Olympic Capsules: Canadian women blank U.S. 2-0 to win hockey gold

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Gold was the only option for Canada’s women’s hockey team. For the U.S. Nordic combined squad, any medal in any color would do.

All of them were quite pleased with the way things turned out Thursday.

The Canadian women beat the United States 2-0 for their third straight Olympic title, this one even sweeter because it was on home ice — and in front of a who’s who list of fans that included Wayne Gretzky, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, actor Michael J. Fox and several members of the men’s hockey team, including captain Scott Niedermayer.

"It’s so special," said women’s captain Hayley Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympian with three gold medals. "You grow up in Canada, you know the expectations."

Up in the mountains, Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane finished 1-2 in a Nordic combined race, a surprising medal haul in a sport that’s been part of the Winter Olympics since 1924 but never had an American medalist until these games.

Demong’s victory is the first gold and his second of these games. Spillane became the first medalist on Sunday, and now he has three, all silver.

"I think it has been building over the past five to 10 years," Demong said. "These Olympics are the combination of years of hard work and hard breaks."

Add silvers by the hockey women and Jeret "Speedy" Peterson in men’s aerials, and the U.S. medal count is up to eight golds and 32 overall. The Americans are closing in on their record hauls of 10 gold of 34 total, both set at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Germany had a 1-2 finish in giant slalom to reach eight golds and 26 overall medals.

Norway’s Marit Bjoergen became the top medal-winner thus far, becoming the first with three golds and with four overall medals by leading the winning team in the women’s cross-country relay.

The lone medal event left Thursday night was in women’s figure skating, with South Korean’s Kim Yu-na a heavy favorite.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY: In a showdown between the sport’s only powers, speedy 18-year-old Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice in the first period and goaltender Shannon Szabados made it hold up. Canada hasn’t lost an Olympic hockey game since dropping the gold-medal game at the 1998 Nagano Games.

The Americans beat everyone else 40-2, but couldn’t get a single goal on 28 shots.

Several Americans were in tears, including four-time Olympians Angela Ruggiero and Jenny Potter, who was joined on the ice by her two children during the medal presentation. The Canadian crowd raised a chant of "U-S-A!" while the players got their bouquets.

"When you give your whole life to something and you come up short, as a team, it’s just awful," Ruggiero said, choking back tears. "It’s a little different than playing on the men’s side. You really give your life to it. You make lots of sacrifices to win the gold medal."

Earlier, Finland beat Sweden 3-2 in overtime for the bronze, Finland’s first medal since taking bronze when women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Finland President Tarja Halonen was among those celebrating.

Considering the dominance of Canada and the drop in quality after the United States, there’s been speculation about cutting women’s hockey from the Olympics. Unlikely, says IOC president Jacques Rogge.

"Women’s hockey is a growing sport," he said. "There is no doubt that in the future women’s hockey will be a hit."

NORDIC COMBINED: This race involved ski jumping on the large hill, then a 10-kilometer race. Weather was another obstacle.

A driving, wet snow and tail wind late in the ski jumping portion ruined the distances for many of the top competitors, forcing them to start way back in the cross-country race. Demong and Spillane were among those to win the weather "lottery," as World Cup leader Jason Lamy Chappuis of France called it.

The Americans weren’t the only lucky ones, though. And Demong did rise from sixth to first, outlasting Spillane and Bernhard Gruber of Austria after they distanced themselves from everyone else. So don’t put too much of an asterisk on this.

AERIALS: Peterson pulled out his one-of-a-kind "Hurricane" jump and landed the highest score of the 24 jumps, but his two-jump total came up just shy of Alexei Grishin of Belarus.

Peterson’s move wraps five twists into three somersaults as he vaults off the ramp and 50 feet in the air. Then, he stuck the landing. Teammate Ryan St. Onge was fourth.

GIANT SLALOM: Julia Mancuso was third fastest in Thursday’s second run of the giant slalom, which wasn’t enough to overcome a frustrating performance in the first run a day earlier. Her Vancouver Olympics ends with a pair of silver medals.

Viktoria Rebensburg won the race, giving Germany a winner in it for the first time since 1956. She was highly unlikely to be the drought-buster as she’d never won a major event.

"Unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable," she said.

Also, Lindsey Vonn plans to ski the slalom Friday with a hard, plastic brace protecting her right pinkie. She broke it during a tumble in the giant slalom Wednesday that left her "a ball of hurt right now," according to her husband, Thomas.

BOBSLEDDER DETAINED: American bobsledder Bill Schuffenhauer was detained and released by Canadian police after an argument with his fiancee, a person with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.

Schuffenhauer, a silver medalist in 2002, resumed Olympic training Thursday and is expected to compete in Friday’s four-man bobsled.

Police released him after finding no evidence of a crime, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

"I don’t foresee any way that he would not race, regardless of how things progress," said Darrin Steele, chief executive of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: Bjoergen joined the growing trend of skiers pausing on the way to the finish to grab a flag. Like the others who did it, she was well ahead.

Norway won its first women’s relay gold since 1984, having settled for silver five times. Bjoergen also won the individual sprint and 15K pursuit, and took bronze in the 10K freestyle. The Americans were 12th.

MEN’S HOCKEY: In the ongoing dispute over whether the NHL will let its players participate in the 2014 Sochi Games, the head of Russia’s pro hockey league says it would be a serious mistake for the NHL to stand in their way.

Alex Medvedev said he met three times in Vancouver with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Bettman is concerned about shutting down the NHL season during the Olympics. He also has doubts about an Olympics in which the hockey would be played at a time when many North American fans would be asleep.

VANCOUVER IS LUGER’S LEGACY: IOC president Jacques Rogge says the death of a Georgian luger will forever be associated with the Vancouver Games, just as the slaying of Israeli athletes remains a legacy of the Munich Olympics.

Rogge said the IOC accepted a "moral responsibility" for the tragedy but not legal responsibility.

"There will always be risk in sport, but it has to be reasonable and the athletes take a lot of risk themselves," he said.

He also expects Russian organizers to make sure the sliding track is safe for the 2014 Sochi Games.

"The IOC has been very clear in saying to the Russians: Please deliver us a track that will not be hazardous," Rogge said.

