International Capsules: Curlers hope condom sales get attention

Brush aside all those stodgy notions about curling.

The curlers are selling condoms!

USA Curling and longtime sponsor Kodiak Technology Group have teamed up to sell Hurry Hard condoms, hoping the increased interest in Olympic sports before the Vancouver Games will help raise awareness about HIV and AIDS. Proceeds will be split between USA Curling and Central Coast HIV/AIDS Services.

"Hurry hard" is a curling term, and the logo features a cartoon of a smiling curling stone on a house.

"The platform that USA Curling can leverage is the Olympic exposure and excitement around the Olympics," said Rick Patzke, USA Curling’s chief operating officer. "I’m sure it’ll bring more fodder for talk shows and things like that. But it will bring attention to the central message, which is safety and education and awareness for safer sex and HIV prevention."

The International Olympic Committee has an "HIV and AIDS Prevention Through Sport" program, and considers it a "moral obligation" to "place sport at the service of mankind." But curlers aren’t exactly the prototypical poster children for a project like this.

They’re not hip or edgy like the snowboarders. They don’t have big names like the skiers. They don’t have high-tech equipment. Their sport has been likened to a household chore, for heaven’s sake.

Which is the whole point.

"It kind of shakes it up," said Kathleen Banks, former executive director of the Monterey County (Calif.) AIDS Prevention, which is now Central Coast HIV/AIDS Services. "I’m all for anytime we can break the mold and help people become more aware."

The idea for the project started when USA Curling’s staff was brainstorming ideas for fundraisers, and someone joked that "hurry hard" would be a good name for a condom. The more it was discussed, though, the more serious the idea became.

According to UNAIDS, of the 33.4 million people living with HIV, 2.1 million are children under 15. Young people account for about 40 percent of all new adult infections, and fewer than 40 percent of young people have basic information about HIV.

"It’s affecting women and children and even older adults now," Patzke said. "It just bolstered my opinion that this is not a bad thing. ... We believe USA Curling can potentially help make a difference in people’s lives in this area."

The idea was mentioned to Kodiak chairman Dan Field, who had a connection to MCAP, and the program took off from there. USA Curling informed the U.S. Olympic Committee of the project before announcing it.

"HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention is a noble cause and the USOC, much like the IOC, certainly supports sport playing a role in tackling these and other terrible afflictions," USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said.

Patzke knows there will be those who won’t approve of the project, possibly even some within USA Curling. But the federation isn’t promoting or advocating sex, Patzke said.

It’s trying to raise awareness and promote education for a disease that has already killed 25 million people.

"The easy thing to do would be to say, ‘Oh, this is too risky,’ to say we’re not going to get involved in it," Patzke said. "But there were enough people who thought it’s a good thing to do, and that we’re in a position to help people. Using sports to leverage things like this is sometimes the easiest way to get more exposure."

-- Nancy Armour

Napier has his bobsled pointed toward Vancouver

John Napier has long been considered the future driving star for the U.S. bobsled team. The future might have arrived.

Napier has one of those everything-fell-together stories that seem to pop up during an Olympic year. His mother and father met at the sliding track in Lake Placid, N.Y. His dad was a longtime bobsledder and eventually led of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation before his death 4½ years ago. His mom remains a fixture at races, charting times with her pencil and clipboard.

And their 23-year-old kid is perhaps the biggest surprise of the World Cup circuit right now.

Heading into this weekend’s stop in Cesana Pariol, Italy, Napier is ranked fourth in two-man bobsledding, fifth in four-man, and is still basking over winning gold and silver medals at Lake Placid two weeks ago before the World Cup tour headed to Europe. At this rate, he’s well on his way to a spot in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the start of which is now only 10 weeks away.

"I still don’t quite believe it," Napier said. "It hasn’t fully sunk in yet. It’s there. I feel like I can’t really touch it yet, though, but it’s an amazing feeling."

It’s going to get harder, though, and fast.

First, there won’t be that air of familiarity that Napier had on the first two World Cup tracks, in Park City, Utah and then in Lake Placid, just two hours north of his family’s home in Schenectady, N.Y. Plus, Napier won’t have the same team working with him, at least for this week anyway, as the USBSF sent some push athletes back to Park City to run an America’s Cup race with Todd Hays this weekend.

Hays is recovering from a strained hamstring and will miss his second straight World Cup weekend.

