[PAmedic]

Grimmette and Martin crash out of doubles

CESANA, Italy (AP) - The top American doubles luge team of Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin was disqualified after crashing during their opening run Wednesday, eliminating any chance they had of winning a third Olympic medal.

They slid for several seconds, but both were able to walk away apparently uninjured. Both were clearly distraught and disappointed afterward, with Grimmette interrupting himself twice while talking with reporters because he was unable to keep his emotions in check.
"It's very disappointing," Grimmette said. "But we tried hard. We did our best. It's a tough end."

Shortly after Grimmette and Martin crashed, the Ukranian team of Oleg Zherebetskyy and Roman Yazvinskyy were involved in a frightening accident near the finish line. The Ukrainians smashed into the upper wall of the track and then flipped, with the front right runner of their sled breaking off and flying away when they made impact with the ice.

A drape was pulled over the ice as medical personnel tended to Yazvinskyy, who was loaded into an ambulance. Zherebetskyy sat on the track wall and watched, his head in his hands.

Yazvinskyy was conscious and had a head injury, according to Niccolo Canteni, the venue's press manager. He was taken by a helicopter to a hospital in Pinerolo.

Grimmette and Martin - who are presumably in the Olympics for the final time - won the bronze medal at the 1998 Nagano Games and took the silver four years ago at Salt Lake City.

"It's a shock," Martin said. "Any time you crash, it's a shock."

The most decorated luge team in U.S. history didn't want to immediately speculate on their future. Asked if it was too early to talk about what may come next, Martin simply said, "Yeah," and stared ahead.

The Americans crashed in turn 14, near the same spot of the track where 20-year-old American Samantha Retrosi wrecked on Monday in the opening day of the women's event. She sustained a concussion and needed stitches to close a cut on her chin and was hospitalized overnight before being released on Tuesday.

Also in the opening doubles round, Russia's Dmitriy Khamkin and Vladimir Boitsov flipped their sled entering a high curve close to the finish. Both appeared unharmed.

[PAmedic]

Sweden edges U.S. with third-period goal

TURIN, Italy (AP) - The big question for the U.S. heading into the Olympics was whether its goaltending would hold up.

So far, so good there. Now the American hockey team just has to find a way to score.

Daniel Alfredsson had a first-period goal and then helped set up Mikael Samuelsson's tiebreaker in the third as Sweden handed the United States its second 2-1 loss in two days on Sunday.

The Americans' offense was so woeful it made the absence of Swedish star forward Peter Forsberg, who watched the game from the end of the bench, meaningless.

Rick DiPietro was solid in his third straight start, making 24 saves for the U.S. He stood tall in the net, turning aside odd-man rushes, shooting the puck out of trouble, and stretching to reach pucks sailing toward the goal.

Yet the two he couldn't get to were enough to prevent the United States (1-2-1) from locking up a berth in the men's hockey quarterfinals - though the U.S. remains a near-certain qualifier for medal play.

Sweden (3-1), Russia and Slovakia, which beat the U.S. 2-1 on Saturday, have already qualified out of Group B.

With only one preliminary game remaining, the United States is fourth of six teams and holds a two-point lead over Latvia. The only way for the Americans to be left out would be a loss to Russia coupled with a Latvian victory over Kazakhstan in which the Latvians scored enough to overcome a 14-goal differential with the Americans.

Only Mike Modano found the goal against Henrik Lundqvist, the New York Rangers goalie with the Statue of Liberty painted on his otherwise Swedish mask.

That score, during a delayed penalty call in the first period, got the Americans even. But they failed on every other power-play chance, including a pair of two-man advantages in the second period.

The Swedes took the lead for good when Samuelsson got to a rebound of Alfredsson's shot and put it past DiPietro at 4:22 of the third - just 8 seconds after Jordan Leopold was sent off for holding.

John Grahame, who wasn't even invited to the U.S. team's Olympic orientation camp in September, started the opening tie against Latvia but hasn't seen the ice since. Robert Esche dressed as DiPietro's backup versus Sweden.

But DiPietro needed no help from him - it was his offense that let him down.

Alfredsson, who has three NHL goals against DiPietro this season, scored the first Swedish goal just 7:50 in, cutting across the crease as DiPietro struggled to reach him. Alfredsson patiently flipped a shot over the flailing DiPietro.

Meanwhile, the Americans were flailing on similar close-in chances. Mark Parrish had a puck slide past his stick as the net yawned in front of him, and Modano could only look skyward when his long drive struck Lundqvist's mask and fell safely down before being covered.

The only shot to beat Lundqvist, who made 24 saves, was Modano's right-circle snapper off a backhand pass from Craig Conroy with 2:29 left in the first.