CURLING: The Norwegian men — and their popular, gaudy, diamond-print trousers — will meet Canada in the gold-medal final after beating Switzerland. Canada is attempting to become the first Olympic curling team to go unbeaten at the games since the sport returned as a medal event in 1998. It earned its own spot in the final by beating Sweden.

In the women’s final, it’ll be Sweden vs. Canada.

The defending gold medalists from Sweden KO’d the reigning world champion Chinese in one semifinal, and the hosts took out Switzerland on a late shot.

Canada blanks U.S. for gold again in women’s hockey

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — They ambled back onto the ice an hour after the medal ceremony, swigging champagne and beer and smoking cigars. While Meghan Agosta and Marie-Philip Poulin posed for pictures with goofy grins, Rebecca Johnston tried to drive the ice-resurfacing machine.

Life is sweet when there’s a gold medal hanging from your neck in your home rink.

Poulin scored two goals, Shannon Szabados made 28 saves, and Canada rolled through its American rivals, 2-0, to win the gold medal in women’s hockey for the third straight Olympics Thursday night in front of a raucous Vancouver crowd ringing cowbells and frantically waving thousands of maple leaf flags.

After Poulin’s two first-period scores, the Canadians dominated every aspect of the biggest game in this young sport, earning their 15th straight Olympic victory. When time expired and the Canadians skated into a massive pile-up near their goal, several cheering fans threw flags over the glass to the players, who wrapped them around their shoulders like superheroes’ capes.

"I looked up in the stands and saw a sign that said, ‘Proud to be Canadian,’ and that’s what I am today," Szabados said. "My teammates were unbelievable today. We played a great game, and this is an incredible moment."

Playing with a consistency and passion its men’s team hopes to emulate this weekend, Canada remained unbeaten at the Olympics since 1998, when the Americans won the first women’s gold.

Earlier, Finland won the bronze medal, beating Sweden 3-2 in overtime.

The Canadians kept nearly the entire game in the Americans’ end — outpassing, outshooting and simply outworking the only team in women’s hockey with a chance of standing up to them.

"We commit. We work hard," said Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser, a four-time Olympian with three gold medals. "It’s up to the rest of the world to catch up. This is not as easy as it looks, trust me."

Let others debate the viability of an Olympic sport with two such dominant powers on top. For the Canadians, it was time to celebrate.

Long after the crowds had gone, 14 players returned to the ice and toasted each other with bottles of champagne and cans of beer. Haley Irwin poured a drink into Tessa Bonhomme’s mouth and Agosta and others enjoyed cigars, the smoke wafting up into the stands.

Gilbert Felli, the IOC’s executive director of the Olympic Games, said he wasn’t aware of the celebration until informed by an AP reporter.

"If that’s the case, that is not good. It is not what we want to see," he said. "I don’t think it’s a good promotion of sport values. If they celebrate in the changing room, that’s one thing, but not in public.

"We will investigate what happened. We will talk to the federation and the NOC. We will first find the facts and then act accordingly," he said.

Canada got two first-period goals from Poulin, the super-speedy 18-year-old forward from Quebec who claims she felt no Olympic pressure. Their smooth, graceful goalie did the rest, with Szabados capping her first Olympics with flawless netminding in a win that sometimes seemed just as one-sided as Canada’s 18-0 victory over Slovakia to open the Olympics 12 days ago.

Much of the Canadian men’s team, which faces Slovakia in the semifinals Friday, watched the game from press box seats above the ice, while Michael J. Fox, Wayne Gretzky and several Canadian gold medalists from other sports were in the stands. Several members of the American men’s team were there, too.

"We kept turning to each other after the game and saying how much we love having the Olympics in Canada," four-time Olympian Jennifer Botterill said. "This country has supported us any time we’ve played, and today was an amazing example of that."

Jessie Vetter made 27 saves for the Americans, whose offense evaporated in front of Szabados and the Canadian defense. The potent power play that produced 13 goals in the last four games went 0-for-6, and the Canadians consistently won most of the battles in a physical, grinding game.

"It stings when expectations are high and you come up short," U.S. coach Mark Johnson said. "It hurts, but certainly I think we are better off than we were 3½ years ago. They are coming home with a silver medal. That’s not a bad thing."

Agosta, voted the tournament MVP for her Olympic-record nine-goal performance, draped a flag over herself and Sarah Vaillancourt. Coach Melody Davidson congratulated her assistants and then shared a long hug with a team manager who lifted her off the ground, her heels in the air.

Several Americans were in tears, including four-time Olympians Angela Ruggiero and Jenny Potter, who had her two children on the ice with her for the medal presentation. The Canadian crowd raised a chant of "U-S-A!" while the players got their bouquets.

"When you give your whole life to something and you come up short, as a team, it’s just awful," Ruggiero said, choking back tears. "It’s a little different than playing on the men’s side. You really give your life to it. You make lots of sacrifices to win the gold medal."

The only matchup that matters in women’s hockey was set up in Monday’s semifinals, when the Americans routed Sweden and Canada clobbered Finland to finish two dominant runs through the field. Canada outscored its opponents 46-2, while the Americans had a 40-2 advantage, with neither team winning by fewer than five goals.

"This rivalry will never end," Szabados said. "It will keep going and going."

Canada’s Jayna Hefford predicted the gold-medal match would be the best game in women’s hockey history, matching two nations with far larger talent pools and financial resources than the rest of the world combined.

It might have been the best game ever — but only for the Canadians, who didn’t waste their once-in-a-lifetime chance to win gold medals on home ice.

After losing the Canada Cup to the U.S. team on this same ice in September, Canada clearly built on the lessons of six straight exhibition victories over the Americans in the months leading up to the Olympics, showing quicker skating and smarter puck movement throughout.

The Canada Hockey Place crowd was hopping from 45 minutes before Potter and Wickenheiser took the opening faceoff, with competing chants of "Go Canada Go!" and "U-S-A!" reverberating through the rink.

Davidson waited until game time to reveal she had chosen the up-and-coming Szabados over Kim St. Pierre, who won the gold-medal game over the Americans in Salt Lake City in 2002. Szabados, who plays on a men’s college team in Alberta, beat the Americans in the final of the Four Nations Cup last fall.

"I’ll never forget meeting her for the first time," Davidson said. "She said, ‘I have to ask you, Mel, can you give me one game against the U.S.?"’