Having a sled filled with new push athletes would send some bobsled pilots into deep worry. Napier says he’s simply not thinking about it in those terms.

"I’m not letting it matter," Napier said. "There’s so many factors and if I focus on any of them, it’s just going to take away from my game, which is driving. So I’m pretty much letting the coaches do their jobs and I have faith that God will work everything out for the better."

Friday was an off day for bobsledders, before racing opens Saturday.

"The calm before the storm," USA-1 pilot and world champion Steve Holcomb wrote on his Twitter feed.

It’ll likely seem that way for Napier.

He doesn’t have much experience on the first two tracks in play for the European swing of the World Cup season, those being the 2006 Olympic track in Cesana Pariol and then Winterberg, Germany. Keeping those World Cup rankings anywhere near their current placing could be a tall order.

"It’ll be interesting to see how I do with limited trips at Torino and Winterberg," said Napier, who was at the track in Cesana Pariol for a World Cup race three years ago. "But I have a lot of confidence."

Hays is expected back on the World Cup circuit soon, possibly in time for the Winterberg race. Holcomb’s team in four-man bobsledding is the reigning world champion and prohibitive gold medal favorites. The Germans are always going to be strong, and Canadian drivers will know the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler, British Columbia better than anyone by far.

Everyone in that group was widely expected to get to the Olympics this winter.

Napier wasn’t necessarily thought of as a lock to join them. Another medal or two on the World Cup circuit, and that will quickly change.

"It seems a step closer each day," Napier said. "It is a long road ahead and it’s been a long road behind me as well. Every day is kind of a step closer for me, so it gets a little more real every day."

Janka wins a World Cup super combined event

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — On pace to be the leader, Bode Miller stumbled and went sprawling into the snow.

In the midst of a fast run, Ted Ligety straddled a gate and was knocked off course.

Like that, a seemingly good day for the Americans turned sour.

Instead, it was the Swiss who stole the show as Carlo Janka won a World Cup super combined event Friday, with countryman Didier Defago taking second.

Janka had a total time of 2 minutes, 32.26 seconds for the downhill and slalom runs, nearly a half-second better than Defago. Natko Zrncic-Dim of Croatia took third.

Defago led after the downhill portion of the event, but the Americans remained in the thick of things with Andrew Weibrecht in fifth and Miller seventh.

And while Ligety was in 24th place after the downhill, he was heading into one of his better disciplines.

There would be no U.S. skier for the locals to cheer for on the podium on this day, though: Weibrecht turned in the top U.S. finish, 19th place.

"In the downhill, the three guys gave great effort," U.S. Ski Team men’s coach Sasha Rearick said. "They skied tactically smart."

Then things fell apart in the slalom. Miller was cruising along — eyeing a possible podium finish — when he leaned too far forward and lost his balance, going face-first into the course.

"Bode’s still working on his skiing," Rearick said. "He hasn’t had a whole lot of volume so he’s still getting it ... In general, he’s making steps each day, he gave good effort today, so I’m proud of him."

Given the frigid weather conditions — single digits at the start house — and grippy nature of the snow, Miller elected to pull out skis that he hasn’t used in a while for the downhill. He knew this pair could handle this type of snow.

After all, he used them when he won in Wengen, Switzerland, a few years back.

"The snow is perfectly smooth, it’s just too grippy," Miller said after the downhill. "Your ski hooks up and releases, hooks up and releases, even though it’s smooth. It just starts its own little chatter. It’s unusual it happens on a race ski on a buff course like that. I switched to a ski that I knew wouldn’t do that."

Although Miller felt strong churning down the mountain, he said he wants to increase his fitness level after getting a late start on the season. He said it would’ve helped toward the end of the downhill course.

"There’s just a lot of fatigue that goes on, especially the way I ski," Miller said. "If I’m really aggressive, I’m so far on the back of the ski and these skis are specially designed for that. ... They’re unbelievably fast if you ski them that way. I was sort of out of it today, and couldn’t find the right position on them. My strength affected that — if I was a little stronger I could do that better."

Janka has gotten off to a sizzling start this season, picking up his third podium finish. The 23-year-old also finished third in the downhill at Lake Louise and third in the giant slalom in Soelden.

His recent finish has him in the overall World Cup lead, 21 points ahead of fellow Swiss skier Didier Cuche.

