.
"It was clear to me early today that they would have to shorten it, the fog was very thick at the top and it wasn't going away," said Cuche, who also won on the Kandahar course eight years ago.
"It was good to know that we would race and that we would start on time, even if it was shorter," he said.
Cuche covered the 1.17-mile course — down from the normal 2.02 miles — in 1 minute, 9.10 seconds, to beat Guay by 0.27 seconds and Reichelt by 0.30 seconds.
Christof Innerhofer is another skier who seems to thrive on the slope in southern Germany.
The Italian finished in a tie for fourth with Andrej Sporn of Slovenia.
Innerhofer won the super-G gold medal at the world championship last year, silver in the super-combined and bronze in the downhill.
American Bode Miller was penalized for showing up a few minutes late for Friday's draw and had to start 46th rather than 16th. Miller did well early on the course and was close to Cuche but lost speed at the bottom and finished outside the top 30 who win points.
A super-G is scheduled for Sunday.
-- Nesha Starcevic
Pearce says snowboarding not too dangerous
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — The news, for Kevin Pearce, was all too familiar and horrifying.
A star in the halfpipe goes down hard during a training accident in Utah and is airlifted to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. But the stories diverge from there: Pearce's had a good ending. Sarah Burke's did not.
Two years removed from an amazing recovery after a training accident in Park City, Pearce is hanging out and doing some TV work at the Winter X Games this week — games being played in honor of Burke, the freestyle skier whose accident in the same halfpipe led to her death last week.
Despite the loss of one of their stars and the injury-forced retirement of another, Winter X athletes all around the snow park in Aspen are insisting the games must go on.
Pearce agrees that pressing on is the right thing to do. He does not think the sport has become too dangerous.
"These guys are up there doing it for themselves," Pearce said in an interview with The Associated Press. "They're up there pushing the sport and pushing the limits because it's what they want to do. If it was pressure being put on by fans or sponsors or family, then I might say, 'OK, we need to cool this and calm this.' But it's because they love it so much and they have so much fun with it that they're taking it to that level."
Nor does Pearce, the 24-year-old former champion, think there's anything intrinsically wrong with the halfpipe in Park City, Utah that has been the site of two of the sport's most high-profile and horrific accidents.
"It's just bad luck, a coincidence," Pearce said. "The halfpipe this happened in was good. Park City has a good halfpipe. It's just where we're pushing the sport. These things are going to happen. But Sarah's wasn't even a hard trick."
Burke was performing a 540-degree flat spin when she landed awkwardly and sustained the injuries that caused her death. The trick is considered routine for an elite athlete. Viewing the Burke tragedy as a fluke — she just landed wrong — has blunted some of the argument that the sport has become too dangerous.
"It's a very challenging and difficult situation to assess because I think it's the nature of all sports," said snowboarding's founding father, Jake Burton. "All sports are getting pushed to a point where people are risking life and limb. And I think when you talk about it, it's hard not to sort of sound overly conservative or old-fashioned or hung up on safety. But I think we've got to let the athletes do what they want to do and let the kids progress the sport where they want it to go."
It is good, Burton notes, that helmets have become mandatory on competitive halfpipes and slopestyle courses.
Meanwhile, better course-building technology has, in many opinions, somewhat offset the effects of bigger pipes and ramps that make harder tricks possible and, thus, increase the danger factor. For instance, though a 22-foot halfpipe is 25 percent bigger than five years ago, the increased size also makes for a better cushion in the landing areas.
"If you made a mistake on an 18-foot pipe, you were going to land in a flat bottom very, very quickly," said Kelly Clark, an Olympic gold medalist who won the X Games on Friday for her 13th straight superpipe victory this season. "With these 22s, if you pull off the wall, you'll catch some (transition area) and, in turn, it's less injuries."
Pearce's days on the 22-foot halfpipe are over.
He still rides every day, but these are mellow trips down the mountain — nothing risky, because another fall of any sort could cause a setback "and it's not worth it to me, not after how hard I've worked the last two years."
He says it's difficult sitting at the bottom of a run, watching his friends come down the mountain, throwing tricks that he once threw. He used to be one of the best in the world; the guy who might, someday, push Shaun White off the winner's stand. When he feels sorry for himself, though, he thinks about how hard he worked to get to where he's at. Now, sadly, in the wake of Burke's death, he has another thing to think about.
"I'm sitting here (complaining) about not riding in a halfpipe," he said. "But I'm alive and I'm talking to you and I'm cruising, snowboarding. It puts it all in perspective. It makes me realize how lucky I am."
