World Cup ticket sales have hit 97 percent and organizers are expecting to have sold above 98 percent of the more than 3 million tickets by the end of the tournament. FIFA released figures two days ahead of the opening World Cup match showing that 135,000 of the 3.01 million tickets available for purchase remained unsold.
Excerpt from: World Cup ticket sales hit 97 percent
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Andrew McNair continues his count down to the World Cup from Port Elizabeth with just 48 hours to go. 8 th June 2010 The weather has taken a turn for the worse here in Port Elizabeth. It has been a mixed day of rain and sunshine but the temperatures failed to break the 20 degrees Celsius barrier and its a lot colder than that now at 8pm. One thing not affected by the weather has been the South …
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Apolo Anton Ohno threw up his arms in a what-can-I-do gesture and smiled.
The American short track speedskater had just been disqualified in the 500 meters, but he wasn’t leaving the Vancouver Olympics empty-handed Friday night.
Ohno returned later and anchored the United States to a bronze-medal finish in the chaotic 5,000 relay, giving him his eighth career medal.
It was Ohno’s third medal of these games, to go with a silver and another bronze that made him America’s most decorated Winter Olympian. He already has the most short track medals of any skater.
The 45-lap relay ended a wild final night of short track, marked by crashes, disqualifications and capricious skating.
It also might have been the final Olympic race of Ohno’s stellar career. He is contemplating retirement, although U.S. national coach Jimmy Jang is hoping to convince the 27-year-old skater from Seattle to compete in a fourth Olympics in 2014.
“I never say never,” Ohno said. “I need a break from this sport that’s been very good to me.”
Ohno remade himself in the months leading up to the games, slimming down to 142 pounds – 25 less than he weighed at his first Olympics in 2002.
“Apolo is an incredible athlete,” U.S. teammate Katherine Reutter said. “He works harder than anyone I know.”
Ohno skated the final two laps of the U.S. relay, sticking out his left skate at the finish before getting edged by South Korea’s Kwak Yoon-gy. Canada won the gold and South Korea earned the silver.
“This is very important for me,” Ohno said, referring to his eighth medal. “I train with these guys year-round. They pour their heart and soul into this sport as well. I want to be able to share a medal with these guys and we did. We delivered.”
Ohno slapped hands and exchanged hugs with teammates J.R. Celski, Travis Jayner and Jordan Malone. He waved to the crowd before skating to the boards and hugging an ecstatic Jang, a longtime friend.
Ohno then skated over to congratulate the Canadians, nearly stepping on their Maple Leaf flag. He also shook hands with his South Korean rivals.
“He’s a very excellent athlete, exceptional in every way,” China’s Han Jialiang said.
On the podium, a roar went up as Ohno’s name was announced and the medal slipped over his slicked-back hair. He held up his bronze in one hand and waved his bouquet in the other.
Yves Hamelin, Canada’s team leader, said he ranks Ohno among the top five best short track skaters, along with some of the South Koreans.
“He’s one of the smartest racers,” he said. “We have to really give a great respect to Apolo.”
Lee Ho-suk, one of Ohno’s longtime Korean rivals, said: “We have some good memories and we also have some bad memories of Ohno. I will be sorry to see him leave the world of short track when he does.”
The medal salvaged the night for Ohno after he was disqualified in the 500, apparently for causing a crash in the final turn. He crossed the finish line second behind Canada’s Charles Hamelin, whose momentum spun him into the middle of the ice as the race ended.
Ohno was in last place when he tried to go inside of Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay to move up on the final turn. The American’s right leg appeared to hit Tremblay and he crashed into the padding.
South Korea’s Sung Si-bak also went down, although it appeared he lost his balance.
“There was no space between the skaters,” Ohno said. “There was a fast pace from the beginning. I had so much speed that I put my hand up to not run into the Canadian before me. I guess the judge saw something I didn’t.”
