Tag: alpine skiing

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Violinist allegedly qualified for Games through rigged race

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Not that we could ever condone cheating, but wouldn’t it be nice to think that if we’re going to bend the rules to get a celebrity into the Olympics, we did it for a violinist? Culture still exists! Slovenia Ski Association director Yuri Zurej describes some of the problems: When we checked the competition and all the data, we discovered that, on the results list on the second day of the competition, in fourth place there was a girl not even physically present at the course. Another example was of a girl who told us she fell in the race and … Continue reading Violinist allegedly qualified for Games through rigged race

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Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s slalom

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Austria’s Mario Matt has two world slalom titles (2001, 2007) and plenty of World Cup success. But he has rarely been healthy in the Olympics — in fact, he had never finished an Olympic slalom. Now the 34-year-old is a gold medalist. Date: 22-Feb Sport: Alpine skiing Event: Men’s slalom Medalists: Mario Matt (Austria), Marcel Hirscher (Austria), Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway) SportsMyriad projections: Marcel Hirscher (Austria), Mario Matt (Austria), Felix Neureuther (Germany) How U.S. fared: Nolan Kasper was 18th, exactly 2 seconds back, after the first run. David Chodounsky did not finish. That left all eyes on Ted Ligety, the giant slalom gold medalist. His World Cup slalom results aren’t special … Continue reading Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s slalom

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Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s giant slalom

Beau Dure

Always nice to see a big favorite come through under Olympic pressure, and that’s just what the USA’s Ted Ligety did. The 2006 combined gold medalist and two-time giant slalom world champion had a blazing first run and careful second run to take gold. Date: 19-Feb Sport: Alpine skiing Event: Men’s giant slalom Medalists: Ted Ligety (USA), Steve Missillier (France), Alexis Pinturault (France) SportsMyriad projections: Ted Ligety (USA), Marcel Hirscher (Austria), Alexis Pinturault (France) How U.S. fared: Ted Ligety was a contender in the super-G and combined but hadn’t been as close to the podium as he would’ve liked. This event, which … Continue reading Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s giant slalom

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Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, women’s giant slalom

Beau Dure

Hey, save some Olympic medals for someone else! Tina Maze won her second gold of these Games, Anna Fenninger added a silver to her gold, and defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg took bronze this time around. U.S. teen Mikaela Shiffrin, a strong slalom contender, took a solid fifth place here. Date: 18-Feb Sport: Alpine skiing Event: Women’s giant slalom Medalists: Tina Maze (Slovenia), Anna Fenninger (Austria), Viktoria Rebensburg (Germany) SportsMyriad projections: Jessica Lindell-Vikarby (Sweden), Tina Maze (Slovenia), Lara Gut (Switzerland) How U.S. fared: This was our first look at Mikaela Shiffrin, misleadingly billed as the next Lindsey Vonn. Shiffrin is a world champion and … Continue reading Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, women’s giant slalom

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Sochi recap: Alpine skiing: men’s super-G

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Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud, who tore his ACL in the World Championships super-G a year ago, shot down the hill for a big win. And it’s a huge day for the Americans — World Cup also-ran Andrew Weibrecht claimed his second Olympic medal while Bode Miller earned his sixth. Updated with final results. Date: 16-Feb Sport: Alpine skiing Event: Men’s super-G Medalists: Kjetil Jansrud (Norway), Andrew Weibrecht (USA), Bode Miller (USA) and Jan Hudec (Canada) tied for bronze SportsMyriad projections: Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway), Matthias Mayer (Austria), Patrick Küng (Switzerland) How U.S. fared: Ted Ligety won the 2013 World Championship in this event, but that was a surprise. He’s … Continue reading Sochi recap: Alpine skiing: men’s super-G

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Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s combined

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Swiss time was not running out in Russia today, with Sandro Viletta taking Olympic combined gold ahead of a cast of the usual suspects. Date: 14-Feb Sport: Alpine skiing Event: Men’s combined (one run each of downhill and slalom) Medalists: Sandro Viletta (Switzerland), Ivica Kostelic (Croatia), Christof Innerhofer (Italy) SportsMyriad projections: Alexis Pinturault (France), Ted Ligety (USA), Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway) How U.S. fared: Defending champion Bode Miller and world champion Ted Ligety were out of contention after the downhill. Miller, at one time a great slalom skier but not as much in recent years, was 12th after the downhill, … Continue reading Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s combined

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Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s downhill

Beau Dure

The glamorous downhill event turns up some surprises, and this was no exception. Matthias Mayer, who had never won a World Cup race and never finished higher than fifth in downhill, is the gold medalist. Date: 9- Feb Sport: Alpine skiing Event: Men’s downhill Medalists: Matthias Mayer (Austria), Christof Innerhofer (Italy), Kjetil Jansrud (Norway) SportsMyriad projections: Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway), Erik Guay (Canada), Dominik Paris (Italy) How U.S. fared: Bode Miller hasn’t had the best track record in recent years, which is why he wasn’t a projected medalist. He did well in recent weeks and in training here, but he didn’t quite find the speed today, … Continue reading Sochi recap: Alpine skiing, men’s downhill