-- Eddie Pells
Grabner, Kober win snowboarding World Cup races
SUDELFELD, Germany (AP) — Siegfried Grabner led an Austrian sweep of a men's snowboarding World Cup parallel giant slalom on Saturday, while Amelie Kober of Germany defended her title in the women's event.
Grabner finished ahead of compatriots Lukas Mathies and two-time Sudelfeld winner Andreas Prommegger for his 14th World Cup win, and first since January 2009.
Roland Fischnaller of Italy still leads the overall standings after finishing sixth. Austria's Benjamin Karl was second ahead of Prommegger, who remained the most successful Sudelfeld athlete after winning in 2009 and 2010.
Kober beat Austria's Marion Kreiner in the women's final to repeat her 2010 win on her home slope and claim her 10th World Cup victory. Ekaterina Tudegesheva of Russia finished third.
Japan's Daiki Ito wins World Cup ski jump event
SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Daiki Ito of Japan edged Norway's Anders Bardal for the first World Cup ski jump victory of his career on Saturday.
Ito finished with 252.6 points after making jumps of 134 and 130 meters on the large hill. Bardal had jumps of 134 and 135 meters but was deducted style points and finished second with 252.5 points.
"My jumps weren't great but the conditions really helped me," Ito said. "I am really happy but next time I'd like to win move convincingly."
In third place was Poland's Kamil Stoch who had jumps of 130 and 127 meters for 247.2 points. Overall World Cup leader Andreas Kofler of Austria was ninth with 228.7 points.
Figure Skating
Wagner wins first title in night of flawed skating
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ashley Wagner is the "Almost Girl" no more.
Wagner won her first title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, salvaging what was an otherwise dismal night of splats and spills with a majestic rendition of "Black Swan." She finished with a score of 187.02 points and then watched as two-time champion Alissa Czisny and Agnes Zawadzki melted down.
When the final results were posted, tears filled Wagner's eyes and she rested a hand on the shoulder of coach John Nicks. She beamed when she climbed to the top of the podium, her smile as bright as the gold medal around her neck.
"I can't even describe how happy I am," Wagner said. "It's been since the junior Grand Prix circuit since I've been on top of a podium, and I almost forgot what it felt like. When I got up on the podium today, it was an incredible feeling and made me realize why I do this crazy sport."
Czisny finished second and Zawadzki wound up third. Earlier Saturday, Meryl Davis and Charlie White claimed their fourth straight title with a performance that showed why they set the gold standard in ice dance these days. The world champions' elegant and seamless routine to "Die Fledermaus" earned a total score of 191.54 points, nearly 13 better than siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani.
The U.S. has been looking for someone — anyone — with the star power and skill to carry the Americans like Michelle Kwan did for almost a decade. The Americans have gone five years without a medal at the world championships, and they came home empty-handed from the Vancouver Olympics. For the fourth straight year, they'll have only two spots at the world championships.
It's a drought the likes of which the Americans have never experienced, and the shortcomings were made all the more glaring this week by Kwan's return to nationals to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Wagner has never been shy about saying she wants to be the best in the U.S., a skater who can hold her own against the Russians and the Japanese.
"No one's going to say they don't want to be national champion so I think I'm not being cocky, I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking," Wagner said. "No one goes into nationals saying, 'I don't want to be a gold medalist, third place is good enough for me.' Why not say what you're thinking instead of putting on an act?"
But she always seemed to come up just short, finishing third in 2010 and missing a spot on the Olympic team. She also was third in 2008.
Hence that "Almost Girl" nickname.
Wagner had a particularly rough season last year. A head injury from when she was 13 was never treated properly, and the bones in her neck began pressing into her spinal cord, setting off "crippling body tremors." It took two hours of therapy each day with a chiropractor to correct the problem.
When the season ended, Wagner decided she needed to make a radical change if she was ever going to achieve the goals she wanted. She left her family and friends on the East Coast and moved to Southern California to train with Nicks, best known as Sasha Cohen's coach.
"I was really nervous going out there because I felt like it was getting to the point where I wanted it so bad," Wagner said. "Then I remembered that I've made all these changes for a reason. I've learned so much in my time in California and I needed to use that new training. Mr. Nicks has done a great job of helping me refocus."
Third after the short program, Wagner needed a spectacular performance and some help from others. She did her part, a refreshing departure after a night of lackluster, one-dimensional performances. Wagner actually used her music and her portrayal of the "Black Swan" character was so vivid, it's a wonder feathers didn't pop out of her back. Her technical elements were woven right in with her artistic elements, rather than standing alone as individual tricks, and she could have been a swan floating on the lake for how elegantly she moved across the ice.