Both teams took early penalties, and the Americans failed to score on a two-man advantage for 39 seconds. Moments later, Poulin flung a quick pass from Botterill through a corridor of four U.S. defenders for the teenager’s fourth Olympic goal.

Poulin did it again 2:55 later during 4-on-4 play, collecting Agosta’s faceoff win and ripping a shot that was simply too quick for Vetter to see. Poulin’s face shield couldn’t conceal her broad grin when she watched the replay on the overhead scoreboard.

"I can’t believe that even happened," Poulin said. "I still can’t believe I have that medal around my neck."

The Americans got nearly 100 seconds of 5-on-3 advantage early in the second, but couldn’t connect. The drought extended into the third period, with the U.S. team putting far too many of its shots high, right where Szabados could see them.

"Szabados played out of her mind," U.S. forward Monique Lamoureux said. "It’s never fun to lose, especially in a championship game."

-- Greg Beacham

IOC wants greater depth in Olympic women’s hockey

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The competitiveness and future of women’s hockey in the Olympics remained an issue on the day Canada beat the United States for the gold medal in a game between the sport’s unquestioned powers.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said Thursday he isn’t ready to banish women’s hockey from the Olympics, at least not yet. The Canadians and Americans beat everyone else by a combined 86-4 at this tournament. Rogge said the IOC will give the sport four to eight more years to build depth.

"We cannot continue without improvement. There is an improvement in the number of nations — and we want to see this wider," Rogge said. "Women’s hockey is a growing sport. There is no doubt that in the future women’s hockey will be a hit."

Coaches from other nations are adamant that they’ve been working to close the competitive gap, but they need resources — chiefly, dollars — to catch up.

"The North American teams’ sports federations have eight times Sweden’s budget for women’s hockey," Sweden coach Peter Elander said after his team lost 3-2 in overtime to Finland in the bronze-medal game. "They have twice as many days together as we do.

"The finances for all teams have to be the same. ... If you want to have a close tournament in Sochi, have (comparable) national programs in all countries."

With his voice rising in anger, Elander noted how the U.S. and Canada have a pool of women from which to choose elite players that is 20 times that of Sweden. He pointed out Canadian and American players play together much more than their European counterparts, who often come to America to play because university hockey for women overseas remains in its beginning stages, if at all.

European females reluctant to move half a world away as teenagers to play college hockey and be educated in a second language often simply give up what they see as a dead-end sport.

Finland coach Pekka Hamalainen agreed.

"Of course, the numbers of players are totally different. We can never compete with the numbers," he said through an interpreter. "Resources, that’s another issue."

Buoyed by the country’s first medal in women’s hockey in 12 years, Hamalainen said the Finnish hockey federation is starting a program after these games to develop a more advanced under-18 team with "the sole goal being to win gold."

Last week, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation said there could be a mercy rule for the women at the 2014 Sochi Games. Rene Fasel also said the lopsided results of the women’s tournament in Vancouver was no surprise to him.

On Thursday, Fasel wouldn’t rule out possible discussion of a mercy rule, but stressed that the women players he’s spoken to are against it.

"This is competition. It’s our Olympic Games, and we just play the game as it should be played. And we have to accept that," Fasel said. "But we are democratic. We will listen to the people. We’ll go back to the specialists, go back to the athletes and ask, ‘What do you want?’ And then we will make a decision."

Fasel also expressed confidence that other countries will catch up to Canada and the U.S, much like hockey becoming more competitive in the men’s game.

"I remember 60-70 years ago, with the men’s tournament, Switzerland lost 22-0 against Canada," he said, before noting how the Swiss beat Canada 2-0 at the 2006 Turin Games, and lost 3-2 in a shootout to Canada at Vancouver.

"We just need a little bit more time," Fasel said. "And the women will (catch up) must faster than we were with the men."

-- Gregg Bell

U.S. men's team focuses on Finland but thinks about gold

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The forward lines ran drills in different colored jerseys. The coaches diagrammed plays on a white board. The players jostled and cracked smiles.

Nothing about this practice suggested that the U.S. men’s hockey team was just two wins from a most improbable gold medal.

The Americans meet Finland in a semifinal Friday, and some thoughts are starting to creep in about what could be in store if this unbeaten team keeps winning.

"That’s only natural," said defenseman Brooks Orpik, a Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh last season. "If you’re not thinking about that, then I think you’re lying. I think that’s good to kind of look ahead. You have to set your goals high, but at the same time not overlooking the game you have."

While few expected the U.S. to make such a deep run in this tournament filled with teams loaded with NHL talent, the same argument could be made for the Finns even though they captured the silver medal at the 2006 Turin Games.

Whoever wins Friday will advance to the gold-medal game against Canada or Slovakia. It has been 30 years since the U.S. men won gold.

"We have a very difficult game against Finland," goalie Ryan Miller said. "They are very fast, they’re very well organized. I don’t think we got this far by looking ahead. We’ve always focused on that one game we needed. This will be a bigger test for our locker room to see if we can keep our heads in the right spot."

The Americans have been on a high since stunning Canada on Sunday in the final game of the preliminary round. That victory clinched first place in their group and excused them from having to qualify for the quarterfinals.

It set up a rematch with Switzerland, the first opponent for the U.S. in these games. Like in the opener, the Americans were patient enough to outlast the gritty Swiss 2-0. Despite a wide edge in shots, the Americans didn’t break the scoreless deadlock until the third period when top-line forward Zach Parise scored.

Parise added an empty-net goal to salt away Miller’s fourth straight win.

"Last game we really stuck to the plan," forward Ryan Malone said. "We didn’t get frustrated. That was a good test for us to make sure that everyone was on the same page."

Finland brings a similar style to the Swiss, Orpik said after a video session. Finland prefers to sit back and try to capitalize on mistakes. With physical players on a smaller, NHL-sized rink, the Finns might look to play a closer-checking game similar to the Americans’ approach.

A potent power play that has produced seven goals in four games has helped Finland make a repeat trip to the Olympic medal round.

"They’re a patient team. Probably a little more experienced and talented than the Swiss," Orpik said. "The key is not take as many penalties as some of the other teams. That has been one of our strong suits, being disciplined."

Discipline and structure are familiar refrains for NHL players, who are creatures of habit, if not downright superstitious.