Sure, it’s early. But can he imagine winning an overall title?

"The season is long," Janka said. "We’ll see. It’s difficult to say at the moment."

Janka is in the process of regaining his strength after missing most of the summer with a virus that doctors couldn’t identify. Most days, he said he felt like he had a "low battery." Even now, he still doesn’t feel quite like himself.

That is, except on the slopes.

"Still good enough to win races," he said, smiling.

Before the event, he received a vote of confidence from teammate Daniel Albrecht, who won the super combined at Beaver Creek in 2007.

"He just wished me good luck for the races," Janka explained.

Albrecht has been sidelined since sustaining brain and lung injuries in a horrific crash last January in Kitzbuehel, Austria. He lost control in mid-air on the final jump and slammed to the slope on his back.

The 26-year-old Albrecht has said he wants to return to skiing, which would make an already deep Swiss team even deeper.

It’s a close-knit squad, too, helping each other out.

"The spirit in our team is fantastic at the moment," Janka said. "It’s great skiing here."

-- Pat Graham

Bloodied Vonn wins Lake Louise downhill again

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Blood pouring from her mouth, Lindsey Vonn sped through a snowfall Friday to win a World Cup downhill on this course for the sixth time in six years.

Vonn said her knee smacked her chin, causing her to cut her tongue, near the top of the run. Still, the two-time overall World Cup champion from Vail, Colo., finished in 1 minute, 26.13 seconds, more than a half-second better than anyone else.

"I was spitting up blood," she said. "It was so nasty."

When she reached the bottom of the course, Vonn held a chunk of snow to her mouth.

"It just about knocked her out, apparently, but she held on and did a great job," U.S. Ski Team women’s coach Jim Tracy said.

Canada’s Emily Brydon finished second in 1:26.65, the best finish by a woman from the host country in 19 years of World Cup racing at Lake Louise. Germany’s Maria Riesch was third in 1:26.93.

Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, Calif., was the second-best American finisher in 10th.

Vonn has won a downhill at Lake Louise every year since 2004. From 2004-06, two downhills were run annually at this venue, with a single race the next two years.

Friday’s race was shortened because the snow created poor visibility at the top of the mountain. A second downhill is scheduled for Saturday, followed by a super-G race Sunday.

"I feel really good, and I’m skiing with a lot confidence," Vonn said. "The weather is not supposed to be great for the next couple of days, but I know I’ve had bad weather before, like today. Hopefully tomorrow I’m going to try to have a more solid clean run."

Hedrick, Davis give US 1-2 finish in 1,500

CALGARY, Alberta — Chad Hedrick edged U.S. teammate Shani Davis to win the men’s 1,500 meters at a World Cup long-track speedskating event on Friday.

Hedrick finished in 1 minute, 42.14 seconds with Davis was just 0.05 of a second behind. Denny Morrison of Canada took third in 1.42:74.

"I think I’m going in the right direction," Hedrick said. "When I skate disciplined and I come out here and skate like I know I can skate, I have a good chance to win. We’re going to go from here and take this momentum and try to run with it."

Mika Poutala of Finland won the men’s 500 meters in 34.38. Jamie Gregg of Canada and Joji Kato of Japan were both initially timed in 34.45 seconds and awarded silver medals. The ISU later determined that Kato actually finished 0.006 of a second ahead and demoted Gregg to third place.

"Nothing to complain about there," said Gregg, who still earned his first career World Cup podium finish. "Just got to work to get to the top of the podium. I was really happy with the opener but I still got to work on those corners, hopefully (Saturday) I can come and bring another good race and see what happens."

Jenny Wolf of Germany just barely continued her dominance in the women’s 500, posting a 37.33 to slip past South Korea’s Lee Sang-Hwa and Wang Beixing of China, who tied for second at 37.34.

Rising German star Stephanie Beckert won the women’s 3,000 in 3:56.80. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic followed in 3:56.83 and Daniela Anschutz Thoms of Germany was third in 3:58.07.

Gregg is the son of former Edmonton Oilers player Randy Gregg and Olympic speedskater Kathy Vogt.

Gregg’s sister Jessica is on the Canadian short-track speedskating team.

Canadians dominate skeleton race in Italy

CESANA PARIOL, Italy — Canada’s Jon Montgomery and Britain’s Shelley Rudman won World Cup skeleton races Friday on the 2006 Turin Olympic track.