She wasn't perfect, popping a triple salchow and touching her free foot down on her triple flip.
But it hardly mattered. None of the other top women skated cleanly, though some were much worse than others.
Czisny got off to rough start, putting her hand down on her opening triple lutz, and things didn't improve after that. She fell on her second triple lutz and was crooked in the air on a few other jumps. She was saved by her spins, which were gorgeous as always, high component marks for her elegant presentation.
"I'm not really sure what to think about tonight," a subdued Czisny said. "I knew the program I put out there tonight wasn't my best, wasn't what I wanted to do. At the same time, I guess it got me where I needed to be."
Zawadzki won the short program, and looked early on as she might hang onto the top spot. She opened with a double axel-triple toe loop combination that was bigger and smoother than any other jump done any other woman did Saturday night. But Zawadzki is just 17, two years removed from winning the junior title, and she quickly became overwhelmed by the moment.
"I think I started getting a little ahead of myself instead of staying in the present," she said.
She fell twice, crashing on a triple lutz and a triple salchow, and popped a triple toe that was supposed to be the opening jump of a combination. She also brushed up against the boards on a triple lutz-double toe combination. She dropped all the way to seventh in the long program and barely managed to hold off Caroline Zhang for third place.
"I've never been in this position so it's a different feeling for me," Zawadzki said. "I'm happy with what I've accomplished. I'm a little down on the long but happy with the overall result."
Wagner's next challenge will be at the world championships in March. Wagner and Czisny will need to finish with a combined placement of 13 to earn the Americans to spots at next year's all-important world championships, the qualifier for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
"I was on the team that lost the spot, so I really would like to be on the team that gains that spot back. I think that would be nice to tie that back up and put an end to my mistakes," said Wagner, who was 16th in 2008. "It's time the United States makes a claim in women's figure skating, and I think we have the talent here, we have the skaters. We just need to be able to go out there and put out consistent programs with triple-triples and show people that ladies figure skating in the U.S. is not over."
-- Nancy Armour
Notebook: New partnership working for ice dancer Hubbell
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Getting used to a new partner is tough. Even tougher when your old partner was your brother.
Madison Hubbell and her older brother, Keiffer, had skated the previous 10 seasons together, winning titles at the juvenile, intermediate and junior levels at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They split up in May, and Madison began skating with Zachary Donohue over the summer.
"This year has been filled with ups and downs for me. Every competition they play (a) video and there's little clips of Keiffer and I. It happened at Skate America, and I wasn't ready for it," Madison said. "It's been a struggle to get used to skating with someone else in the competitive process because I'm so used to Keiffer."
But Hubbell clicked quickly with Donohue, the junior bronze medalist in 2010 with previous partner Piper Gilles. Hubbell and Donohue finished third Saturday in their first nationals.
Earlier this season they won the Nebelhorn Trophy, an international competition one step below the Grand Prix series.
"Right away there was an ease to our skating styles," she said. "I can't be happier with how our first year has gone, and I'm looking forward to building upon that."
RECOGNIZING KWAN: A day after being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Michelle Kwan was honored with an on-ice ceremony during a break in the women's competition Saturday night.
A video montage of Kwan's career highlights was shown, and she was introduced by her friend and mentor, Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano.
"I was fortunate to see her career unfold and to see the wonderful woman that she has become, a woman with grace, poise and purpose," Boitano said. "Her contribution to skating has been much more than the skating itself. It's in way she conducts herself. People always talk about using the tools we learn as top competitors in other areas of our life and Michelle actually does that. That's what makes her, in the truest sense of the words, a role model."
Greeted with a standing ovation, Kwan fought back tears before saying how honored she was to be the newest member of the Hall of Fame. She was inducted Friday night in the city where she won the first of her nine U.S. titles.
"I'd like to thank all of you, skating fans, for always cheering me on both on the ice and off the ice," she said.
Kwan was the face of figure skating for a decade, winning five world titles, as well as the silver medal at the Nagano Olympics in 1998 and a bronze at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Her success and the graciousness she showed in defeat gave her huge crossover appeal, evidenced by mentions of her on "The Simpsons," ''Will and Grace" and "Wheel of Fortune" that were included in Saturday's montage.
RUDY REVISITED: Rudy Galindo got a standing ovation without leaving his seat.
Galindo won the 1996 men's title with one of the most memorable performances in U.S. history, an artistic masterpiece that had the entire arena in tears. That it happened in his hometown, the last time the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were in San Jose, less than a year after his coach died, made it even more special.
