International Capsules: Vonn is 2010 AP Female Athlete of Year
Lindsey Vonn remembers being a 9-year-old wannabe Olympian, waiting in line for hours on end to shake the hand of a medal-winning skier and get an autograph.
These days, Vonn is the one speeding to victories and hoping to inspire the next generation to hit the slopes.
Gold and bronze medals at the Vancouver Games, plus a third consecutive World Cup overall title, helped Vonn become the 2010 Female Athlete of the Year, chosen by members of The Associated Press. She is the first skier — male or female — to win one of the annual AP awards, which began in 1931.
Vonn received 77 of 175 votes submitted by news organizations that make up the AP's membership, more than double what anyone else got in the tally announced Saturday.
"For sure, 2010 was the best year I've ever had," the 26-year-old Vonn said in a telephone interview from France, where she won a World Cup downhill race Saturday. "It couldn't have gone any better for me. Even if I just won the Olympic gold medal, that would have made it the best year of my career and the best day of my life, period. Winning the World Cup races and the overall title just topped it off."
Zenyatta's 32 votes placed the racehorse No. 2 in the AP balloting for the second consecutive year. The 6-year-old mare retired with a 19-1 career record and a North American earnings record for female horses. Her only loss was a narrow one in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Connecticut basketball player Maya Moore finished third with 29 votes, followed by tennis star Serena Williams with 14. No one else got more than five votes.
Moore led UConn to its second straight unbeaten season and NCAA championship in April. With a victory Sunday against Ohio State, the Huskies can match the Division I record 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden's UCLA men's team in 1974.
Williams — the 2002 and 2009 Female Athlete of the Year — was limited to six tournaments this year because of injuries, but she still won two Grand Slam titles.
Vonn's accomplishments were many:
—the first U.S. woman to win a gold medal in the Olympic downhill.
—a bronze medal in the Olympic super-G.
—the first woman with three overall World Cup titles in a row since Petra Kronberger of Austria in 1990-92.
—11 World Cup race victories in the 2009-10 season, breaking her own American record of nine.
—her downhill, super-G and super-combined titles made her the first American to win three World Cup disciplines in a single season.
—her 35 career World Cup wins are more than any Alpine skier from the United States.
"Her dominance is very impressive. It's really a testament to her work ethic," said U.S. Olympic teammate Ted Ligety, an Alpine gold medalist at the 2006 Turin Games. "I can't really name anybody that works harder than she does."
Vonn needed all of that preparation to succeed at the Vancouver Olympics, where she showed up as the center of attention — and with a banged-up right shin that made walking difficult. She wondered whether she'd be able to compete at all.
But after getting some extra time to rest because of weather delays, Vonn won the opening women's race, the downhill, and combined with Julia Mancuso to give the United States its first 1-2 finish in an Olympic Alpine event since 1984.
"I don't think it could have been a better moment. I dreamed about it a million times, but it was so much more emotional for me and for my family that I ever thought it would be. I was just crying the entire time," Vonn said. "When I say that it means everything to me, it really does. The Olympics are what I work for. They're why I spend so much time in the gym. It's why my family moved (from Minnesota to Colorado) for me to ski race, so I could pursue my dream of being Olympic champion."
Being the first skier honored by AP members holds some significance for Vonn, who makes clear that she wants to boost her sport's profile.
"Ski racing is an amazing sport, and if more people knew about it, we would have more people following it and more people doing it; not just ski racing, but skiing in general," she said. "I do think it's a part of my job as an athlete in the sport to try to promote ski racing as much as possible."
Which is why she makes meet-and-greet appearances at places such as Pierce Skate & Ski in Bloomington, Minn., the shop where she saw two-time Olympic medalist Picabo Street more than 15 years ago.
"Her poster," Vonn said with a chuckle, "is still at my mom's house."
Vonn wins World Cup downhill in France
VAL D'ISERE, France (AP) — Lindsey Vonn won her first downhill race of the season Saturday to close the gap on overall World Cup leader Maria Riesch, who finished 24th.