Usual routines are not only altered at the Olympics, where game and practice teams are generally at odd hours, sometimes typical daily activities are scrapped altogether.

Parise has given up his routine of spending time in a cold tub on game days. All but one of the Americans’ five games in Vancouver have been scheduled for noon.

"It’s different when you’re playing at 7," he said. "I don’t want to be taking a cold tub at 10 in the morning. That’s one thing I kind of threw out. Shockingly I can still play without doing it."

Miller has become more of a celebrity in the past two weeks since leaving relative anonymity while starring for the Buffalo Sabres. He has been called the best goalie in the NHL this season on numerous occasions, and his popularity is rising.

"They have a great goalie, we have to make sure he doesn’t see all the pucks," Finn forward Teemu Selanne said.

Miller has stopped 85 of 90 shots in his Olympic debut and has carried his club with a 1.25 goals-against average while playing every minute of the tournament.

That is enough to make his Twitter trend up.

"That kind of blows me away," the usually reserved Miller said with a smile. "One of my friends said the Jonas Brothers said something on Twitter, and Alyssa Milano and stuff like that. It’s been a little surreal. It’s just very different to me. I am used to hockey just being a cult sport that people just want to pay attention to at their convenience."

With another two wins, Miller and the rest of this group Americans could enjoy household-name status throughout the United States — if even for just a while.

For now, they are focusing on Finland. They have quickly bonded. Each victory has given them confidence that they can beat anyone.

"I’m sure it’s in the back of everyone’s mind, but it’s hard to look past the game tomorrow," Parise said. "We’ve really got to be ready to play. It’s going to be a tough team, it’s going to be a tough game. We have to make sure that we’re ready to go. We’re expecting another really tight, low-scoring game.

"With the excitement after the Canada game, it would’ve been easy for us to have a letdown when we were playing the Swiss — who everyone thinks is a much lesser opponent," he said. "Watching guys blocking shots, laying down on penalty kills, that really can bring a team together and uplift a team."

-- Ira Podell

Americans win gold and silver in Nordic combined

WHISTLER, British Columbia — They swore they didn’t care which one of them won gold to become America’s first Olympic champion in a Nordic sport.

Anyone who watched, knew Billy Demong skied to win. He attacked on the final hill, hustled into the stadium and raced across the finish line well ahead of three-time silver medalist Johnny Spillane, giving the United States a 1-2 finish Thursday in the large hill competition at Nordic combined.

Challenging wind gusts and pelting rain, sleet and snow on the jump hill did little to dampen the Americans’ jubilation.

"I don’t think either of us really cared which one was first or second," Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., said after ending America’s golden goose egg in Nordic sports at the Winter Games by winning the 10-kilometer cross-country leg in 25 minutes, 32.9 seconds.

Spillane, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., was four seconds behind him, and Bernhard Gruber of Austria, who had a 34-second head start after jumping the farthest off the large hill following a restart, was 10.8 seconds back and won the bronze.

Twice before at these Vancouver Games, Spillane was edged for the gold medal on the stadium straightaway, first by France’s Jason Lamy Chappuis in the normal hill race and then by Austria’s Mario Stecher in the team relay Tuesday.

"Whoever was first and whoever wasn’t second didn’t really matter that much," said Spillane, the only U.S. multimedalist in Nordic sports. "Skiing into the stadium down that final stretch was quite a bit of fun."

He knew he couldn’t catch Demong and couldn’t be caught by Gruber, so he had a leisurely finish to relish his third silver.

Demong started in sixth place and 46 seconds back, but quickly caught his teammate and Gruber on a one-man breakaway from the chase group for a three-man race the rest of the way.

They didn’t have to worry about some of the best World Cup athletes catching them after worsening weather in the morning hampered the top jumpers on the large hill, relegating them too far back in the field to be a factor.

The cross-country race was run in much better weather, but the soft, sometimes choppy snow put a premium on the proper wax and ski setup. Unlike the team relay when Demong was done in by bad skis, he had the perfect combination this time to put the Americans atop the podium.

But the damage had been done to the sport’s better athletes, including the top five in the World Cup standings, who had terrible jumps in horrible conditions.

"It’s a joke," Norway’s Magnus Moan fumed of final Nordic combined race at the Winter Games after managing to jump just 112.5 meters in a driving, wet snow and tail wind that pushed him down early.

That had him starting 2 minutes, 21 seconds behind Gruber, who jumped in much better conditions after a restart earlier in the morning. Gruber, ranked 22nd in the World Cup standings, capitalized on a rogue headwind that helped him stay aloft for a top jump of 134 meters.

"It’s like a lottery. Some guys got good conditions, some others terrible conditions," shrugged World Cup leader Jason Lamy Chappuis, of France, who won the gold in the normal hill 10K but started this race in 29th and finished in 18th.

The complaints about the wintry weather didn’t faze the Americans.

"This is an outdoor sport," Spillane said. "And I can tell you that most of the time, the last five or 10 guys have the best conditions. So, it trades off all the time."

Todd Lodwick, America’s only five-time Olympic skier, did his part to help his teammates after also being done in by weather woes.

"Once I saw those two guys pull away, I jumped in front (of the chase group) and tried to slow down the pace," Lodwick said.

It worked perfectly.

"I could see that Todd, in his own way, was doing a job for the team, and not attacking," Demong said. "He was just always at the front, covering those strong guys like Hannu (Finland’s Manninen) and (Germany’s Bjoern) Kircheisen.

"It shows again that we operate on a team basis."

With Lodwick doing his part, Spillane and Demong took turns trading the lead and using tactics they learned while doing bicycle intervals in France during training last year: accelerating and times, decelerating at others, a tactic that eventually did in Gruber.

"They were just too strong," Gruber said.

-- Arnie Stapleton

Grishin wins, Peterson lands Hurricane for silver

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Jeret "Speedy" Peterson always insisted the moment was as important as the medal.

This time, he gets both. Peterson took his high-risk, high-reward career and life to a satisfying new level Thursday night, throwing his one-of-a-kind "Hurricane" jump at the Olympics and walking away with the silver medal.

A victory for a man and athlete who has faced a life of addiction and pain, triumph and tragedy, and stayed in his sport so he might have a moment like this.