"It took about two to three months for it to settle in," Galindo said in an interview with the event emcee before Saturday's free dance.
As Galindo spoke, his free skate was replayed on the Jumbotron. And just as they did 16 years ago, fans rose before Galindo finished his program, giving him a thunderous ovation.
SMART SKATERS: Jacob Jaffe has another honor to go with his bronze medal in novice ice dance.
The senior at Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio, was one of 10 skaters named to the U.S. Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Team on Saturday. The program recognizes high school juniors and seniors who excel in academics, community involvement and skating, and is open to fulltime students with a GPA of 3.4 or higher.
All 10 members of this year's team were on the honor roll, won academic honors and/or was an honor society member.
In addition to Jaffe, the other members of the team were: Jordan Barone, synchronized skating, senior at Hershey High School in Arlington Heights, Ill.; Jason Brown, senior men, junior at Highland Park (Ill.) High School; Harrison Choate, junior men, senior at Buckingham Browne & Nichols in Cambridge, Mass.; David Cruikshank, novice men, senior at Mamaroneck (N.Y.) High School; Christina Gao, senior ladies, senior at Sycamore High School in Cincinnati; Lukas Kaugars, junior men, junior at Widefield High School in Colorado Springs, Colo; Vanessa Lam, senior ladies, junior at Downey (Calif.) High School ; Esther Wu, junior ladies, senior at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, Calif.; and Michelle Xie, synchronized skating, Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego.
-- Nancy Armour
Vintage Plushenko wins seventh European title
SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — Defying his aching left knee and advancing age, Evgeni Plushenko had a career-best performance Saturday to win his seventh European figure skating title.
Throwing in an unexpected quadruple jump to a compelling routine to "Tango de Roxanne" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, the 2006 Olympic champion scored a personal-best 176.52 points in the free skate to total 261.23 — his highest overall mark.
"I'm called the king by many people and I try to live up to that name. I want to remain the king for a long time to come," the 29-year-old Plushenko said.
If Plushenko is the king, then Carolina Kostner is surely the queen of European skating.
On a day to remember for a relative veteran of the women's competition, the 24-year-old Italian captured a fourth continental title in a six-year span by executing a flawless, if limited, free skate to build on her lead from the short program. Topping both segments, the elegant Kostner finished with 183.55 points, more than 16 clear of second-place Kiira Korpi of Finland.
With 18-year-old Artur Gachinski finishing second in the men's competition, Russia left the meet with seven medals out of a possible 12 — two years before the country hosts the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
The spectators at Motorpoint Arena were already on their feet when Plushenko — dressed in a glitter-lined black outfit — finished his breathtaking routine in a blaze of glory, repeatedly pumping his fists in the direction of the judges.
Even with Gachinski, who led Plushenko by 0.09 points after the short dance, and three other rivals to come, the greatest male skater of his generation knew the gold was again his — 12 years after winning his first continental title.
"I did a little bit of history in figure skating today," an overjoyed Plushenko said.
Gachinski couldn't match his mentor, idol and training partner.
The bronze medalist from last year's worlds scored 161.47 points in his free skate to total 246.27, a personal best too.
Defending champion Florent Amodio of France rallied from fifth place to take the bronze with an overall score of 234.18, ahead of Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic (229.30).
Plushenko hopped onto the podium to collect the 18th major medal of an illustrious career that he is set to stretch, amazingly, to Sochi. He started off in seniors in 1997.
"I felt like I did eight years ago out there," said Plushenko, the only living male skater with 3 Olympic medals to his name. In addition to his gold from Turin, Plushenko has silvers from Salt Lake City and Vancouver.
Plushenko has a history of back and knee problems: He is going to Germany in two weeks for surgery on his left knee, a procedure that will keep him out of the world championships. He said he didn't do a quad during his play-it-safe short program on Thursday because it would have taken three or four minutes for his body to recover.
Lo and behold, Plushenko opened the free skate with a quad toe loop — which earned the maestro 11.59 points — that set the tone for the rest of his joyous, near-flawless routine that had the crowd tranfixed.
The veteran skater denied he had played mind games with his rivals, insisting instead that his medical team had performed miracles.
"Today, the problems with my meniscus were overcome," he said. "Today, I skated at full capacity."
His intimidating score, which was nearly three points better than his previous best of 258.33 he achieved in winning Olympic gold in Turin, left him way clear of the field.
Gachinski, Javier Fernandez of Spain and Amodio were still to come but following Plushenko was virtually impossible.