The three-time defending World Cup and reigning Olympic downhill champion had finished second behind her German rival in both downhills at Lake Louise two weeks ago. But Vonn turned the tables at Val d'Isere, one of her favorite stops.
Despite a wobble near the top section of the 1.7-mile Oreiller-Killy course, Vonn finished in a time of 1 minute, 51.42 seconds.
"I love Val d'Isere, I've always had a good feeling here. It's great to have another victory," said Vonn, who won a downhill-Super-G world championship double and World Cup super combined race last year.
She also won World Cup downhill races here in 2005 and 2006.
This time, she made a spectacular recovery after nearly crashing on the turn just below the second jump. Vonn feared that slip would cost her, but Riesch fared much worse than expected.
"I made a big mistake at the top but I tried to make up time on the bottom, and I think I skied pretty well on the turns," Vonn said. "At the finish I thought it was a good time, but for sure Maria would beat me."
Vonn's win moves her to the top of the downhill standings ahead of Riesch, who leads Vonn by 52 points in the overall standings before Sunday's super combined race.
Swiss pair Nadja Kamer and Lara Gut were second and third, respectively.
Vonn was .001 behind Kamer at the second time split, but picked up speed on the second part of the course to beat her by 0.68 seconds and the 19-year-old Gut by 0.80.
Riesch started poorly in soft conditions and kept losing time to Vonn, finishing 2.28 seconds back. She was 1.09 behind Vonn on the first time split, then 1.10 and 1.95. Moments after crossing the line, Riesch looked startled, shrugged her shoulders and bowed her head.
Vonn expected a better performance from her friend.
"I was definitely surprised," Vonn said.
Vonn's goals this season include breaking the American single-season record of 11 wins she set last year. She's aiming for the all-time record of 14 victories established by Swiss great Vreni Schneider in 1988-89.
"I feel like my confidence is at a great place right now," Vonn said. "I feel like all my events are pretty good."
Elisabeth Goergl of Austria finished fourth, with French veteran Ingrid Jacquemod tied for fifth with Johanna Schnarf of Italy.
The clear blue skies and bright sunshine were a stark contrast to Friday's weather when the super-G race — already postponed last weekend at the Swiss resort of St. Moritz — was called off because of heavy snowfall and almost no visibility.
Andrea Dettling was one of the first down on Saturday and crashed near the top section, flying sideways into the netting. But the Swiss skier got back up on her feet after a few seconds without assistance and appeared unharmed.
Gut was sidelined more than a year after dislocated a hip in a training crash.
She was suspended for two World Cup races this week by the Swiss ski federation for criticizing head coach and former mentor Mauro Pini in interviews. She will miss giant slalom and slalom races Dec. 28-29 in Semmering, Austria.
"I am just trying to give my best and not thinking about what I should say to the newspapers or what I shouldn't say," Gut said. "I'm just skiing for me."
Gut trains away from the national team with a privately funded group of coaches and staff, including her father Pauli.
-- Jerome Pugmire
Switzerland's Zurbriggen tops World Cup downhill
VAL GARDENA, Italy (AP) — Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland won a World Cup downhill Saturday to take the lead in the overall standings.
Zurbriggen clocked 1 minute, 57.21 seconds, edging Austria's Romed Baumann by 0.06 seconds on a fast, bumpy track. Defending World Cup downhill champion Didier Cuche was third. Bode Miller was the fastest American in 17th place on the Saslong course.
Zurbriggen had never finished on the podium in a World Cup downhill. He punched both fists in the air repeatedly in the finish area after taking the lead.
"It's something crazy, unbelievable. I'm very, very happy and I had a superb run," said Zurbriggen, whose only World Cup victory came two seasons ago in the combined event in Austria.
Zurbriggen won the Olympic bronze in super-combined in Vancouver, when Miller won gold. He's had a reputation as an all-purpose racer rather than speed specialist.
Michael Walchhofer, the prerace favorite from Austria, was 0.35 back in fifth after winning the super-G on Friday.
Zurbriggen's 100 points for the victory lifted him above Walchhofer at the top the overall standings, with a 315-294 advantage.
Zurbriggen leads by five points in the downhill discipline standings after two races.
