The real XXX Olympic Games – sexy sports women

American Lindsey Vonn won the women’s downhill gold at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday. Team-mate Julia Mancuso took the silver with Austrian Elisabeth Goergl winning the bronze.
Alpine speed queen Lindsey Vonn lived up to expectations by winning the United States’ first ever Olympic gold in the women’s downhill on Wednesday.
Vonn, the winner of five consecutive downhills in the World Cup this season, produced a flawless performance on the technically challenging Franz’s Run to finish in a winning time of 1min 44.19sec.
Teammate Julia Mancuso finished second at 0.56sec to take a surprise silver with Austrian Elisabeth Goergl winning the bronze.
An ecstatic Vonn said her victory was made even better by Mancuso finishing second.
“It’s one of the most incredible moments of my life,” said the 25-year-old American. “When I crossed the finish line and saw my name in first and Julia’s second, it was just the coollest thing.”
Vonn’s maiden Olympic medal comes four years after her bid was hampered by injuries sustained in training for the downhill during the Turin Games in 2006.
As well as making alpine history for the US, Vonn is also the first American woman to win Olympic gold in an alpine speed event since childhood hero Picabo Street won super-G gold at the Nagano Games of 1998.
Against expectations, Mancuso fired out the start hut to produce an inspired run that was enough to knock Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl of Austria off the top spot of the provisional podium.
Goergl had started with bib number five and went on to scorch the course, however the Austrian just avoided a spectacular crash when she landed after the last big jump with her ski tips pointing dangerously downwards.
Mancuso, the giant slalom champion from Turin, has been searching for good downhill form all season but she was eventually guaranteed a medal after Anja Paerson crashed and then Maria Riesch failed to shine.
Paerson was in silver medal position going into the final jump just before the finish line but the Swedish ace, like many of the field, found big air and landed awkwardly on one ski, eventually crashing out.
The Swede, who won three medals including slalom gold and downhill bronze in Turin, was immediately taken to hospital by a doctor for checks, according to organisers.
The only other racer left to challenge Vonn, German rival and friend Riesch, failed to produce the kind of challenge most were expecting, finishing way off the pace.

source: www.vancouver2010.com

Germany’s Tatjana Huefner claimed gold in the women’s singles on Tuesday as the German team threaten to sweep all three luge titles at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Huefner posted the fastest time of 2mins 46.524sec over the four runs while Austria’s Nina Reithmayer claimed second at 0.490sec behind with Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger third, 0.577sec off the pace.
With the body of Nodar Kumaritashvili flown home to Georgia on Monday, the mood was still sombre here for Tuesday’s women’s runs at the Whistler Sliding Centre, where the Georgian died in a training run accident last week.
After 20-year-old Felix Loch dominated the field to claim the men’s singles title on Sunday, Huefner claimed victory in the women’s with a flawless fourth run and only the doubles title remains to be decided.
Having held an overnight lead of 0.05sec over the field, Huefner turned the screw on Tuesday’s third run with an almost perfect slide to open a 0.268sec gap.
The margin between the German and Reithmayer in second looked decisive and so it proved as the German clocked a top speed of 134.1kph on the last run to take gold.
Germany’s women have dominated the luge in recent Winter Games.
Reithmayer has the distinction of being the only non-German to claim an Olympic medal in the women’s singles luge this century after Germans took gold, silver and bronze at both Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin four years ago.
Since the country reunified in 1990, Germany has won the men’s, women’s and doubles titles at Nagano in 1998 and at Calgary in 1988.
In the doubles, Austria’s Linger brothers, Andreas and Wolfgang, are the defending Olympic champions from Turin and will be challenged by Germany’s Andre Florschuetz and Torsten Wustlich, who won silver in Turin.

