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 >>
|
The rock slides, calibrated to the millimetre, while two teammates sweep the ice that separates the "rock" from the chosen target on the sheet.
Curling is a team game that is performed on a frozen pitch, the concept of which is very similar to bocci. It consists of sliding 19.96 kg blocks of stone (called rocks) which have a handle so that they stop as close as possible to the centre of a target drawn on the ice (called the house).
Curling, born in Scotland in the first half of the sixteenth century, was played on frozen ponds using simple stones. The first written testimony is the famous Stirling Stone, cut in 1511. Examples of this sport can also be found in the paintings of Flemish artists such as Pieter Bruegel. In the seventeenth century, players started to use suitably treated stone discs and sticks to sweep the snow.
The addition of handles with metal grips on the rocks became widely used as of 1775. At the same time, the game became very popular in Northern America, where it was introduced by immigrants.