[PAmedic]

In an interesting side note, it seems the Austrians have been keeping the police and anti-doping regulators busy- what with an overnite raid on their living quarters, and 2 team members quitting suddenly and racing back home.

Yeah, just love all the "friendly" competition in the spirit of global unity

[PAmedic]

Underachieving North Americans Ousted

By IRA PODELL
AP Sports Writer

TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Wayne Gretzky's hand-picked club fell way short, his aging corps of veterans unable to match up with speedier Europeans. The Americans suffered the same fate, leaving Italy with only one victory.

It was a whole lot of underachievement by the two North American teams who won gold and silver just four years ago.

"We didn't play well enough. We didn't deserve to win," Canada captain Joe Sakic said of the defending gold medalists. "The level was a lot higher than it was in 2002."

Finland dispatched the Americans 4-3 Wednesday night to advance to the semifinals, and Canada was eliminated a few hours later in a 2-0 loss to longtime nemesis Russia.

Four years ago, Canada knocked off the United States to win the title in Salt Lake City. That ended the hockey-crazed nation's 50-year wait for a gold medal in hockey.

It also erased the bitter taste the two countries had to endure from the 1998 Nagano Games when neither medaled in the first Olympics that featured an NHL midseason break.

"I know we gave our best, everybody gave a great effort but we didn't put it together like we needed to," U.S. forward Bill Guerin said after the Americans' fourth one-goal loss in the tournament. "It's one of those things you just don't want to walk away from."

But now they will have to watch four European nations face off for the gold.

Russia (5-1) will take on Finland in one semifinal on Friday, and the Czech Republic (3-3), which defeated Slovakia 3-1, will play Sweden.

The Czech-Sweden matchup will have extra juice because it will pit several New York Rangers against each other. Sweden will send goalie Henrik Lundqvist out to try to stop the likes of forwards Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka and Martin Rucinsky.

"It doesn't matter. We just have to face Sweden," Jagr said of the world champion Czechs.

Two big reasons the Rangers are in first place in the Atlantic Division are Jagr, who leads the NHL with 40 goals and 88 points, and Lundqvist - a rookie who has posted 25 wins and a 2.09 goals-against average.

"I know him, and he's a big part of our hockey club and it's going to be a big challenge," Jagr said.

Clearly, at least one U.S. player felt his club faced too many challenges from team leadership.

Mike Modano, a three-time Olympian, was benched for most of the third period of the Americans' last loss and then took aim at his bosses.

"You'd think USA Hockey would be a well-oiled machine, but it's not," he said. "Basically we were on our own for hotels, tickets, flights, stuff like that."

The Americans came out flat in the opening period Wednesday, allowing Sami Salo's short-handed goal that gave Finland a 2-0 lead. Modano scored two goals in the tournament, but was a non-factor in the finale, when he didn't so much as put a puck on the net.

"It's very disappointing, because the people at USA Hockey do a tremendous job," general manager Don Waddell said of Modano's comments. "There is a lot of pressure on people. The top people at USA Hockey are volunteers."

U.S. coach Peter Laviolette didn't think enough of Modano's performance to have him on the ice during crunch time.

He certainly was less pleased with the forward's Olympic exit interview.

"We were down looking for goals and looking for offense, and it wasn't about Mike Modano," he said. "The third period was clearly our best period. ... I think some players in general didn't seem to have the jump, and you do your best to get the players out there that have the jump."

Waddell choked back tears as he tried to explain why the team he built was bounced out of the games with just one - against Kazakhstan.

"We came here with higher expectations, and it's disappointing. But you have to move on," the Atlanta Thrashers general manager said.

It was the latest Olympic disappointment for U.S. hockey. The women's team seemed a lock for at least a silver medal, but had to settle for bronze after falling to Sweden in the semis.

The men didn't even get that far.

"We're out of the tournament, but it's not like we have to blow it up and start over," Waddell said.

Olli Jokinen scored two power-play goals in the second period for Finland (6-0), which recovered after blowing an early two-goal lead.

The Canadians could only dream of having such an advantage, as they were shut out in three of their final four Olympic games.

Upon arriving in Turin, Gretzky said he would be blamed if Canada lost because of the gambling probe that surrounded his wife and Phoenix assistant coach Rick Tocchet - the alleged financial backer of the betting ring.

"I'll take all, deservedly so, the responsibility for not winning," Gretzky said. "That's the position I'm in and the responsibility I have."

Just like the Americans, Canada's aging corps of veterans couldn't match up with speedy Europeans on a larger-sized Olympic rink.

"You have to get used to it. It's not easy," Jagr said. "I felt a little bit better than I did before. You play the North American style and you play that kind of game, but now you have to play a different game. Even though it's the same rules, it's a different game."