Cuche, twice a runner-up in the Saslong classic, was denied a victory. He led until Walchhofer came down the mountain.
Miller trailed Zurbriggen by 1.53, just ahead of teammate Steven Nyman.
Marco Sullivan of the U.S. walked away unhurt from a nasty spill entering a tight middle section.
Frenchman David Poisson crashed spectacularly, losing control in the steep Camel Humps series of jumps before being launched into a midair spin. He also was unhurt.
Zurbriggen was seriously injured at that spot three years ago.
"These bad memories came back from my own crash," said Zurbriggen, who blew out his left knee. "It's really special for me to win here on this slope."
-- Graham Dunbar
Italy's Bertazzo wins World Cup 2-man bobsled
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — It's been a month and a day since Olympic bobsledder John Napier returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Now, he can really say he's back home.
He competed in World Cup event for the first time on his home track at Lake Placid since he won gold in a stunning triumph a year ago in the two-man race. Napier's comeback began with a solid seventh place on Saturday with brakeman Laszlo Vandracsek
The mortar and rocket fire Napier endured in the Afghan province of Paktika was replaced by the familiar ice-chattering sounds on a sun-splashed day on Mount Van Hoevenberg.
"It feels great. I'm just glad we did well," Napier said. "I couldn't be happier with the kind of condition and shape I'm in.
"My team is doing a great job. I got sixth in Park City and seventh out here. That's all I could really ask for coming back after no training in the summer. I'm just grateful to be here."
Napier, who enlisted in the National Guard in 2007, is a member of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, which helps provide him with support and training.
"I'm sitting there saying, just enjoy the moment and have fun with it because this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Napier said. "I'm racing bobsleds and I survived Afghanistan and here I am with some great friends and great people. We're going to be successful, and that's all that matters."
Italy's Simone Bertazzo and brakeman Sergio Riva won the race in 1 minute, 51.40 seconds, edging Alexsandr Zubkov and Dmitry Trunenkov of Russia by 0.04 in the 16-sled field. Karl Angerer and brakeman Alex Mann of Germany, who led by 0.08 seconds after the first run, took the bronze, just 0.04 ahead of Steven Holcomb and Steven Langton in USA1.
World Cup leader Manuel Machata of Germany finished sixth with brakeman Andreas Bredau; Ethan Albrecht-Carrie and brakeman Jared Clugston were 13th in USA3.
Sandra Kiriasis and brakewoman Stephanie Schneider of Germany won the women's race later in the day, beating teammates Cathleen Martini and Christin Senkel by one-third of a second. Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown of Canada took the bronze.
Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo of the United States finished fifth. Elana Meyers, driving in her first World Cup race, finished an impressive sixth with Jamie Greubel as her brakewoman. Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming of the United States, third after the first heat, crashed on their second heat and did not finish.
Rohbock lost control near the midpoint of the 20-curve layout as the sled flipped on its side. Both walked away, with Rohbock rubbing her neck.
Holcomb, the Olympic champion in four-man at Whistler, was hampered by a sore hamstring. However, he was encouraged by his result in a year that's been like no other since he began competing in the late 1990s.
"It's a lot of stress, a lot of hard work leading up to (the Olympics)," Holcomb said. "You've got to take a break, but at the same time there's a lot of pressure being the World Cup champion, the world champion and the Olympic champion. Everybody's like, 'Why aren't you the champion now?'
"I've got to take a break sometime," said Holcomb, fifth in the two-man World Cup standings at the midpoint of the season. "I've got to relax a little bit. It's a little overwhelming."
Holcomb's victory at Whistler thwarted the bid by the great German driver Andre Lange to win five gold medals in five Olympic tries.
What has happened since was expected, but eye-opening.
"The Germans are really not happy that we took their gold medal, and as you can see so far this season, they're fighting hard to get it back," he said.
Holcomb also had to deal with an arrest for driving under the influence in Park City in October 2009, months before the Vancouver Games.
"I've had to deal with this for the last year, so mentally it's not something new to me," Holcomb said. "There's nothing I can do about it. You just do your thing."
Darrin Steele, chief executive officer of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, said the team would deal with the arrest once it is resolved legally.