"I know that a lot of people go through a lot of things in their life, and I just want them to realize they can overcome anything," Peterson said, tears streaming down his face. "There’s light at the end of the tunnel and mine was silver and I love it."

He took a chance nobody else in this dangerous sport will take — wrapping five twists into three somersaults as he vaults off the ramp and 50 feet in the air. He stuck his landing and was rewarded by the judges.

Peterson’s score — 128.62 — was the highest awarded for any of the 24 jumps on a clear, cold night at Cypress Mountain. But his total — 247.21 — was 1.2 short of Belarussian Alexei Grishin, who was judged to be a bit more technically precise, if not quite as daring.

Grishin added the gold to the bronze he won in 2002. Liu Zhongqing of China took bronze. Peterson took the silver and got to prove, finally, that you can do both — put on the best show and have something show for it at the Olympics.

After landing his patented jump, American coach Matt Christensen shouted from the top, "You did it! You did it!" Peterson started pumping his fists in celebration and skied over to an American cheering section that included U.S. teammate Emily Cook, whose injury in 2002 gave Peterson the first of his three Olympic spots.

Peterson was an also-ran in 2002. His trip to Turin four years later will be remembered mostly for what happened after he threw the Hurricane and finished seventh. He celebrated that night, saying, "I came to throw the Hurricane, and I threw the Hurricane." A nice story that was overshadowed, however, when he was sent home early after a minor scuffle with a buddy in the street.

Only later did the depths of his personal problems really come to light. He was still reeling from the suicide of a friend, who shot himself in front of Peterson only months before.

There were problems with alcohol and depression, his own thoughts of suicide.

The feel-good story about Peterson winning $550,000 playing blackjack one night took a bad turn; he gave some of it to friends, lost the rest in the tanking real estate market. He declared bankruptcy and decided to start over and get into the construction business, where he could leave after a day of work and see the actual progress, not have to analyze it on video.

But he never lost his main passion — the adrenaline rush he got from aerials. To stay in the sport, he insisted he had to go all-out.

Thus, the "Hurricane" — which was the only way he could describe how it felt when his body started twirling, his sight lines blurred, the snow whirling around him during that magical three seconds in the air.

Win or lose, he insisted, this was the only way to fly. And maybe the only way to try to nudge a sport that has grown increasingly stagnant — still beautiful and athletic, but not being pushed the way it once was, say, back in 2002, when Ales Valenta of the Czech Republic won the Olympics with a five-twist jump that was even more difficult than Peterson’s.

Valenta is gone and Peterson is now among the very few who will take these kind of chances anymore. Only one other jumper, Thomas Lambert of Switzerland, did a version of the five-twisting jump Thursday night, and he finished in last place.

Peterson’s teammate, Ryan St. Onge, lost the bronze to Liu by 2.5 points and a promising night for Canada, which qualified three jumpers into the final, turned into a bust.

Kyle Nissen held a 6-point lead after his first jump, but on his second, with a gold medal on the line, his landing was rough — his right ski came all the way off the ground. He dropped to fifth place.

One jump earlier, Grishin put down the second of two arrow-straight jumps — winners on most nights when Peterson isn’t on his game, and some nights when he is. It brought the first gold of the Olympics to Belarus, which has topnotch aerials programs on both the men’s and women’s side.

Hard, though, to call Peterson a loser.

A man who knows all about victory and defeat, he has long insisted he didn’t need a medal to prove himself as a person. Doubtful his attitude will change now.

Not a bad prize to take home from the Olympics, though.

"I’m so happy," Peterson said. "This is the best day of my life. It’s my reward for fighting through everything."

-- Eddie Pells

Kim Yu-na wins gold with record score

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Kim Yu-na put one hand to her mouth and let the tears flow.

All that pressure, so many expectations. The "Queen" took it all on and delivered royally.

The South Korean won the Olympic gold medal Thursday night, soaring to a world-record 228.56 points and shattering her previous mark by more than 18 points. It may go down as one of the greatest performances in figure skating history, and it’s sure to set off wild celebrations from Seoul to Pyongchang. It’s South Korea’s first medal at the Winter Olympics in a sport other than speedskating.

Even Kim seemed to be dazzled by the show she put on, gasping when she saw the monstrous score. Coach Brian Orser gave a Rocky-like victory pump, shaking his clasped fists over each shoulder.

"I can’t believe this day has finally come for me," Kim said.

Longtime rival Mao Asada of Japan won the silver medal, but it was no contest — even with Asada landing both her triple axels, one in combination with a double toe loop. Joannie Rochette, skating four days after the sudden death of her mother, won the bronze, giving Canada its first women’s medal since Liz Manley’s silver in 1988.

The Americans, meanwhile, are going home without at least one medal for only the second time since 1952. The other time? 1964, three years after a plane crash wiped out the entire U.S. team on its way to the world championships.

Mirai Nagasu was fourth while U.S. champion Rachael Flatt dropped to seventh.

Kim came in bearing almost incomprehensible pressure. Not only was the reigning world champ the biggest favorite since Katarina Witt in 1988 — she’s lost just one competition over the last two seasons — she carried the weight of an entire nation on her slim shoulders.

The most popular athlete in South Korea, she’s been dubbed "Queen Yu-na" — check out the sparkly crowns that twinkle in her ears — and she needs bodyguards whenever she returns home from her training base in Toronto. Anything she does creates a frenzy, and even a simple practice draws a rinkful of photographers.

Kim seemed to shrug it all off earlier this week, saying after the short program that it felt like any other competition. But it was clear Thursday that it meant so much more — for her and Orser, a two-time Olympic silver medalist who was devastated to lose the "Battle of the Brians" to American Brian Boitano in ‘88.

She grinned as she hopped up to the top spot on the podium, tugging at the bottom of her dress. When the gold medal was put around her neck, she kissed both sides and held it up. Her lip quivered when the South Korean anthem began, and then came the tears.

"I don’t know why I cried," Kim said. "This is the first time I have cried after my performance and I’m surprised I cried."

There were simply no visible flaws in Kim performance, from her skating to her expressions to that lovely cobalt blue dress. While other skaters slow down as they approach their jumps to steady themselves, she hurtles into them at full speed yet touches down with feathery lightness. Her connecting steps are like art on ice, and her edges show not even the slightest hint of a harsh scrape, just the sound of her crisp edge. Her spins were centered so perfectly the tracings look as if they were made with a protractor, and she’s got to be quadruple-jointed with all the positions she manages in her combination spins.

