Olympic News

Olympic.ad-astro.com

Olympic News

15.02.2006 - Duo Follow in the Footsteps of Legends

russian version

Duo Follow in the Footsteps of Legends

TURIN, Italy -- Tot and Max's Russian rout made the judges' jobs easy.

Tatiana Totmyanina and Maxim Marinin eliminated any chance for controversy and kept their nation's domination of Olympic pairs going Monday night with a balletic free skate reminiscent of the greatest Russian couples.

Tot didn't try to hold back the tears on the medals podium, while Marinin smiled widely. Not a bad way to finish off a career that also includes two world titles.

Their huge margin, 14.75 points over China's Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, avoided any suspicions of judging improprieties in the first Olympic pairs event since the 2002 Salt Lake City scandal that led to the new points system.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won their second straight bronze medal.

A Russian or Soviet pair has won the gold medal every year since 1964, and this one was as good as any. Go ahead, add Totmyanina and Marinin to Gordeyeva and Grinkov and the Protopopovs as the top of perhaps the greatest dynasty in Olympic sports.

"I can't even explain the emotions because they are very, very high," she said. "It was a long, long way and it wasn't the easiest way. I'm just thrilled with everything. We've done so well, our personal best at the Olympic Games."

While the Russians were untouchable, Zhang and Zhang showed incredible courage and stamina.

Skating last, Zhang Dan fell in a split while attempting an unprecedented throw quad salchow and doubled over in pain. They stopped skating as Zhang Hao struggled to help her off the ice.

After a few minutes talking with coaches, she asked to continue. With the fans clapping in support, the event referee allowed it.

"We didn't say any words of giving up," he said. "We said we could go on."

Somehow, they nailed every element in the next four minutes.

She again doubled over when they finished and Zhang Hao cried. They had nothing to cry about when they saw the marks that kept them in second place with a personal best.

"I think it's a very valuable experience for competition," she said of returning to the ice. "It's so important for myself because I made a mistake on the first element, but I think I can do all the other elements, so why not keep going?"

But they were far behind Tot and Max's personal best of 204.48, and Marinin picked up his longtime partner and cradled her in his arms when the final scores were posted.

No one raised a voice against the scoring this time, unlike the boos that echoed throughout the arena at Salt Lake City, touching off the biggest scandal in Winter Games history.

Back then, a French judge admitted after the pairs competition that she'd been "pressured" to score Russia's Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze higher than Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. The scandal so rocked the Olympics that the International Olympic Committee took the rare step of awarding duplicate golds to Sale and Pelletier.

The International Skating Union then decided to scrap its 6.0 scale for a more objective points-based system.

With their fans chanting, waving Chinese flags and shaking colorful rattles, Shen and Zhao capped their first competition of the season with a spectacular performance. The two-time world champions missed the entire season as he recovered from an Achilles' tendon tear that occurred in August. He hurried back from the injury and showed no sign of any physical problems.

On both of their throws, a triple salchow and a triple loop, she soared higher than the boards. Their flying triple twist was immense and they moved as one in their circular steps, making "Madame Butterfly" come to life.

"Today was very difficult, especially after these two months where I got injured," he said. "We got a good result. I am very happy about that."

Olympic news

All news >>

26.02.2006

Ice hockey-Lidstrom blast gives Sweden gold
TURIN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Niklas Lidstrom's blistering slapshot early in the third period gave Sweden a 3-2 win over Finland and the gold medal at the men's ice hockey tournament on Sunday in the final event of the Turin Games. In a tournament that saw the world's biggest hockey nations eliminated in the early going, the Swedes and Finns let their Nordic rivalry take centre stage in a fast-paced game.
more >>

26.02.2006

Ice hockey: Czechs shutout Russia to win bronze
TURIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Tomas Vokoun made 28 saves and Martin Erat had a goal and an assist as the Czech Republic shutout Russia 3-0 in the Olympic men's ice hockey bronze medal game on Saturday. Sweden will face off against Finland in an all-Nordic gold medal final on Sunday that will bring down the curtain on the 2006 Winter Games. "Playing for the bronze medal is very hard," said Vokoun, who was benched in favour of Milan Hnilicka in the Czechs' 7-3 semifinal loss to Sweden. "We were still disappointed for what happened yesterday against Sweden.
more >>

26.02.2006

Plucky Slutskaya Settles for an Olympic Bronze
As she stood stone-faced on the medals podium, Irina Slutskaya couldn't even manage a smile or a wave. The bronze medal that was hanging around her neck felt like a lead weight. For the second Olympics, the Russian star failed as the final skater of the women's free program. Both times, the gold medal was within reach. Neither time could Slutskaya grab it.
more >>

23.02.2006

Ice Dancers Make It 3 Out of 3 for Russia
Tatyana Navka and Roman Kostomarov made it three out of three for Russian figure skaters at the Winter Olympics. Navka and Kostomarov gave Russia a gold medal hat trick -- pairs, men's and dance. No nation has swept the four skating events in one games. The Russians could be the first, with Irina Slutskaya highly favored in the women's competition when it was about to begin late Tuesday. Tanith Belbin and partner Ben Agosto snapped the U.S. medal drought in figure skating with a silver. Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine won the bronze.
more >>

21.02.2006

Ice Dancing: A Good Night for the Russians
Feb 21 2006 Yesterday was the end of ice dancing, in a close contest which elected the new Olympic champions. The gold went to the Russians Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov already unreachable with a record original dance. Their “Carmen”, even though marred with various imperfections, proved otherwise sufficiently seductive to award the performers a score of 101.37 bringing them to a total of 200.64 points, more than enough to ensure the Russian duo reach their objective their sights had been set on for the last few years.
more >>