Katie Uhlaender led the Americans with a fifth-place finish in Italy.

Montgomery’s two-run time of 1 minute, 55.54 seconds was about a half-second better than Latvia’s Martins Dukurs . Canada’s Jeff Pain took third, while Americans Eric Bernotas and Zach Lund tied for ninth.

Rudman’s time of 1:57.46 was easily good enough for gold in the women’s race. Germany’s Marion Trott was second and Canada’s Mellisa Hollingsworth finished third.

Uhlaender is still recovering from a series of offseason knee surgeries. She finished one spot ahead of U.S. teammate Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Swimming

Vollmer, Soni set short course nationals records

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Wearing the "old," supposedly slower suits, Dana Vollmer won two gold medals while setting a meet record in freestyle and Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Soni set a meet record in breaststroke on the second day of the short course national championships Friday night.

Vollmer, a 2004 Olympian from Granbury, Texas, won the 100-yard butterfly in 51.39 seconds. Amanda Sims, Vollmer’s Cal Aquatics teammate, was second in 52.96.

Vollmer then won the 200 freestyle after battling Minot, N.D.’s Dagny Knutson for the lead throughout the race. Vollmer won in 1:42.36, .25 of a second ahead of Knutson.

Soni, of Plainsboro, N.J., swam a 58.62 in the 100 breaststroke, beating the previous record of 58.74. She cruised past fellow Olympian Megan Jendrick of neighboring Tacoma, Wash.

In a star-packed men’s 100 breaststroke, Mike Alexandrov of Champaign, Ill., held off four-time Olympic medalist Kosuke Kitajima of Japan to win in 52.07. Kitajima finished in 52.44, and world champion Eric Shanteau from Lilburn, Ga., earned the bronze in 52.84.

Cincinnati’s Nick Thoman won the men’s 100 backstroke with a time of 45.60. Rex Tullius of Port Orange, Fla., got the silver (46.21), edging Matt Grevers of Lake Forest, Ill.

Ukraine’s Kateryna Fesenko won the women’s 100 backstroke in 52.70, beating out Japan’s Noriko Inada and Presley Bard of Napa, Calif.

Peter Vanderkaay, Rochester, Mich., won the men’s 200 freestyle in 1:34.08. William Copeland of Lexington, Va., was second, ahead of Matt Bartlett from Cumming, Ga.

Matt Grevers of Lake Forest, Ill., won the men’s 100 butterfly in 46.28, and was third in the 100 backstroke.

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu was leading midway through the women’s 400 individual medley before two-time Olympian Katie Hoff of Towson, Md., rallied in the breaststroke leg to win in 4:01.95.

In the men’s 400 IM, Robert Margalis of St. Petersburg, Fla. won in 3:45.24.

Olympics

Study finds ‘slight’ impact of games on Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A university study says the 2010 Winter Olympics have had a "slightly positive" impact on the city of Vancouver.

The study, conducted by the University of British Columbia, measured economic, social and environmental changes in the metro Vancouver area between 2002 and 2006.

The report released Friday is the second of four studies required by the International Olympic Committee to analyze the overall impact of the games over a 12-year span.

The report says the impact was "slightly positive, mostly due to the economic and socio-cultural spheres."

Results were largely inconclusive on issues such as housing and environment.

Giuliani to help Rio in pre-Olympic crime fight

RIO DE JANEIRO — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says Rio de Janeiro can become a safe city before it hosts the 2016 Olympics. And his consulting firm will be paid to offer advice on how to make that happen.

Giuliani visited a slum in Rio on Thursday and praised Rio’s efforts to bring order to the violence-plagued areas where drug traffickers hold sway.

Rio Governor Sergio Cabral says that Giuliani’s consulting firm will be contracted to give security advice. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

Giuliani oversaw a drastic drop in crime in New York during his tenure as mayor from 1994 to 2002. Backers attributed the improvement to his zero-tolerance stance.

Hansen loses appeal to keep Olympic medal

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Norwegian rider Tony Andre Hansen has lost his appeal to keep the Olympic bronze team jumping medal after his horse failed a doping test.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday confirmed an International Equestrian Federation (FEI) ruling to disqualify Hansen from last year’s Beijing Games.

CAS says it "rejected all arguments put forward by the athlete."

The FEI also suspended Hansen and his horse for 4 1/2 months and fined Hansen $3,000.