But what really makes her transcendent is her performance skills. She breathed life into Gershwin’s "Concerto in F," moving across the ice like notes on a score. As the music lifted the first time, she put one hand on the small of her back and gave a flirty little smile that set shutters clicking throughout the building.

When she finished, you could almost see the pressure fall away as Kim bent over and cried. The tears fell no matter how hard she tried to blink them back, and she held up her hands helplessly when she reached Orser. So many stuffed toys and flowers littered the ice the full complement of sweepers had to be deployed — not once, but twice.

It almost wasn’t fair that Asada, skating next, had to try and one-up that.

She couldn’t. Not even close.

Asada, who has swapped titles with Kim since their junior days, is one of the few women who even tries a points-packing triple axel, and she did two on this night. But she melted down later, stumbling on the footwork into her triple toe and forcing her to cut it to a single.

Asada looked stone-faced as she waited for her marks. She didn’t even crack a smile when she got her silver medal.

"The triple axel I landed I’m happy with," Asada said, "but I’m not satisfied with the rest of my performance today."

For Rochette, the medal is a culmination of "a lifelong project with my mom." Therese Rochette, 55, had a massive heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate, and Rochette has been the picture of courage this week.

Supported by her father, Normand, and longtime coach Manon Perron, Rochette decided to go ahead and compete. Her performance Thursday wasn’t perfect; she two-footed and stepped out of a triple flip, and had shaky landings on a couple of other jumps. But she made up for those errors with an emotional and expressive portrayal of "Samson and Delilah."

"I feel proud and the result didn’t matter," Rochette said. "I’m happy to be on the podium."

-- Nancy Armour

Paerson, Vonn go in 5th and final Olympic race

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Bruised and weary, Anja Paerson and Lindsey Vonn will summon a final effort in Friday’s slalom to complete their five-event Olympics program.

Defending champion Paerson tries for a record seventh career medal in women’s Olympic Alpine racing still hobbling after her horrific crash in last week’s downhill won by Vonn.

The 25-year-old American starts despite breaking her right pinkie crashing out in the first run of the giant slalom on Wednesday.

Fresh challengers await them. Austria’s Marlies Schild and Susanne Riesch of the surging German squad arrive at the Vancouver Games focused on their specialty event.

There is also Susanne’s elder sister, Maria, who has super-combined gold and is the slalom world champion.

Paerson says she’s ready to defend her slalom title from the 2006 Turin Games.

"Wouldn’t it be awesome if I won it again?" she said after placing 22nd in the delayed finish of the giant slalom Thursday. "No one believes it, so I’m going to prove everybody wrong."

The 28-year-old Paerson, who came to Canada with sore knees, said her left leg still feels numb from landing badly after she flew high and far off the final jump in the downhill. Yet the Swedish great defied the pain 24 hours later to get a super-combined bronze and tie former rival Janica Kostelic of Croatia as the most decorated women in Alpine history with six career medals.

"I’m feeling pretty tired. But sometimes the last race gives you more energy," Paerson said.

Vonn could have sat out the slalom with her sore right shin and cracked right pinkie, and get valuable rest before resuming defense of her World Cup overall title in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, next week.

But Vonn’s husband, Thomas, said the pain was "manageable" in two training runs Thursday, and the U.S. Ski team confirmed that she will join Sarah Schleper, Hailey Duke and Megan McJames in the lineup.

With no U.S. skier on the GS podium Thursday, the men and women’s combined medal tally is now eight from eight events.

Germany has just two medals, but they’re both gold: 20-year-old Viktoria Rebensburg in the giant slalom and Maria Riesch in the super-combined.

"We are totally relaxed for the slalom," said Germany’s Alpine director, Wolfgang Maier. "We have now two medals and this is more than anybody can expect for us."

Many expect another German medal Friday.

Maria Riesch leads the season-long World Cup slalom standings, while Susanne — three years younger at 22 — has had two top-3 finishes.

"Maria is the leader in the team. She brings the success over years and she develops the racers forward," Maier said.

Austria will field two winners of World Cup slaloms this season, in Schild and Kathrin Zettel.

Schild, who took bronze behind Paerson in Turin, won both times on home snow at Lienz and Flachau.

Zettel got her victory at Maribor, Slovenia, and aims to rebound after walking away sadly from her fifth place in the GS. She was fourth in super-combined.

Sandrine Aubert also has two wins this season — at Are, Sweden, and Zagreb, Croatia — and a medal for her would be an Alpine first for France, if not exactly the official French team.

The 28-year-old Aubert trains independently after falling out with national team coaches.

Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic could also help keep France, Canada and Italy out of the medals for a ninth time.

After four races on the Franz’s Run slope, the women will switch to the adjoining men’s Dave Murray course for their slalom. And they won’t ski there before it counts.

The Whistler weather has altered schedules and snow conditions so much that the surface needs to be protected for the women’s race and the men’s on Saturday. Each will have about 100 starters.

"They don’t let us in for free-skiing so it will be unusual for me," said world championship bronze medalist Tanja Poutiainen. "But I understand that conditions are not good and the snow is not good."

The 29-year-old Finn fine-tuned her Olympic preparations in the heat of Palm Springs, Calif., last week as Paerson, Vonn and others toiled in the rain, fog, sleet, snow and occasional sunshine.

"It’s been a tough two weeks for us," Paerson said. "But it’s the Olympics and you have to charge it."

Paerson has not committed to aiming for the 2014 Sochi Games.

If Friday is her Olympics farewell, she would like to go out in style, wearing race-day earrings designed by her mother Madeleine in the shape of the Olympic rings.

"Last Olympics I got a necklace. This year I got the earrings," she said. "I feel like I can wear them in gold because I have won gold medals. Hopefully I can get one."

-- Graham Dunbar

Vonn plans to race wearing brace on right pinkie

WHISTLER, British Columbia — It will take more than a broken pinkie to stop Lindsey Vonn’s pursuit of Olympic glory.

The two-time World Cup overall champion from Vail, Colo., will put a plastic brace on her injured finger, wear a mitten over it instead of a ski glove — even tape the ski pole to her hand if she has to — and climb into the starting gate as scheduled for Friday’s slalom.