Needing the skate of his young life, Gachinski opened up stylishly with a quad toe-double toe-double loop and another quad toe, but was marked down on his latter jumps.
"I am still happy," Gachinski said. "This is my second Europeans and I got a second."
Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic was third after the short program but flopped in the free, slumping to fifth and allowing Amodio to climb onto the podium despite the Frenchman not managing a quad.
"It was a difficult experience but I'm proud," Amodio said. "I started to feel like the real Florent Amodio again."
Consistency was the key to Kostner's victory.
After seeing Korpi — her closest challenger after the short program — botch her opening two jumps, wobbling at the end of a triple to-triple toe and placing her hand on the ice after a triple salchow, Kostner knew a safe routine would ease her to gold.
Nailing her jumps, she scored 120.33 points, comfortably the best of the night.
"I think I have done better programs this year but I'm happy how I dealt with the pressure I put on myself," Kostner said.
Korpi captured the silver with 166.94 points despite coming fourth in the free skate, to better her two bronzes from 2007 and '11. Elene Gedevanishvili took the bronze, 1.01 points further back, to bump the Russians off the podium for the first time this competition.
Kostner turns 25 next week, but don't expect her to last as long as Plushenko.
"I admire his courage and consistency so much, especially because I'm sure that coming back from time away from skating isn't easy," Kostner said. "This is already my 10th Europeans. I don't know if I'm going to skate that much longer."
-- Steve Douglas
Speedskating
Parra's memories golden 10 years after 2002 Games
KEARNS, Utah (AP) — Ten years after his golden performance, Derek Parra stood facing the crowd, a giant air cannon braced against his suit jacket replacing the American flag that had been draped over his shoulders.
With a giddy smile on his face, the Olympic gold medalist was shooting T-shirts toward fans who had come to watch a World Cup speedskating event at the Utah Olympic Oval.
And Parra, the Mexican-American skater known more for his Home Depot apron until he stole gold and a nation's heart at the 2002 Winter Games, was loving every minute of it.
"It absolutely seems like yesterday," said Parra, who oversees speedskating at the Olympic venue since giving up his Home Depot job four years after the Salt Lake City Games.
"And I still cry. My heart still races when I show the video of me skating. I know I'm going to win. But I can find myself shifting my weight in my shoes. ... It's been 10 years, and it went by like that. But I still feel what it was like to be in this building with the crowd up to the rafters. ... It was magic."
Parra's life changed that February day, when he won gold in the 1,500 meters after setting a world record and grabbing silver in the 5,000.
He's been to the White House eight or nine times since, enough that he inadvertently called former President George W. Bush "George" during an event on the "lawn" a few years back. And Mitt Romney is simply Mitt, as Parra lived at the Park City home of the 2002 Olympic Games Organizing Committee president, who had chosen him to be among eight athletes at Opening Ceremonies carrying the flag that had flown over the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"I wrote about it in my book, and he wrote about it in his book and now he speaks about it on his (presidential) campaign tour," Parra said.
The 2002 Games, however, elevated more than just the 5-foot-4 speedskater, once so strapped for cash to train he ate food destined for the trash.
Sarah Hughes was the 16-year-old figure skater who stunned the world with a flawless performance in the long program to win gold.
Bode Miller established himself as the top American skier with a highlight-reel recovery from a near crash to win silver in the combined portion of the men's downhill.
And snowboarding caught fire, with U.S. riders Ross Powers (gold), Danny Kass (silver) and J.J. Thomas (bronze) sweeping the half pipe podium in Park City.
"I've been involved for a long time, and to me those were the best Games," said Bill Marolt, President and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. "If you evaluate it in any way — quality of the venues, interest on the part of the local community and enthusiasm — it was a fantastic games."
No one will deny the Olympics put Utah — which will commemorate the 10th anniversary with a Feb. 18 tribute in downtown Salt Lake City — on the map as a winter sports destination.
Skier visits have increased 42 percent, international visitors are on the rise, and more than just locals now know about The Greatest Snow on Earth. More than 70 World Cups or championships have been held since, and 11 Olympic and related events are on Utah's calendar in the next three years.
The 2002 Games also helped make future U.S. teams stronger. Profits helped create an $85 million endowment to fund the Utah Olympic Oval and Olympic Park in perpetuity as world-class facilities. The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association used momentum from the games to fuel a campaign started in 1999 to fund construction of an 85,000-square-foot Center for Excellence.
"My jaw dropped," Parra said of getting a tour of the $22 million Park City facility for elite athletes and Olympic hopefuls. "They brought home (21) medals from the Games in Vancouver, and it's got to be one of the big reasons why. You could basically live in that building and get everything you need."