source: www.vancouver2010.com

Maelle Ricker became the first Canadian woman to win Olympic gold on home ground when she claimed victory in the snowboard cross on Tuesday.
Two days after Alexandre Bilodeau’s win in the men’s moguls freestyle had ended the hosts’ long, painful wait for an Olympic title after two barren campaigns in Montreal in 1976 and Calgary 1988, Ricker made up for the disappointment she suffered in Turin four years ago.
At those Games, she crashed in the final and was treated in hospital for concussion.
France’s Deborah Anthonioz took silver while Olivia Nobs of Switzerland claimed bronze.
“I tried to explode out of the gate. I really wanted to get out of that gate as fast as I can,” said 31-year-old Ricker, a native of Vancouver, and the current World Cup leader.
“It was really, really hard today to get a clean run all the way down the course, but I just held on and did my best. I was really just focusing on doing the run going through.”
The event proved one to forget again for American rider Lindsey Jacobellis, who lost gold in Turin when, celebrating too early, she fell and had to be content with silver
On Tuesday, she fumbled a landing off the first jump in the semi-final and missed a gate.
World champion Helene Olafsen of Norway was edged out of the podium, crashing in the middle part of the course when she was fighting with Nobs for the silver medal.

source: www.vancouver2010.com

Gold medals for German women in the 10 kilometer biathlon and the luge have catapulted their country to the top of the medals’ table. Magdalena Neuner won on her skis, while Tatjana Huefner was quickest on her sled.

Germany currently leads the medals table at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, with three golds, four silvers, and two bronzes, after a string of successes in Tuesday’s competition.
First, Magdalena Neuner added a second gold to Germany’s medal count, winning the women’s biathlon 10-kilometer pursuit at Whistler Olympic Park in British Columbia.
The 23-year-old Neuner completed the course in 30 minutes 16 seconds, 12.3 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Anastazia Kuzmina, to claim her first Olympic gold medal. Marie Laure Brunet of France took the bronze.
Neuner won silver in the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Saturday, then coming in behind Kuzmina. That silver was Germany’s first medal of the Games.
Neuner, a six-time world champion, is a native of Wallgau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics.

Magdalena Neuner

More gold, and a silver lining on the ice
In the luge, German favorite Tatjana Huefner claimed gold in the women’s singles. Another German hopeful Natalie Geisenberger grabbed bronze, and Austrian Natalie Reithmayer came in second, almost half a second adrift of Huefner.
Reithmayer becomes the first non-German woman of this century to win an Olympic medal in the luge singles event, after German racers locked out the podiums at both Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin four years ago.
On Sunday, 20-year-old German Felix Loch won the men’s singles, so Germany – usually dominant in this discipline – will shoot for a luge “grand slam” in the doubles later this week.
But heavily fancied German speedskater Jenny Wolf just missed out on gold in the women’s 500 meter event. South Korea’s Lee Sang-Hwa won the first race starting on the outside lane and managed to maintain her aggregate advantage when the skaters switched sides, despite world record holder Wolf setting the fastest single time of the competition: 37.84 seconds.
Lee’s combined time over the two races was 76.09 seconds, just five hundredths of a second quicker than Jenny Wolf.
The second quickest pair racing head-to-head in the final, China’s Wang Beixing and Margot Boer of the Netherlands, secured third and fourth places, respectively.

source: www.dw-world.de

China’s new heroes are Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo who have gained the gold medal at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in the figure skating. Previous to their victory Russia had held on to the pairs gold title for 46 years.

The Chinese pair had emerged from retirement in one more bid to win the gold Olympic medal and in doing so received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The ecstatic couple celebrated victory by holding the Chinese flag proudly during a lap of honour at the rink which was filled to capacity. At a news conference afterwards Shen expressed that maybe now it was time to stop skating and have a baby.

Zhao, who had won the world title 3 times with Shen said “This is a dream come true”. China had never before won an Olympic figure skating gold and in true Olympic style, another pair from China, Pang Qing and Tong Jian, won the silver medal.

Do you think this story represents genuine Olympic spirit? To come out of retirement and achieve the impossible dream surely gives us all hope?

source: www.onlykent.com

Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina won a shock Olympic gold medal on Saturday in the women’s 7.5 km biathlon sprint, seeing off silver winner and favourite Magdalena Neuner of Germany.
Marie Dorin of France claimed bronze.

The head U.S. women’s Alpine speed coach said Saturday night that star racer Lindsey Vonn’s health has improved significantly, thanks to an extended vacation lavished upon her by Mother Nature. Now America’s biggest skiing draw is ready to make her charge in the Vancouver Games – whenever the elements see fit to let her.

