Published>Fri, Feb 19 10 10:25 AM
Germany's Maria Riesch got her groove back to win the women's super combined crown on Thursday after American Lindsey Vonn tumbled and ruined her bid for a second Olympic gold medal in as many days.
It was just one of the many feats by women on day six of the Winter Games. Over on the snowboard halfpipe, Australia's Torah Bright sliced her way to her country's first gold of these Games, while speedskater Christine Nesbitt picked up the third gold for host nation Canada.
Another woman made Olympic history. Norwegian biathlete Tora Berger skied and shot her way to the country's 100th Winter Olympic gold, the first nation to reach that landmark.
Her male team mate Emil Hegle Svendsen, however, quickly made that 101 with gold in the biathlon 20 km individual.
Thursday was also a good news day for beleaguered organisers, in that there were no new reports of operational snags after a string of problems, ranging from million-dollar ticketholder refunds to unreliable ice grooming machines.
The day started with all eyes on Vonn once again after a stunning win on a treacherous downhill on Wednesday that sent a succession of racers careening off the course.
The downhill diva, who came to Vancouver with a shin injury, was ahead after the first downhill run and was on course to finish on the podium in the combined when she clipped a gate and tumbled within sight of the finish line.
Riesch, rebounding from a disastrous downhill race, said her gold finish came down to getting her nerves under control.
"I was not nervous and that was the key because yesterday I was," Riesch said, noting that the course was "not so difficult".
Vonn's American team mate Julia Mancuso stayed on her skis to finish second to add another silver to her second place in the individual downhill. With three Olympic medals, Mancuso joins men's team mate Bode Miller as the most decorated U.S. skiers.
BRUISED AND BRONZED
Back with a vengeance was the combined's bronze medal winner Anja Paerson of Sweden, who survived a spectacular crash on the big hill at the end of Wednesday's downhill.
A deeply bruised Paerson decided to race only at the last minute, but once her bronze was in hand, she did not hesitate to do her trademark face-first celebration dive on the snow.
"This night I was very nervous that I wouldn't enter any more races here. But I was very determined to win one more medal," said Paerson, who now holds a record equalling sixth Alpine medal.
The United States led the standings with five golds after scooping up three on Wednesday, while Germany moved to second with four golds.
At three golds apiece stood Norway, South Korea, Switzerland and Canada, where an "own the podium" programme made for the home Olympics has begun to reap respectable rewards.
To the cheers of a fanatical home crowd, speedskater Nesbitt claimed the Olympic title by two-hundredths of a second and later said the way she raced "wasn't pretty".
"I was fortunate to win Olympic gold. It was probably the worst 1,000 I've done this year," Nesbitt said.
The Canadian gold rush comes after the country broke on Sunday its so-called "curse" for never before having won Olympic gold on home soil, previously in Montreal in 1976 and Calgary in 1988.
Australia's first gold came almost miraculously as Bright went from last to first in the halfpipe by pulling off a series of tricks to make up for a first final run with two falls.
After a day of women's triumphs, the men will cap Thursday with the individual figure skating title.
Russia's Yevgeny Plushenko was bidding to become the first man in more than half a century to successfully defend the men's title after he won in Turin four years ago.
He held a narrow lead over American Evan Lysacek and Japan's Daisuke Takahashi after Tuesday's short programme and has vowed to risk all by attempting to nail a quadruple jump in Thursday's free programme.
"Without the quad it's not men's figure skating," he said.
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