There are even plans for a school so athletes can get an education while they train.
"It's not the East Germans (of decades past), but it's that kind of system, where you've got everything you need and you're going to produce champions. When I came back (from the tour), I wanted to be a skier."
Parra instead does just about everything at the Oval, sometimes spending 15 hours a day there as he oversees youth development programs to World Cup competitions.
It's still part of the dream.
"They always say if you do something you love, it's really not a job," said Parra, now 41.
The same was true at Home Depot, just a few miles from the Olympic Oval, where Parra continued to work until 2006 because he was still skating and intended to get into the management program.
He drove forklifts like a big kid, hauled mulch and wowed bosses by spiffing up the garden center during late-night shifts.
"Before the gold, I was just a Mexican-American guy working the electrical aisle at the Home Depot," he said. "You could have walked by me and not even said a word to me. After the Olympics, I couldn't get things done because somebody would say, 'Hey, you're the speedskater guy' and I'd literally be talking for 45 minutes."
He still has his medals wrapped in the American flag given to him by a jubilant fan who was seated next to his father the day he broke the world record. The woman had intercepted him as he went to hug his dad, and provided her own hug and kiss along with the flag.
"I take it around as a symbol because in my life, I don't know why, but for some reason, somebody came into my life and helped me," Parra said. "When I was eating out of trash cans, somebody helped me with a job. When I couldn't pay rent, someone went for a night on the town with their wife and I babysat their kids. For some reason these people came into my path.
"People say you never get to the top alone. I'm proof."
As he looked out over the ice recently, he thought back to that emotional victory lap, seeing people in the crowd he hadn't seen in 18 years.
"I heard, 'Hey, DD' and I'm going, 'Who the heck is calling me DD?" he said of hearing a childhood nickname based on his first and middle name (Derek Dwayne). "And it was someone I went to high school with or elementary school or a coach I'd met somewhere.
"It was literally like my life had come full circle and everyone I'd met along the way had come back and was in that building."
The memories sent the tears flowing and his voice cracking again.
Before the gold, Parra said it wasn't cool to be a speedskater. Instead he told everyone he simply worked at Home Depot.
Afterward, patriotism came alive as the games helped uplift a nation still reeling from the 9/11.
"It was like we had this whole country behind (us)," Parra said. "It was so great to be an American, to have that support and have your team there. It was an incredible moment. I would love to have someone else experience that here in our country."
The earliest possibility would be 2022. While officials in Reno/Lake Tahoe and Denver have made known their intention to bid, Utah Sports Commission President Jeff Robbins said his state is in good position should a similar opportunity arise.
"I would love to see it happen," said Parra, who has worked with a pair of skaters at the Oval only 6 and 7 years old in 2002, but now chasing their own Olympic dreams. "It's two true stories of the Olympic legacy, where they were here for the Games as young kids, have stuck with it and if we host another Games, they could be racing in their home country. My fingers are crossed."
-- Lynn DeBruin
Nesbitt breaks world record in 1,000
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Canadian speedskater Christine Nesbitt broke the world record in the 1,000 meters Saturday in the world sprint championship.
Nesbitt, the Olympic champion in the 1,000, finished in 1 minute, 12.68 seconds at the Olympic Oval to break the mark of 1:13.11 set by Canadian Cindy Klassen in 2006 on the same ice.
"It felt really, really powerful and it was the first time this year where I felt like every single stride, I felt a lot of pressure and a lot of power going into the ice," Nesbitt said.
"This was a better race than my Olympic gold-medal race, so that's really cool. I think it's probably one of biggest accomplishments to set a world record and on top of that, one of Cindy's."
Nesbitt is the defending world women's sprint champion. She led after the first day of competition Saturday and will race another 500 and 1,000 on Sunday when the men's and women's winners are crowned.
The sprint title is determined by skaters' times over two distances — the 500 and the 1,000 — skated twice. Times are converted into points. Nesbitt led Jenny Wolf of Germany by 0.56. Hong Zhang of China was third, 0.58 behind Nesbitt.
A slight slip coming out of the first turn in the 500 earlier Saturday had Nesbitt flailing her arms momentarily. The mistake cost her time as she finished eighth.
"I was pretty frustrated after my 500," she said. "I thought I had a good race even though I had a slip in the first corner. Then I saw the finishing time and was not happy with it. It felt better than the time reflected. I was kind of going through all different scenarios in my head before the 1,000. I kind of got a little bit angry and I race well when I'm angry, so I think it was good."