Did you expect anything less?

It’s the last women’s Alpine event of the Vancouver Games, and Vonn is trying to become the first American woman to medal in three of them in the same Olympics.

Vonn cracked the base of her right little finger and tweaked her shin and back when she crashed during the first run of Wednesday’s giant slalom. She tested the finger in a series of practice runs Thursday and was satisfied that she can race.

"Training was OK," Vonn wrote on her Facebook page. "I still feel pretty beat up after my crash in GS yesterday. I was able to modify one of my gloves and make a brace for my right hand. It seemed to work without too much pain, so I will try and race tomorrow."

Her husband, Thomas Vonn, said in an interview with The Associated Press that she’s "a ball of hurt right now," but the pain is "manageable."

"After taking a fall like that, you’re always going to wake up sore," he said. "You never know how your body is going to adapt the next day. You could wake up fine or ‘Whoa, I can’t move.’ She was just sore."

Lindsey Vonn took three low-intensity runs through a slalom course Thursday, each one for a different purpose. The first pass was simply to see if she could ski at all, given her sore back, finger and shin.

She could.

The second and third runs were to see how well the finger held up banging into the gates — a common occurrence in the slalom — and if the protective padding around her hand would be sufficient.

No problems there, either.

"The goal was to find a solution so the pain was moderated enough to do it," Thomas Vonn said. "Fortunately, we have a history with hand injuries."

Last February, Lindsey Vonn sliced her thumb open on a champagne bottle during a photo op gone bad, forcing her to race the rest of the season with her pole taped to her glove.

"It’s more similar than we could’ve imagined," Thomas Vonn said of the injured pinkie.

The 25-year-old Vonn is no stranger to injury, especially at these Olympics. She entered the games with a badly bruised right shin, the result of a crash during slalom training in Austria on Feb. 2. She even tried wrapping her leg in topfen, an Austrian curd cheese said to reduce swelling.

Still, the injury remained so painful that she struggled to slip on a ski boot in her hotel, let alone ski down a slope, and worried at one point if she would be able to compete in one event, let alone all five.

Using painkillers and a numbing cream, Vonn was able to get the shin ready for competition, winning a gold in downhill and a bronze in super-G.

She crashed out of two other events. She hooked a tip on a gate in the slalom portion of the super-combined and then, spun out of control in the giant slalom, slid across the snow and slammed into the netting. Somewhere along the way — she’s really not sure where — she injured her finger.

Even fully healthy, Vonn would hardly be the favorite in the slalom.

That tag belongs to her close friend, Germany’s Maria Riesch, the World Cup slalom leader this season.

And, even with a sore left calf, Sweden’s Anja Paerson remains a top contender as well. She is the defending Olympic champion and is attempting to become the most decorated woman in Alpine history. With a bronze in the super-combined last week, Paerson tied Croatia’s Janica Kostelic with six career medals.

"Wouldn’t it be awesome if I won it again?" said Paerson, herself still feeling the effects of a bad landing in the downhill last week. "No one believes it, so I’m going to prove everybody wrong."

For Vonn, the last race at these Olympics is quite similar to her first — managing pain in order to compete.

"She’ll be ready," Thomas Vonn said. "You lay it all out there in the Olympics."

-- Pat Graham

U.S. bobsledder detained, released by police

WHISTLER, British Columbia — American bobsledder Bill Schuffenhauer was detained and released by Canadian police after an argument with his fiancee, a person with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.

Schuffenhauer resumed Olympic training Thursday and is expected to compete in Friday’s four-man bobsled.

Police released him after finding no evidence of a crime, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

"I didn’t get to talk to him about it," said Mike Kohn, the driver of the sled that Schuffenhauer helps push. "There’s an ongoing investigation. I don’t know the facts. We’re just trying to focus on the race right now. He’s going through a tough time and we’re going to focus on the race."

Darrin Steele, chief executive of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, said Schuffenhauer was not arrested.

"It looks like nothing further is going to happen," Steele said. "Looking at the whole thing I don’t foresee any way that he would not race, regardless of how things progress."

Canadian police declined comment, citing privacy laws. Schuffenhauer was not made available to reporters after training Thursday.

"We understand that late last evening Bill Schuffenhauer, a member of the U.S. Bobsled team, was detained and released by authorities in Whistler," USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said in a statement. "At this point we are awaiting further details."

The 36-year-old Schuffenhauer is a pushman for USA-3, driven by Kohn and also pushed by Jamie Moriarty and Nick Cunningham. None of the three offered any specifics about the circumstances surrounding Schuffenhauer, though all said after Thursday’s training session that their teammate was going about his work normally.

Schuffenhauer won a silver medal in four-man at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

-- Tom Withers

Notebook: Mancuso dedicates giant slalom to friend’s memory

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Julia Mancuso skied with a heavy heart, dedicating her final performance of the Vancouver Olympics to the memory of her friend C.R. Johnson.

Johnson was a professional free skier who competed in the Winter X Games. He skied out of Squaw Valley, Calif., which is also where Mancuso lives and trains. He died Wednesday in a face-first fall into a steep, rocky area of the resort.

"I’m really out here to ski for him," Mancuso said after her giant slalom run. She had the third-best time Thursday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a slow time Wednesday. That poor performance came after a restart because starters allowed her to begin her turn while teammate Lindsey Vonn was still down on the course after a fall.

"After everything yesterday, having to do two runs, and then getting home and finding out that my friend died, I remember how much fun skiing is," Mancuso said. "Skiing is not a safe sport all the time, especially if you want to push it. But, it’s fun and I love it."

Johnson competed in superpipe and halfpipe skiing at events such as the X Games.

ERUZIONE SHOOTS ... : This run by the U.S. men’s hockey team has been good, but not "Miracle on Ice" caliber, according to Mike Eruzione, captain of that 1980 squad.

"It’s night and day — there is no comparison," Eruzione said in Jupiter, Fla., after speaking to the St. Louis Cardinals. "To compare them beating Canada to us beating the Soviets, it’s not even close."

Eruzione spoke to the Americans before their Olympic opener. He’s not planning to return to Vancouver unless he’s invited.

"This isn’t my team, this is their team," Eruzione said. "This is their moment. This is their time to enjoy the success. Hopefully they will be in the gold medal game. Hopefully they will win a gold medal and it’ll be a great moment for them."