Sunday’s downhill training session was canceled, which means Vonn has received a generous five-day reprieve since voicing her concerns about competing with a shin injury she sustained more than a week before the Games were slated to begin. The five additional days will give Vonn almost two full weeks to rest her shin.
“For her, it’s definitely not a bad situation to get those training runs [canceled],” said coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “It gives her more rest to heal. She’s good – she’s ready to go. Even if the training runs wouldn’t have been canceled, she would have been fine. But it has been good to give that shin more rest. Maybe it won’t bother her so much anymore.”
Had it not been for the delays due to Whistler’s soggy weather, Vonn’s first race would have taken place Sunday. Now, she won’t have her first medal test until Wednesday, when – weather permitting – she’ll compete in the women’s downhill. That also happens to be the race that will put the least amount of pressure on Vonn’s shin.

Lindsey Vonn

Other than skiing during course inspection, Vonn hasn’t taken part in any aggressive runs since arriving in Vancouver. She also skipped walking in the Opening Ceremony, instead watching from her Whistler lodging and noting on her Facebook page, “I wish I could be there with all my teammates!” On Saturday, she posted on Facebook that she once again spent the day off skis, getting in a workout and therapy.

“My shin is feeling better and better each day,” she wrote. “I am excited to get a chance to test it out tomorrow.”

Hoedlmoser said coverage of Vonn’s health has been overblown by the media, ignoring the fact that it was the athlete herself who sparked doubt about her status when arriving in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“Everybody jumped on the shin [injury], but the fact is, it’s not like it’s a season-ending injury,” he said. “It’s something that hurts and bothers somebody. It’s not nice to have, but it’s not like it’s an ACL injury where you’re done. It’s something that’s painful, but I think there was a lot of press involved in the whole thing and everybody blew it up a little more.”

With Vonn’s status improving, much of the Alpine focus shifted to the weather in Whistler, with postponements raising the specter of how long events can be delayed before the schedule pushes beyond the Closing Ceremony. But race officials said Saturday they anticipated these early delays and are confident they will be able to complete their full slate of competition by the end of the month.

“I think we can all see that it can be extremely difficult here,” said Peter Bosinger, who oversees Alpine skiing at the Vancouver Games. “But we also know that there’s every possibility to stay positive to get what we need done to accomplish ski racing here.”

source: sports.yahoo.com/olympics

A parade of former Olympians took their turns with the torch Friday, as the flame neared its final destination, reaching Whistler, one of the host sites for the 2010 Games.
“For Whistler . . . (this) is the actual beginning of the Games,” said Mayor Ken Melamed.
“The athletes are here, they are training on the mountains now, so this is really the kickoff for the Games.
“It is game-on now.”
Fourteen former Olympians carried the flame that will launch the Vancouver Games as it travelled on Day 99 of the relay.
It began the day in Squamish, B.C., travelling to Whistler, where some skiing and sliding events for the Games will take place.
Among the Olympians taking up the torch Friday was John Smart, who competed for Canada in freestyle skiing in 1992 in Albertville, France, and again in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway.
“It is a great honour,” said Smart.
“Representing Canada in the Games was a great honour and now, as a former Olympian, it’s great way for us to be involved again in this Olympics. . . . It is exciting.”
Smart is married to a former Olympian, has two young boys and lives in Whistler. He owns and operates Momentum Ski Camps, which has helped train several of the 2010 medal contenders.
Smart’s torch run was Friday night through the centre of Whistler Village.
The former Olympians were asked by the Canadian Olympic Committee and presenting partners Coca-Cola and RBC to carry the torch as a way of honouring their commitment to sport in Canada.
“This incredible event will evoke the memories that these dedicated Olympians created, and inspire our 2010 Olympians competing in Vancouver and Whistler,” said Canadian Olympic Committee president Michael Chambers in a statement.
More than 300 Olympians are part of the torch relay.
On Friday, the torch travelled from Squamish after first making its way up a three-metre tree (thanks to a local logger and carpenter), to Whistler Olympic Park (site of the Nordic event competitions) and then on into the resort.
In all, 182 torchbearers were carrying the flame Friday across 104 kilometres.
But Olympians weren’t the only ones carrying the flame. Local schoolteachers, former mayors and even a 2010 Olympic hopeful, Julia Murray, were also taking part.
The relay will arrive in Vancouver on Feb. 12 to begin the 2010 Games.