Nesbitt was advantageously paired in the 1,000 with Annette Gerritsen of the Netherlands, a notoriously fast starter whom Nesbitt used as her pacer.
"I wanted to keep her as close as I could and kind of pull her in as quickly as possible," Nesbitt explained. "I was actually able to do that in the first 200 meters, which was unusual for me."
Lee Kyou-hyuk of South Korea led the men's field ahead of runner-up Dmitry Lobkov of Russia and Stefan Groothuis of the Netherlands.
Track & Field
Jones wins U.S. Open hurdles in first race back
NEW YORK (AP) — Every time Lolo Jones cried because she could barely walk, every time she dragged herself to two or three workouts a day.
"It was all worth it," the American hurdler said Saturday night after winning in her first race since spine surgery.
Jones beat a deep field in the 50-meter hurdles in the U.S. Open at Madison Square Garden. She finished in 6.78 seconds to hold off Britain's Tiffany Porter.
"I was such a mental mess the night before," she said. "Just thinking, 'Am I healed from surgery? Am I fit? Am I in shape?' Just to have this one under my belt and with such a tough field — it's just a sigh of relief that all that hard work paid off."
The heavy favorite in the 100 hurdles at the 2008 Olympics, Jones clipped the ninth hurdle, shattering her gold medal hopes in an instant. Before she could even dream about redemption at this summer's London Games, she had to get back on the track. The 29-year-old Jones had surgery in August to fix a tethered spinal cord.
In the first few months afterward, when various parts of her body would hurt, Jones would "freak out" and fret to her doctor: "The surgery didn't work. My career is ruined."
"Typical athlete," she said. "But he's just like, 'Calm down. Your body's adjusting.' And sure enough, after a week, things would go back to normal."
The Jamaicans swept the 50 dashes in a customary show of strength. Former 100 world-record holder Asafa Powell edged countryman Nesta Carter in the men's race, winning in 5.64 seconds.
This is the first time since 2004 that Powell has raced indoors, as he tries a different approach after years of disappointments at major championships. Always a fast starter, Powell was right at home at the especially short distance, 10 meters less than the normal indoor 60.
"As soon as I got out of the starting block, the race was over," he said.
Veronica Campbell-Brown easily won the women's 50 in 6.08 seconds. She is seeking to become the first woman to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the 200.
"It's a step in the right direction," Campbell-Brown said of Saturday's victory. "Each race is preparation for what is to come this summer."
Earlier, 22-year-old Silas Kiplagat showed he had learned well from 37-year-old Bernard Lagat. The Kenyan won the mile, beating the man who had dominated at that distance in the Garden.
Kiplagat, the silver medalist in the 1,500 last summer in the world championships, overtook the American with just under a lap to go and won in 4:00.65. Lagat was 0.27 seconds back.
Lagat won the Wanamaker Mile in the Millrose Games at the Garden a record eight times before finishing second last year. The 2007 world champion in the 1,500, the Kenyan-born Lagat now focuses on the 5,000.
"I feel like I was strong the entire way. The thing I take from this is I'm really ready now" to train to run a fast 5,000, Lagat said.
Kiplagat and other young Kenyan runners were in elementary school when Lagat won his first Olympic medal in 2000 and still look up to him. So Kiplagat was grateful for tactical advice Lagat gave him before the world meet in South Korea.
The Millrose Games moved uptown to the Armory after nearly a century at the Garden, with the USA Track & Field-sponsored Open taking over the space.
Reigning world champion Jesse Williams of the United States won the high jump in 7 feet, 6 inches. American Terrence Trammell, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, won the men's 50 hurdles. Ryan Whiting of the U.S. was first in the shot put with a throw of 69-5¼.
-- Rachel Cohen
World champ Chicherova wins Golden High Jump
ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — World champion Anna Chicherova cleared 6 feet, 6 3/4 inches to beat Olympic champion Tia Hellebaut and win the Golden High Jump on Saturday.
In Hellebaut's return to top competition after the birth of her second child, she soared over 6-4 3/4, the Olympic qualifying height.
She failed three times at 6-6, giving victory in the battle of high jump mothers to the Russian champion. Chicherova equaled the top mark of the season after she cleared 6-6 3/4 for the second time this month.
It was the first competition for Hellebaut since she retired after the 2010 European championships because of her pregnancy.
"From now on, it can only go better. It is clear I still cannot perform at my peak," she said.