[PAmedic]

hey- who'da thought the guy banned from the '02 games for doping might be a problem? Honest mistake coulda happened to anybody

Report: Disgraced ski coach tried suicide

Associated Press
TURIN, Italy - The disgraced Austrian ski coach who set off a doping scandal at the Turin Games said he cannot understand why his team was targeted for drug raids, and acknowledged he was trying to kill himself when he crashed into a police roadblock during a bizarre flight from the Olympics.

Walter Mayer, whose presence among Austria's biathletes and cross-country skiers at the Olympics triggered Italian police raids and International Olympic Committee scrutiny, told an Austrian magazine he was the victim of "a plot" linked to his battle with the international skiing federation.

News, an Austrian newsweekly, reported Wednesday that Mayer panicked when he heard on the radio he was being sought by Italian police. The magazine quoted Mayer as saying he became suicidal when he saw the police roadblock shortly after crossing the border into Austria.

"I was completely shattered, I couldn't think clearly. When something like that happens to you, you are in an extraordinary mental situation. I wanted to take my own life, because my world had been destroyed. I wanted to end my life with the car," Mayer was quoted as saying.

The head of the Austrian ski federation said Tuesday that two athletes admitted they "may have used illegal methods" at the Winter Games. Police seized unlabeled drugs, a blood transfusion machine and dozens of syringes in a surprise sweep of Austrian athletes' living quarters over the weekend.

And investigators say they found more syringes in the rented living quarters of Mayer, who fled following weekend police raids on Austrian athletes' lodgings.

"It is indeed a saga," International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. "Not even Hollywood could come up with a scenario like it."

The IOC said Tuesday it will set up a special panel to investigate the Austrian Olympic committee, ski federation, athletes and coaches, likely after the Olympics end, he said. The IOC could sanction the Austrians even without any athletes testing positive for banned substances.

"To find somebody guilty of doping you don't necessarily need urine and blood samples," Rogge said. "It can also be based on circumstantial evidence."

The Olympic drug-testing lab was still analyzing samples taken from 10 Austrian biathletes and cross-country skiers in last weekend's raids, the IOC said Wednesday morning. Spokeswoman Giselle Davies said the results should be known by the end of the games Sunday, but didn't rule out the possibility the process could stretch beyond then.

"They are testing against the full range of prohibited substances, including EPO," she said. "This can take time."

The scandal could hurt Austria's bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Salzburg is considered one of the favorites among the seven cities bidding for those games. The host city will be selected in July 2007 at an IOC meeting in Guatemala City.

In Saturday's raids, police seized about 100 syringes, unlabeled medicine bottles, boxes of prescription drugs and a blood-transfusion machine, a person with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person asked not to be identified because the investigation was ongoing.

Austrian ski federation president Peter Schroecksnadel said two athletes who bolted the games after the raids — and since have been kicked off the team — confessed to a team official they may have used "illegal methods."

Schroecksnadel said at a news conference Tuesday that Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann made the admission to team sports director Markus Gandler. Schroecksnadel did not elaborate, but said the federation would investigate.

Schroecksnadel also acknowledged it was "a mistake" for the team to have allowed Mayer to coach in a private capacity at the Turin Games. He was banned from the Olympics for links to blood doping in 2002 in Salt Lake City.

An Italian prosecutor found more syringes Monday night when he inspected the private home that Mayer had rented for the Olympics in the mountain hamlet of Pragelato, said Mario Pescante, an IOC member and government supervisor for the games.

The seized materials were still being analyzed by Italian authorities, and no test results were announced as of Wednesday morning.

Five-time Olympian Ludwig Gredler, a member of Austria's biathlon team, said the team has no choice but submit to the searches.

"These are the laws of Italy and we have to follow them," he said. "Team Austria is a small group and we live in close proximity to each other, but naturally I can't know what happens in other rooms. I know I'm clean and have taken nothing, but I can't speak for my teammates."

Mayer fled the Turin area and headed for his native Austria sometime after the weekend raids. He resurfaced the next night when he crashed his car into a police blockade just 15 miles inside the Austrian border with Italy, some 250 miles from Turin.

Schroecksnadel said police took Mayer to a psychiatric facility, where he was staying because it was feared he might attempt suicide. Mayer pleaded guilty to charges of civil disorder, assault and damage to property in an Austrian court Tuesday.

[BJWilliams]

I was watching women's aerials qualifying a couple days ago and saw one of the most frightening crashes ever. Look for the video "Ierodiaconou blows out knee" and just be prepared for a lot of screaming

[PAmedic]

ok- its over. I'll be honest w/ ya- I watched less than 1 hour of the entire proceedings. Sorta embarrassing I guess- but I don't buy into the whole "amateur" competition crap anyway.

