The United States holds the lead through the first day of the medal count with a total of four, including a gold and a pair of bronze. South Korea is second with a gold and silver.
American Hannah Kearney won the gold medal in women's moguls, edging 2006 Olympic champion Jennifer Heil of Canada. Kearney, the last competitor on the course Saturday night, had a total score of 26.63. Heil, who was attempting to become the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil, was next- to-last out of the gate and finished with a score of 25.69. American Shannon Bahrke won the bronze medal with a total of 25.43. It was an incredible rally from four years ago when Kearney didn't make it out of the qualifying round.
The men's moguls will be held Sunday. Australia's Dale Begg-Smith -- who was born in Vancouver -- is the reigning Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Cup champion, which makes him the favorite on Cypress Mountain. , Begg- Smith can become the first freestyle skier in Olympic history to win two gold medals. He will face strong competition from Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau, who is one of the many athletes trying to win Canada's first Olympic gold medal on home soil.
Apolo Anton Ohno tied Bonnie Blair as the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian of all-time when he won a silver medal Saturday in the men's 1,500 meters after two South Korean skaters fell. Ohno's silver was his sixth medal in short track speedskating to match the total of longtrack specialist Blair, whose six medals during a distinguished 10-year Olympic career included five golds. South Korea's Lee Jung-Su won the gold medal in 2 minutes, 17.611 seconds while Ohno finished .365 seconds back. American J.R. Celski won the bronze, also aided by the crash. In addition to tying Blair, Ohno also moved into first place alone as the most decorated short track skater in the sport's brief 18-year Olympic history. He had been tied with five other skaters -- two men and three women -- at five medals.
The men's downhill, the marquee event on the first official day of competition at the Vancouver Olympics, has been postponed because of adverse weather. Officials have rescheduled the event for Monday. Rain, fog and warm temperatures have led to poor conditions at Whistler Creekside. Training runs prior to the start of the Games were also canceled, which led to Friday's decision to postpone Sunday's women's super combined.
Sven Kramer of the Netherlands won gold and set an Olympic record Saturday in the men's 5,000 meters, while three American speedskaters were kept off the medal stand. Kramer won the race in 6 minutes, 14.60 seconds to break countryman Jochem Uytdehaage's Olympic record from 2002 by .06 seconds. Lee Seung-Hoon of South Korea took silver and Russia's Ivan Skobrev won bronze. 2006 gold medalist Chad Hedrick, skating in the final pairing, finished more than 12 seconds slower than Kramer in 11th place. Kramer won silver behind Hedrick at the Turin Olympics. Two more Americans -- Shani Davis and Trevor Marsicano -- also finished outside the top 10.
The U.S. women speedskaters will get their first chance at redemption after failing to win a medal four years ago in Turin. However, the Americans are not among the favorites in the 3,000-meter race at Richmond Olympic Oval. Catherine Raney-Norman, who finished 11th at this distance in Turin, represents the best chance at a medal for the U.S. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic is considered to be the best in the world at 3,000 meters and will try to bounce back from a seventh-place finish in this event at the 2006 Games. Clara Hughes, Canada's flagbearer at the opening ceremony, won a bronze at this distance in Turin and will be back to try and claim another prize. Hughes also has a Summer Games medal to her credit, winning cycling bronze nearly 14 years ago in Atlanta.
Simon Ammann of Switzerland won the first gold medal at the Vancouver Games, claiming the top prize in Saturday's normal hill ski jumping event at Whistler Olympic Park. Ammann, who now has three Olympic golds, had the best jumps in both rounds and finished the medal competition with a total score of 276.5. Poland's Adam Malysz claimed his third Olympic medal, winning silver with a score of 269.5, while Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria took the bronze.
LUGE
German sliders Felix Loch and David Moeller held the top positions after the first two runs of men's luge singles were completed Saturday, one day after the tragic death of a Georgian athlete. The track at Whistler Sliding Center was modified in the aftermath of Nodar Kumaritashvili's deadly crash. A wall was built above the curve where he slipped off the track and struck a metal pole going at a high rate of speed. The track was also shortened by almost 200 meters to decrease speed on a course where concerns had been raised about safety even before Kumaritashvili's accident. Two-time reigning gold medalist Armin Zoeggeler was third, followed by 2006 silver medalist Albert Demtschenko of Russia. Tony Benshoof was the top American after Saturday's runs, coming in seventh. The third and fourth singles runs will take place Sunday to determine the medals.
There were a pair of women's games on the schedule Saturday. Jayna Hefford and Meghan Agosta each scored three times, and Canada opened defense of its Winter Games gold medal Saturday with an 18-0 rout of Slovakia. The 18 goals set a record for most in one game in Olympic play. Kim Martin stopped 16 shots to help Sweden take a 3-0 win over Switzerland in the first game for both teams in Group A preliminary round play. The U.S. women's hockey team takes on China Sunday, while th eother game has Finland battling Russia.
Anastazia Kuzmina of Slovakia won gold in the women's 7.5-kilometer biathlon sprint event at Whistler Olympic Park on Saturday. Kuzmina finished with a time of 19 minutes, 55.6 seconds to finish 1.5 seconds ahead of silver- medalist Magdalena Neuner of Germany. France's Marie Dorin claimed bronze, coming in 10.9 seconds slower than Kuzmina. Kuzmina is a surprise winner in this event, having come into the Vancouver Games ranked 28th in the overall World Cup standings. This is Slovakia's first -ever Olympic medal in biathlon.
The men will get their first chance at a gold medal on Sunday with the 10- kilometer sprint. Athletes will ski three laps on a 3.3-kilometer loop and stop twice at the shooting range. Tim Burke is quite possibly the greatest American biathlete of all time and he will try to claim the first-ever biathlon medal for the U.S. Burke is ranked fourth in the current overall individual World Cup standings. However, Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, the be the best-ever biathlete from any nation, will try to win his 10th Olympic medal on Sunday.
The first medals for nordic combined will be awarded Sunday in the men's normal hill/10-kilometer individual event at Whistler Olympic Park. The event consists of one ski jump of 95 meters, followed by the 10-kilometer cross- country pursuit race. The jump is held in the morning and the race takes place in the afternoon. Felix Gottwald of Austria has won six Olympic medals in nordic combined, including a pair of golds, and he's back for another shot at glory. Finland's Hannu Manniinen, meanwhile, has 47 World Cup titles to his credit, but has never won an individual Olympic medal. Todd Lodwick and Bill Demong are the best hopes in this event for the United States.
The first action in figure skating at these Games takes place Sunday as the pairs event gets underway with the short program. Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowsky are the two-time reigning world champions in pairs, but they will receive stiff competition from a trio of talented Chinese teams. Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett make up the lone U.S. team. The duo finished ninth at last year's World Championships
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