"It's been a little bit of a distraction," Steele said. "Things happen in the personal lives of the athletes. We'll deal with that as it progresses.
"He'll probably be a better person as a result of it."
-- John Kekis
Austrians tie for gold in World Cup luge at Park City
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — More than seven years have passed since there was a tie for gold in a World Cup luge event.
While the deadlock Saturday between two Austrian doubles teams was dramatic, for two men now coaching the sport, their tie to the thousandth of a second meant the difference between a world championship and second.
On Feb. 8, 2003, the German doubles team of Patric-Fritz Leitner and Alexander Resch thought they had won the overall title after seeing No. 1 posted as they crossed the finish line in the final race of the season.
But at the same time, a big cheer went up from American contingent as Mark Grimmette and back driver Brian Martin watched on TVs in the finish area and realized their combined times were identical. The rare tie gave the Americans the 2002-03 overall world doubles title by nine points. Had they been .001 slower, the Germans would have claimed the 15 points and overall title.
"They didn't know it was a tie," recalled Grimmette, the current U.S. Sport Program Director who was watching Saturday's drama unfold and reliving his own memories. "They're celebrating. We're celebrating.
"It brought back memories. It's rare to ever tie a race to the thousandt of a second. But it's rarer to win the race (by tying) to a thousandth of a second."
Leitner, now a German luge coach, also felt himself reliving that moment in 2003.
"In the beginning, it was a good feeling, but in the end ... not so good."
For the Austrians, it was all good Saturday as Peter Penz teamed with Georg Fischler to tie teammates Andreas and Wolfgang Linger, with both teams completing the two runs at Olympic Park in Park City in a combined time of 1 minute, 27.331 seconds.
"Unbelievable," said Penz, who won his first World Cup gold with Fischler. "At first when I (looked) up at the timing, it was the first run time. Then it changed to overall time and we were first. I saw (our) teammates also in first place and yelling at us, saying, 'Perfect! Perfect!' Unbelievable. It can't be (any better)."
It was the second gold this season for the Linger brothers — the two-time defending Olympic champions.
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt of Germany were third in 1:27.474.
Preston Griffall and Matthew Mortensen were the top Americans, finishing fifth in 1:27.579 to qualify for the world championships.
"That's a huge relief especially now that we have a little break here for Christmas," said Griffall, who is from Salt Lake City. "We can actually take a little bit of time, relax, see the family then get back and get focused for the second half and specifically the world championships. It's pretty awesome."
Griffall said he has raced down the Olympic Park track thousands of times. "It's great to race here. We haven't had a World Cup here in four years and to be back is awesome," he said. "I had a lot of family and friends that came up, so it was pretty cool to get a top-five in front of my family and on my home track."
Mortensen was more amazed at the rare tie for first.
"It's pretty unbelievable after two runs and after about two miles of track that you tie down to the thousandth of a second," he said. "That's pretty incredible. It shows you how tight racing in this sport is."
Christian Niccum and Jayson Terdiman were the second-best American sled, taking sixth in 1:27.607.
The men's event Saturday night was in stark contrast as Italy's Armin Zoeggeler held a two-tenths lead after the first run and cruised to his third straight World Cup luge victory of the season and 52nd overall win.
The 36-year-old Zoeggeler completed the two runs in a combined 1:37.40. Germany's Andi Langenhan took second in 1:30.992, followed by Russia's Viktor Kneyb in 1:31.097.
"The first run was without any mistakes and allowed me to have some mistakes on the second run. But it was good enough for the victory," said Zoeggeler.
How many more wins does he have in him?
Zoeggeler couldn't say, but indicated he intended to race this year and next and make a decision year by year after that.
The only decision left for the Austrians was how much money to risk in Las Vegas.
Before heading back home for a big Christmas party, the Austrian team was headed to the Sin City for a little fun.
After scoring the rarest of feats Saturday, the odds just might be in their favor.
"We don't need luck in Vegas," said Penz, who was anxious for a little black jack. "Just don't put too much money down."