Hellebaut set a personal record of 6-8 3/4 meters to win the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Olympics
World ski chief pushing 2022 bid for St. Moritz
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — The president of the International Ski Federation has been to every Winter Olympics in his lifetime since the five-ring circus came to his hometown of St. Moritz in 1948 — one week after his fourth birthday.
The now 68-year-old Gian Franco Kasper plans to help bring back the games in 2022 as part of a planned joint bid with another ritzy Alpine resort, Davos.
Kasper acknowledges that the project to make St. Moritz the first three-time Winter Games host is an intensely personal one.
"My grandfather was involved in 1928, and my father was president — though not for the whole time — of the '48 Olympics," Kasper told The Associated Press in an interview.
"It would be extremely important to me. It's my hometown and my wish, of course."
Kasper outlined the Davos-St. Moritz proposal as the near neighbors enjoyed their weekend in the international spotlight.
While Davos hosted global powerbrokers at the annual World Economic Forum, St. Moritz staged World Cup races in Alpine skiing — arguably the Winter Olympics' signature sport — and luge.
Kasper believes both towns offer the secure, high-class hosting required for a two-week sports festival.
"You need the comfort of the big city but preferably without the city — and that is what you have in those places," said the 12-year member of the International Olympic Committee, which will choose the 2022 venue.
The mountainside towns aim to capture the intimacy of Lillehammer in Norway, the picturesque and popular Winter Games host in 1994.
By comparison, big-city 2010 host Vancouver was 90 minutes away from snow and sliding sports venues in Whistler, while 2014 host Sochi is a Black Sea summer resort with a subtropical climate.
"I hear so many colleagues saying we have to go back to normal size, we have to go back to winter," said Kasper. "To go to capital cities, it doesn't give you the right ambiance."
Kasper conceived the bid idea with fellow Swiss Rene Fasel, the International Ice Hockey Federation president who represents winter sports on the IOC's ruling board.
Around 100 IOC voters might yet be easy to persuade in a poll scheduled in 2015, when Swiss members can't take part. Nor will voters from rival candidate nations, which could include Kazakhstan, Spain and Ukraine.
Still, the Davos-St. Moritz team has a battle to win before even getting to Olympic election day. In November, a referendum of almost 200 districts in the canton (state) of Graubunden will decide whether a formal bid is launched.
Kasper knows his people well — "my family's been here 400 years" — and he's cautious about a possible opposition alliance of farmers, environmentalists and socialists.
"This will be very difficult," he said. "Why should the people of Arosa or Laax or Flims say, 'We shall spend our tax money for the rich people in St. Moritz?'
"If they say no, that is the end of it."
Another concern is that a mid-February Olympics would make Davos unable to host the World Economic Forum in its usual slot, and perhaps it would not return.
A 'yes' vote will prompt an expected $44 million candidacy, funded equally by local residents, national authorities and private backing.
"40 million (Swiss francs)? A banker gets that in a few months," said Kasper, who was noted for easygoing dry humor.
Kasper said a successful bid would likely mean both St. Moritz and Davos get new ice stadiums and Olympic villages.
"They all need apartments for the local people. There will be no so-called white elephants, for sure not," he said.
In fact, many 1948 venues familiar to Kasper's father would be used with some renovations, including the ski jumping hill.
Kasper is a veteran of 17 consecutive Winter Olympics.
"My father took me along in '52 (staged in Oslo) and '56 (Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy) and then I had my own jobs. I think I have probably the highest number. I've seen enough!"
Still, one more at home would be nice.
-- Graham Dunbar
Luge
Linger brothers, Huefner win luge World Cup races
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger won a men's doubles luge World Cup event before Germany's Tatjana Huefner won the women's race, and Saturday's winners lead the overall standings.
The Lingers had a combined two-run time of 1 minute, 46.691 seconds, edging Germany's Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken by 0.040 seconds. Germany's Tobias Wendel and Tobias Arlt were third.
The brothers, who are two-time Olympic champions, got 100 World Cup points to lead defending champions Wendel and Arlt by 15 overall.
Olympic and world champion Huefner timed 1:46.933 to head a German podium sweep with Natalie Geisenberger and Anke Wischnewski. Huefner, seeking her fifth World Cup title, leads Geisenberger by 90 points.
Sailing
Brazil's Scheidt, Prada win Star class
MIAMI (AP) — Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada finished third Saturday to win the Star class in US Sailing's six-day Rolex Miami OCR.
Austria's Nico Karth and Nikolaus Resch finished second to top the 49er field, China's Xu Lijia topped the Laser Radial field, Australia's Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page won the 470 Men's, and the Netherland's Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout took the 470 women's