After several minutes of discussion, during which Ohno skated calmly around the ice, the referees DQ’d him. He smiled, fully aware of the unpredictable nature of his sport.
“I thought I was going to be able to snag another silver,” he said. “The referees didn’t see it that way.”
Ohno managed to get past crashes in both his previous heats to advance to the 500 final, which he won four years ago in Turin.Hamelin won the gold. Sung took silver and Tremblay got bronze.
source. sports.yahoo.com/olympics
By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer
So these won’t be remembered as the Vonn-couver Olympics after all. It’s looking like they will belong to the entire U.S. delegation instead.
The Americans reached 34 medals with a silver and a bronze in short track speedskating Friday night, and two more were clinched with the men’s hockey team and men’s team pursuit in speedskating advancing to a gold-medal match in which they can get no worse than silver.
That makes 36 medals, topping the U.S. record of 34 set at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and matching the record for the most by any country at any Winter Olympics, set by Germany in Salt Lake City.
“It’s a great time to be an American,” said Katherine Reutter, who got a silver in the 1,000 meters at the short track. “One of the many things I was yelling was ‘I love the USA!”’
Unless something wild happens over the final two days, the U.S. will win the overall medals race for only the second time, and the first since 1932 in Lake Placid.
And, look who’s leading the gold race: Canada, with 10. Maybe the hosts’ “Own the Podium” campaign will pay off after all.
Speaking of the U.S. and Canada, get ready for a raucous rematch on the ice. One week after the Americans ran roughshod over the Canadians in their game, on their ice, the nations will meet again for gold on Sunday.
The U.S. advanced easily, riding six first-period goals to a 6-1 victory over Finland. The Canadians beat Slovakia 3-2, but it was pretty tense at the end. Canada blew a 3-0 lead in the third period and had the entire nation on edge for the final 4:53 after Slovakia got within a goal.
The speedskaters locked up a top prize by knocking off Sven Kramer and the Dutch in a semifinal race.
At the short track, Apolo Anton Ohno—who became the most-decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history earlier in these games—picked up his eighth career medal by getting bronze in the 5,000-meter relay. He had a chance for another but was disqualified from the 500 meters final.
Vonn was supposed to win all sorts of Alpine medals. Although she is going home with a gold and a bronze, she also had three DNFs for failing to finish her other events, including the slalom on Friday.
Injuries certainly took a toll, from a broken right pinkie to a collection of bruises from chin to shin. But she refused to give up, which may be the bottom line on her performance at these games.
“I’m totally satisfied with everything I have done here,” Vonn said. “I went out there fighting—it just wasn’t my day. I didn’t want to give up, that’s my personality.”
Vonn’s close friend Maria Riesch won the event for her second gold in Vancouver and the ninth for Germany.
Wang Meng of China won the women’s 1,000 meters in short track speedskating for her third gold medal of these games.
Also Friday, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway added to his tremendous Olympics resume by anchoring Norway’s victory in the men’s biathlon relay. This was his first gold medal since sweeping all four events in 2002, and the 11th medal of his career. That leaves him one behind Bjorn Daehlie’s Winter Games record of 12.
MEN’S HOCKEY
Ryan Malone, Zach Parise, Erik Johnson and Patrick Kane all scored in the first 10:08, sending Finland goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to the bench and pretty much sealing any doubt who’d win this.
Just to make sure, Kane and Paul Stastny greeted his replacement with goals 15 seconds apart just a few minutes later, and the only question left was who the Americans will play.
Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow and Ryan Getzlaf put Canada ahead 3-0 after 24 minutes, but Slovakia hung tough. Goals from Lubomir Visnovsky and Michal Handzus less than four minutes apart in the third period gave them hopes of pulling off the upset.
Now comes the intriguing rematch. And it’ll be played on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. beating Canada for the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics.
The U.S. hasn’t won Olympic gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.
Slovakia and Finland will meet for bronze on Saturday.