-- Lynn DeBruin
Ferry wins 10K sprint at biathlon World Cup
POKLJUKA, Slovenia (AP) — Olympic pursuit champion Bjoern Ferry of Sweden won a 10-kilometer biathlon World Cup sprint race Saturday for his first victory since the Vancouver Olympics.
In the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint, Magdalena Neuner of Germany won in 23 minutes and 5.2 seconds, despite two penalties.
Ferry shot cleanly to win in 27 minutes, 25.9 seconds, just 5.1 seconds ahead of Tarjei Boe of Norway, who had one penalty.
Boe overtook countryman Emil Hegle Svendsen — who finished 17th — at the top the overall standings with 329 points. Boe also leads the individual sprint standings.
In women's race, Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia was second, 11.2 seconds behind Neuner. Kaisa Makarainen of Finland and Russian Olga Zaitseva shared third place.
Makarainen remains at the top of the sprint and overall World Cup standings.
Morgenstern wins ski jump World Cup
ENGELBERG, Switzerland (AP) — Thomas Morgenstern of Austria leaped to his fourth straight World Cup victory in a ski jump event on Saturday.
Morgenstern trailed Polish great Adam Malysz after the first round, then delivered a 135.5-meter jump for a combined total of 291 points.
Malysz was second on 288.8 points for the 84th podium finish of his World Cup career. Matti Hautamaeki of Finland was third.
Morgenstern leads the World Cup standings with 525 points. Austrian teammate Andreas Kofler is second at380, followed by Larinto at 321.
Vylegzhanin, Bjoergen win cross-country ski races
LA CLUSAZ, France (AP) — Maxim Vylegzhanin of Russia beat Petter Northug of Norway by his foot in a 30-kilometer freestyle mass start race at a cross-country skiing World Cup on Saturday.
Vylegzhanin and Northug were locked in a sprint finish with Alexander Legkov of Russia in the final few meters of the La Clusaz course. Vylegzhanin won in 1 hour, 18 minutes, 53.5 seconds, and Northug was 0.1 seconds behind. Legkov was third in 1:18:53.9, with Swiss skier Dario Cologna only 2 seconds back in fourth.
In the women's 15-kilometer race, Norway's Marit Bjoergen won in 42:29.6, one second faster than Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk. Norway's Kristin Stoermer Steira was 10.9 seconds back in third.
Stecher wins Nordic combined World Cup event
RAMSAU, Austria (AP) — Mario Stecher of Austria won a Nordic combined World Cup event Saturday for his first victory of the season.
Stecher, who was sixth after the jumping discipline, had a strong finish in the 10-kilometer cross-country race to hold off a challenge by Germany's Bjoern Kircheisen.
Stecher finished in 25 minutes, 46.4 seconds to edge Kircheisen by 0.9 seconds. Johannes Rydzek of Germany was third.
Jason Lamy Chappuis of France finished fifth to remain at the top of the World Cup standings with 385 points. Mikko Kokslien of Norway is second with 329, followed by Stecher third at 286.
Gasser and Holmlund win ski cross events in Italy
SAN CANDIDO, Italy (AP) — Patrick Gasser of Switzerland and Anna Holmlund of Sweden won ski cross events at a freestyle skiing World Cup meet Saturday.
In the men's competition, Gasser secured his first career World Cup victory by finishing ahead of Austrians Andreas Matt and Thomas Zangerl. The 25-year-old Swiss had never been on the podium before in a World Cup event.
Holmlund earned her first victory of the season and fifth overall in the women's event, with Kelsey Serwa of Canada second behind the Swede. The Czech Republic's Nikol Kucerova was third.
Swimming
Spain’s Belmonte Garcia wins third gold in Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia matched American star Ryan Lochte with her third gold medal at the short-course world championships Saturday.
She was timed in a championship-record 2 minutes, 5.73 seconds in the 200-meter individual medley, adding to her back-to-back titles in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM on Wednesday’s opening night.
Belmonte finished 0.21 seconds in front of Ye Shiwen of China, and 0.36 ahead of Ariana Kukors of the U.S.
Belmonte Garcia also won the silver medal in the 800 freestyle Thursday behind Spanish teammate Erika Garcia Villaecija. She plans to finish the meet with the 200 breaststroke Sunday.