Eruzione was in South Florida for a golf tournament, then went to dinner with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa on Wednesday night. La Russa then asked him to talk to the club.

"My first love growing up was baseball so it was nice for me to get to meet them," he said.

ODD MAN OUT: This Norwegian cross-country skier is one standup guy.

"My name is Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset," he said by way of introduction at his news conference. "I skied the second lap, and I messed up today."

"Messed up" is a bit of decorous language he used in assessing his performance. Norway finished with the silver medal in the 4x10-kilometer relay that was won by Sweden.

Forgive Hjelmeset if he has performance issues. He admits he needs another outlook on life.

"I think I have seen too much porn in the last 14 days," he said Wednesday, clearly enjoying his provocative departure from what is usually a staid post-race news conference. His remarks were listed among the organizers’ "quotes of the day" collection.

Hjelmeset also wants people to know he is of generous spirit.

"By the way," he added, "Tiger Woods is a really good man."

TUNING IN: Big surprise — a lot of Canadians were tuned in for their national team’s 7-3 win over Russia in hockey. But it wasn’t another record audience.

The game was watched by an averaged of 10.5 million viewers on various Canadian broadcast outlets, a tick behind the 10.6 million that watched Canada lose to the United States on Sunday.

The opening ceremony also set a record, although that was shattered by the U.S.-Canada game.

LIKE TINA, LIKE BODE: Tina Maze took a Bode Miller-like path to Olympic success and was rewarded with a second Alpine silver medal Thursday.

The Slovenian split from her national team two years ago, creating a self-funded, three-man coaching team. It’s worked out as she picked up a silver Thursday in the giant slalom, her specialty, to go along with a silver in the super-G last week.

"These medals are payment for all we did," said Maze, who also won GS silver at the world championships last season.

Miller also went his individual way to fund a personal team from 2007-09, and won a World Cup overall title. He rejoined the national team, though, and has won three medals at the Vancouver Games.

Maze did not sound ready Thursday to return to the Slovenia fold.

"Sometimes it’s impossible to work with some people," she said. "We just didn’t find the solution together so now it is the way it is. The team I have now is really focused on success and nothing else."

Lookahead: Final races for Vonn, Ohno

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — She breezes down the slopes, her blonde hair flapping. He scoots around the short track sporting that famous soul patch, navigating tight quarters in every speedskating race.

Big names already when the Vancouver Olympics started, Lindsey Vonn and Apolo Anton Ohno have lived up to the hype, fighting through occasional adversity to win a couple medals apiece.

Yet each has some unfinished business.

"I’m still here. The Olympics isn’t over yet," Ohno said earlier this week. "I am representing the U.S.A. I want to race my best all the way through."

Ohno competes in the 500 meters and the 5,000 relay Friday, his last two events of the Vancouver Games. Vonn’s swan song is the same day when she skis in the slalom. Both events will be aired in prime time by NBC.

Also Friday, American Tim Burke competes in a biathlon relay, hoping to salvage what has been a disappointing Olympics. That race is also the final chance for Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen to win gold at the 2010 Games.

Meanwhile, Canada and the United States are inching toward a dramatic matchup for the gold medal in men’s hockey. The U.S. plays Finland in one semifinal Friday, and Canada takes on Slovakia in the other.

If the U.S. wins that hockey gold, it could be the biggest American story of these Olympics. There have been plenty of others already. Vonn figured to be one of the headliners at these games, but her Olympics were in doubt at the start thanks to a shin injury. She fought through that to win gold in the downhill and bronze in the super-G.

She’s motivated enough for more that she’ll compete in the slalom — hardly her strongest event — after breaking a pinkie in the giant slalom Wednesday.

Ohno became the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian when he earned his seventh career medal. He has a silver and a bronze at these games, the latter coming after a slip forced him to rally furiously from last place to third. So far, gold has eluded him this year. He won Olympic titles in the 1,500 in 2002 and the 500 four years ago.

He was part of a 5,000 relay team that finished third in the 2006 Games. In the relays, teams of skaters tag in and out trying to keep fresh legs on the ice and set up the strongest competitor to be out for the final lap — good luck trying to follow all that as it’s happening.

"Just watch the last four laps, that’s all that really matters," Ohno suggested. "Kind of like an NBA game, just kind of show up in the fourth quarter."

Burke and Bjoerndalen wrap up their Olympics with a relay as well. Burke came to the games hoping to provide a biathlon breakthrough for the U.S., but he’s been a non-factor, finishing 18th in one race and out of the top 40 in three others. He’ll compete in the relay, but the U.S. isn’t expected to medal.

Bjoerndalen won a gold at the 1998 Games and four more in 2002, establishing himself as a biathlon great. He won silver in a 20-kilometer race this year, but that’s his only medal and he’s been out of the top 15 twice.

"These Olympic Games are very disappointing for me. Horrible," he said after placing 27th in the 15-kilometer mass start Sunday. "In the relay, we still have a chance. Everything can happen in relay."

NBC will include the biathlon as part of its late-night coverage. Earlier, NBC will air the U.S.-Finland hockey semifinal. The game will be broadcast live in all time zones — the network showed the Americans’ quarterfinal victory over Switzerland on tape delay in the Mountain time zone and for the West Coast.

The U.S. beat Canada 5-3 last weekend, and any rematch would be for gold. The Canada-Slovakia semifinal will be aired on CNBC.

-- Noah Trister

A look at the Vancouver Olympics on Friday

It’s time for Lindsey and Apolo to make their exits. Lindsey Vonn will ski her final Alpine race of the Vancouver Olympics on Friday, the same day as Apolo Anton Ohno’s last short-track speedskating event. NBC will air both in prime time.

MOVING VONN: The slalom is the last of five events for Vonn, who won the downhill, took third in the super-G and didn’t finish the giant slalom or super-combined.

SHORT AND LONG: Ohno competes in the 500 meters and the 5,000 relay, trying to build on his seven career medals.

FINAL FOUR: The U.S. plays Finland, and Canada faces Slovakia in the semifinals of the men’s hockey tournament.

STUCK ON FIVE: Norway’s Ole Einar Bjoerndalen has won five gold medals in the biathlon, but none since 2002. He’ll race in a relay Friday.