They're all pros, and I'd rather watch the pro teams. Anyway- we ended up 2nd in the medals count- ahead of them' cheatin' Austrians, so thats saying something- and our best finish ever outside the US (Lake Placid, 1932). Congrats to all our athletes.


Final totals:
1. Germany : 11 12 6
2. United States : 9 9 7
3. Austria : 9 7 7

[PAmedic]

Lesson learned: Don't urbanize Games

Olympics would have been better with fewer factories, more mountains

By Sally Jenkins
Columnist

TURIN, Italy - The Fiat Games are now officially over, leaving a trail of smoggy exhaust fumes, and many lessons have been absorbed, as we deeply inhale. Here's lesson number one: Next time, maybe the Winter Olympics should be awarded to a city that has fewer factories, and more mountains. With snow.

There were so many instructive experiences during the 2006 Winter Games that it is hard to know where to start — and I admit I'm still trying to draw the lesson from the Closing Ceremonies. What exactly was the meaning of all those Mermaids and Fishdancers and Brides, and why were the antipodists there, positioned around the giant fan? Why did the Carnevale Band need 182 Guggenmusik instruments? Presumably because 181 Guggenmusiks were not enough, and 183 Guggenmusiks were too many. The same might be said for the Explorers, hoop dancers, stilt walkers, Fellini clowns, fire jugglers, and Rola Rolas. The dances were weird, and strange and wonderful. Unless they were just weird and strange.

You got the feeling from the antic excesses of the Closing Ceremonies that the Turin organizers were trying hard to make up for a lack of something. That something, for lack of a better term, might be called the Olympic Spirit. Perhaps the International Olympic Committee has learned that selling the Winter Games to an industrial automotive hub with illegal air quality, and no Alps within view, was the wrong thing to do.

Sadly, there was no core to these Games. The skiing and sledding events were held two hours from Turin, in a series of scattered and overdeveloped mountainside villages, many of which were closer to France. The Turin Olympic motto was, "Passion Lives Here." It should have been "Passion Lives Here — But It Has a Time Share."

The only things that occurred in the grand centro of Turin were the "Today" show and the medal ceremonies, and both were surrounded by so much scaffolding and security that it was jarring to the architecture and landscape.

Also, while the Italians were lovely hosts, with their rich coffees and chocolates and cheeses, the residents were less than enthused about attending the Games. Within the first week, tickets for the Closing Ceremonies were being sold for 40 percent off. Even IOC President Jacques Rogge, normally so happy with everything around him, said: "The general public was a little bit absent in providing atmosphere. There are events where attendance has not been maximum."

The spectator lassitude here seemed to translate through the television. Winter Games prime-time viewership on NBC was down by about 19 percent from the 1998 Nagano Games and down 33 percent from Salt Lake City in 2002.

The low ratings were no doubt a result of the fact that Americans, especially, learned some hard lessons during these Games. As a whole, the U.S. Olympic Committee learned that its athletes need some lessons in comportment and team play. Jeret Peterson punched a guy in the mouth in a fight, and Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis acted like they wanted to do the same. The U.S. ski team learned from Bode Miller that it shouldn't put a guy on the roster if he doesn't actually want to be there. As for Miller himself, perhaps he learned that the only thing left for him to do is open a microbrewery. Bode Beer. Who would buy his skis? But they might buy his amber crybaby beer.

So many American athletes seemed consumed with their own self-fulfillment here that it was tempting to blame the video montage quality of sports telecasts for giving them the wrong impression about life. Everything is a highlight. Nothing is an honest and lonely slog.

It was probably no accident, then, that some of the most successful and popular American athletes in these Olympics were the ones who were least advertised: snowboarder Shaun White, speedskater Joey Cheek, 21-year-old skiers Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso and ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.

A handful of stories like theirs enlivened what will otherwise be remembered as a dreary and dingy urban Olympics. The days when a Winter Games could be held in one intimate place, a village like Lillehammer, appear to be long over, unless the IOC makes the principled decision to downsize them commercially. Which hardly seems likely. There were just 2,500 athletes here compared to 10,000 guests of the 11 top Olympic sponsors — including Visa, Coca-Cola and McDonald's — which pay about $50 million each for sponsorship rights. Nobody from the IOC is going to suggest cutting sponsorship guest lists unless they want to shortly be unemployed. Which leaves cities the size of Vancouver as the only realistic candidates. The bidders for the 2014 Games include scenic destinations such as Salzburg, Austria, bidding against the likes of Almaty, the biggest city in Kazakhstan, and Sofia, Bulgaria. Who do you think will win?

The bulk and heft of the Games make them so forbiddingly expensive to host that most villages aren't even capable, or interested. Unfortunately, the Winter Games from now on seem likely to be very much for sale, and to suffer badly from urban sprawl.