"I can’t quite yet believe I’m going home with four medals," Belmonte Garcia said.
Lochte won all three of his opening events — two in world record times — and led the 100 IM semifinals in 50.81 seconds, just 0.05 off Peter Mankoc’s world record set last year.
On Sunday, Lochte will swim two individual events plus the 400 medley relay.
"Today was my easy day; I only had the 100 IM," Lochte said. "Tomorrow I have three events, so it’s definitely going to be a hard challenge for me. But I’m up for it."
Sprinting standout Cesar Cielo was 0.13 ahead of world record pace midway through his 100 freestyle semifinal heat, but then appeared to let up slightly. Still, the Brazilian led in a championship-record 46.01.
American Rebecca Soni defeated Australian rival Leisel Jones again in the 100 breaststroke.
Soni was just 0.01 seconds ahead of Jones midway through the race but accelerated in the second half, touching in a championship-record 1:03.98. Jones finished 0.28 seconds behind. Ji Liping of China was third.
"I definitely saw her next to me," Soni said of Jones. "I know turns are my weakness, so I just tried to outswim her and get to the wall first."
Soni and Jones split the 100 and 200 titles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But Soni beat Jones over both distances at the Pan Pacific Championships in August.
Soni will be favored in the 200 on Sunday. Jones will not be entered, although Belmonte Garcia is in the field.
-- Andrew Dampf
Olympics
Organizers say 2010 Games green despite some misses
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The organizing committee of the Vancouver Olympics said the 2010 event can still be considered the greenest Games yet, despite having failed to meet some of their environmental targets.
A report Friday found the games generated more greenhouse gas emissions than forecast and were not carbon neutral in the end. Nor did organizers manage to divert as much waste as they’d hoped during both the Olympic and Paralympic events.
But the lengths to which the committee went to enshrine sustainable practices into their overall plan has set a new standard, said Ann Duffy, the former vice president of sustainability for the organizing committee, known as VANOC.
Duffy said future committees need to make better use of new technologies, green construction methods and even social media to host more inclusive, environmentally friendly games.
In measuring their environmental footprint, VANOC didn’t just include the days of the games’ themselves, but all seven years of planning.
They also factored in the effect of air travel and the impact of the massive, cross-country torch relay.
Overall, the games generated 277,677 tones of carbon dioxide, up from their forecast of 268,000.
The increase was pegged on more air trips, the use of cruise ships for accommodation and overall waste.
While a carbon offsetter sponsor helped render athlete activity and the torch relay carbon neutral, overall neutrality was impossible to achieve because the myriad sponsors and suppliers themselves were not neutral, the report said.
A target of diverting 85 percent of the waste generated by the games wasn’t met in part because of confusing signage.
"For many, multiple bins for multiple materials caused some confusion," the report said.
The sustainability report, the final of five produced by the organizing committee, also examined areas such as aboriginal participation, social inclusion and financial impact.
In the end, organizers said, they spent more than $5 million on goods and services from inner-city businesses, and more than $59 million on goods and services from Aboriginal businesses.
They distributed around 60,000 free tickets to Olympic and Paralympic events, and donated thousands of unclaimed lost and found items to a community not-for-profit to use or sell.
The VANOC was criticized throughout the leadup to the games for failing to connect meaningfully with Vancouver’s inner-city communities.
While the committee had signed onto a 37-point agreement on how it would interact with the city at large, the two sides never saw eye to eye on whether those promises were being kept.
For example, critics said the games’ development was having a massively adverse effect on the city’s low-income housing stock and that residents of some hotels would be pushed out by tourism.
VANOC contributed $200,000 to ensure there were additional shelter beds available in the months leading up to the games, but in their report said there was no demand for them.
"Sustainability or great games mean different things for different people," Duffy told The Canadian Press.
"You’ve got to find the middle channel that you can still deliver a great event, but that is going to be realistic in terms of what an organizing committee can generate."
While VANOC’s sustainability report was conducted in-house, an independent impact study is also being conducted by the University of British Columbia.
The next installment of that study is expected in early 2011.