Source: www.montrealgazette.com

Defending champion Joannie Rochette fell during her short routine at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships on Friday and trails Cynthia Phaneuf heading into the long program.
Phaneuf scored 66.30 points to win the short program ahead of Rochette, who received 64.15 points after her spill.
“Stuff like that happens and you have to deal with it,” said Rochette, who fell on her opening triple Lutz. “But I was still able to get a good score to be in a good position for the free skate and that’s what a short program is for – at least in my case.”
Amelie Lacoste was third with 53.99 points.
Rochette also trailed Phaneuf at last year’s Canadian championships before bouncing back in the long program to win her fifth straight title. Rochette, the world silver medalist, has already clinched one of the two women’s singles spots on Canada’s Olympic team.
Phaneuf, the 2004 champion, knows maintaining a lead through Saturday’s long program won’t be easy.
But then, the veteran said earning a ticket to Vancouver is her main goal.
“I’m not going to say I was not thinking about (winning the title), but I’m coming here to get to the Olympics, and this is my goal,” Phaneuf said. “For sure I’m not going to think about it when I’m doing my program, but I’m coming here for nothing else but that.”
Later on Friday, Annabelle Langlois and Cody Hay won the pairs short program with a score of 65.47 points. Defending champions Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison were second with 62.87 points, while Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin were third with 62.38.
Canada’s two entries in pairs for the Olympics will be up for grabs in Saturday’s free program.

Joannie Rochette Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images Sport

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
via www.seattlepi.com

Kids sat on their parents’ shoulders and craned their necks as torchbearer Gary Gibson ran with the Olympic flame to the Edgeworth Centre in Camrose Friday afternoon and lit the cauldron onstage.
Thousands of people came out to see country musician Aaron Pritchett, the Augustana Men’s Choir and Blue Thistle perform at a lunchtime celebration, before the torch team packed up and continued its journey through the city.
Maria Big Snake waited with her parents, sisters, nieces and daughters to see her eldest, Meagan Big Snake, run with the flame. The 20-year-old from Siksika Nation has travelled with the torch as an aboriginal youth torch attendant since Toronto.
“My hands are shaking and I have so much energy and adrenalin,” she said.
Earlier in the day, torchbearer Ray Nielsen’s eyes grew wide and shiny as he turned around and looked at the hundreds of people lined up along the route in Stony Plain just before 7 a.m. Friday.
“It’s just too emotional to talk about,” the Bruderheim resident said. People snapped photos of the torch and kids posed with Nielsen as the crowd cheered “Go, Canada, Go!,” while shaking tambourines and waving flags.
“It’s unbelievable. I’m surprised at how many people are here. It’s amazing,” he said.
Clayton Gitzel lined up with his family and friends to see the torch at 5:30 a.m. The 12-year-old hoped to get a pair of free red Olympic mittens the town handed out to the first 70 people, but since people started filling the streets at 5 a.m., the group missed out.
“We weren’t here early enough,” Gitzel said.
The flame passed through Spruce Grove before it reached nearby Enoch Cree Nation at 8:03 a.m.
Torchbearer Alissa Hodgson brought the flame to the band office, where Chief Harry Sharphead welcomed the cheering crowd before Elder Douglas Ward blessed the flame in front of hundreds of people holding candles and wearing Enoch hockey jerseys.
The sound of drums and singing erupted as Hodgson touched the flame to waiting torchbearer Rick LeLacheur’s torch, and he took off with it.
David McDonald watched the blessing with his wife and daughter and said he was proud to see the Olympic flame in Enoch.
“It’s an event we probably won’t see again for a while,” McDonald said. “It’s something, especially for the community, to come together like this with so many people.”
Then, at 8:35 a.m., the flame reached Devon, where torchbearer Sherman Chan was waiting for his turn, unable to stand still.
“I couldn’t sleep, and it’s all I was thinking about this morning” the 29-year-old Edmontonian said. “I’m just totally overwhelmed.”
Stacy Link showed up to the relay in Devon with her family to celebrate the Olympics before they head to Vancouver in February to watch the games live, she said. “We’re really excited.”

Photograph by: Larry Wong, The Edmonton Journal

Link has tickets to see women’s and men’s curling, hockey, and women’s giant slalom skiing in Vancouver.
The flame was to continue through the Alberta communities of Wetaskiwin, Hobbema, Ponoka, Lacombe and Sylvan Lake before reaching a torch relay celebration Friday night in Red Deer.

Edmonton Journal
via www.montrealgazette.com