Hansen’s horse, Camiro, tested positive for capsaicin, a banned pain relieving medication derived from chili peppers.

Figure Skating

Lysacek edged in short program; U.S. wins ice dance

TOKYO — World champion Evan Lysacek was edged out by Daisuke Takahashi for first place in the men’s short program at the Grand Prix final on Friday night.

Miki Ando of Japan finished first in the women’s short program, taking advantage of a rare mistake by world champion Kim Yu-na.

Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the ice dance event after finishing first in the free dance with 169.44 points.

Takahashi, making a comeback from a right knee injury, opened with a triple-flip, triple-toeloop combination and completed all his jumps en route to a season’s best score of 89.95, one tenth of a point better than the American. Nobunari Oda of Japan was third with 87.65 points.

"I’m pleased to get such a high score," Takahashi said. "But I’m not completely satisfied as the steps and the spins were a bit rough."

Lysacek was equally impressive, hitting four triple jumps to open his routine to Stravinsky’s "The Firebird."

"This was a good warmup for me," Lysacek said. "I’ve been working hard to overcome the barrier of 85 in the short program and was pleased I could do that tonight."

Johnny Weir of the United States was fourth with 84.60 points followed by fellow American Jeremy Abbott with 76.65. Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic was sixth with 70.17 points.

The men’s event concludes with the free skate on Saturday.

Takahashi qualified for the GP final with a silver medal from Skate Canada and a fourth-place finish from the NHK Trophy. Lysacek won Skate America and finished second at the Cup of China to qualify for Tokyo.

The top six skaters in the regular season Grand Prix standings qualify for the Grand Prix final.

Takahashi was No. 1 when he injured his right knee in practice just over a year ago. With damage to the anterior cruciate ligament and cartilage, he had to forego the 2008-09 season to have major surgery.

Takahashi skated in a tuneup event in Finland in October, but his first major event was the NHK last month in Nagano.

"After the NHK and Skate Canada, I realized I needed to skate with more emotion and I was able to do that tonight," Takahashi said.

In the women’s program, Ando opted for a triple-lutz, double-loop combination instead of a planned triple-triple on her opening element. She successfully completed the rest of her program to finish with 66.20 points.

"I wanted to do the triple-triple but the first landing of the triple didn’t feel right," Ando said. "So I changed it to a double and everything was fine after that."

Kim opened her James Bond medley with a triple-lutz, triple-toeloop combination but singled a triple flip on her second element and finished with 65.64 points.

"I fell in practice and that affected me," Kim said. "I was nervous and wasn’t able to do the triple flip, but other than that I was pleased with my routine and I look forward to tomorrow."

Kim, who had gold medals at the Trophee Bompard and Skate America to finish first overall in the women’s standings, wasn’t overly concerned with the mistake heading into Saturday’s free skate.

"You can’t be 100 percent all of the time," Kim said. "Sometimes I can’t do the triple flip in practice and sometimes I can’t do it in competition. I’m going to treat the free skate tomorrow as a completely different competition."

Russia’s Alena Leonova was third Friday with 61.60 points followed by Canadian Joannie Rochette with 60.94. Ashley Wagner of the United States was sixth with 54.26 points.

In ice dance, Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were second with 168.22 points and Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France were third.

-- Jim Armstrong

Cycling

Italy probes ex-cyclist Bettini’s tax returns

ROME — Olympic cycling gold medalist Paolo Bettini has been placed under investigation for alleged tax evasion in Italy.

Ernesto Ceccarelli, an official with the tax police in the Tuscan town of Livorno, says the now-retired Bettini is suspected of evading taxes on nearly $16.6 million.

Ceccarelli said investigators believe Bettini fictitiously transferred his residence to Monte Carlo, though he continues to live in Italy, to avoid taxes.

Bettini is a two-time world champion and won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Bettini said he knew about the inquiry but not the amount. He said he would "clear everything up at the appropriate time."

CONI recommends 2-year ban for cyclist Biondo

ROME — The Italian Olympic Committee’s anti-doping prosecutor has recommended a maximum two-year ban for cyclist Maurizio Biondo.

A member of the Ceramiche Flaminia team, Biondo tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competitition check by the UCI in August.

The Italian committee also recommended a monetary fine Friday for Biondo, whose case will be heard by its anti-doping court on Jan. 25.