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AllFlying |
News archive, February 2006
Click
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Henin-Hardenne
Back To Form In Dubai (Feb 27)
Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne has shown no signs of a stomach ailment
which haltered her Australian Open campaign to defeat Maria Sharapova
7-5 6-2 in the Dubai Open.
Henin-Hardenne, the 2004 winner, increased her undefeated streak at the
tournament to 12 after she missed last year’s event with a shoulder
injury.
Commenting after the match about her performance to the Indianapolis Star,
Henin-Hardenne said that she was pleased with the way her body held up
in the tough conditions.
“It was a tough week with all the rain . . . but my body held up,”
the Belgian said.
“I'm very tired, even if I didn't want to show it on the court,”
Henin-Hardenne told The Independent, “I always try to keep these
things to myself, which is sometimes a mistake because I push myself beyond
my limits.”
“My body is very sore now. My shoulder, my knee, everything's hurting,
but I always try to play with my fighting spirit.”
“I am very happy with the way I played this week.”
The Dubai victory gave Henin-Hardenne her second title of the year.
By Rick D’Andrea
Skating
added to Sydney festival (Feb 26)
From the AOC: In a major boost for two Winter Olympic sports, short track
speed skating and figure skating are to be showcased as part of the Australian
Olympic Committee’s (AOC) Olympic Youth Festival in Sydney in January
2007.
The Olympic Youth Festival is attracting world attention with Beijing
2008 host nation, China confirming it will be sending teams to compete
in both events.
Japan has also said it will compete in both short track and figure skating
and the AOC is confident that Korea, Great Britain, Canada, USA and New
Zealand will also send teams.
“These countries are the superpowers in these sports and this will
be an enormous boost to our young athletes competing against the ‘best
of the best’,” said AOC President John Coates.
Coates, who is attending the Winter Olympics in Torino, said figure skating
and short track have attracted strong crowd support and are among the
most popular sports at the Games.
Japan’s
first figure skating title (Feb 25)
From the Torino Olympics: An Olympic gold medal not only brings glory,
it also brings sleepless nights as Japan's Shizuka Arakawa has discovered.
Arakawa saved Japan from its worst Winter Games showing in 30 years when
she unexpectedly became the first athlete from her country to win a figure
skating gold on Thursday.
With Arakawa also capturing Japan's only medal in Turin, she has found
out that her time no longer belongs to herself.
"I now have a hectic schedule after winning the gold medal,"
the 24-year-old said meekly, wearing her gleaming prize around her neck.
"I've been very busy. In the last 36 hours, I've only slept for six
hours in total.
"Unfortunately I couldn't find time to meet my parents who were here
to watch my performance.
"Hopefully I'll be able to share some time with them when I go back
home to Japan."
Arakawa was supposed to make up the numbers in the women's competition
behind twice world champion Irina Slutskaya and reigning U.S. national
champion Sasha Cohen…
Full
story
Torino
Olympics
More
news
AOC
Manusco
wins first for America (Feb 24)
 From
the Torino Olympics: Julia Mancuso won the American women's first Alpine
skiing medal of the Turin Games when she took gold in the giant slalom
on Friday.
Mancuso, who has never won a World Cup race, held on to her first-leg
lead to finish 0.67 seconds ahead of Tanja Poutiainen, who became Finland's
first Olympic medallist in the sport.
Anna Ottosson took a surprise bronze, outclassing fellow Swede Anja Paerson,
the Olympic slalom champion, who finished a disappointed sixth.
Mancuso had come to the Games expecting to play second fiddle to speed
specialist Lindsey Kildow. But Kildow crashed in training for the downhill
at the start of the Olympics and her results suffered.
With American men's favourites Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves also failing,
though unheralded Ted Ligety took gold in the combined, the pressure was
on the 21-year-old Mancuso to win a big race for the first time in her
life.
"I didn't know when I woke up this morning that I would go to sleep
as Olympic champion," a delighted Mancuso told ORF television.
The weather -- heavy snow and thick fog in parts -- had helped her, she
said, as she was used to skiing in such conditions at home in California.
"I knew a lot of people were having problems but I just skied safe,
I didn't take risks," said Mancuso, who was the world championship
bronze medallist in giant slalom and super-G last year.
Janica Kostelic, who won the title in 2002, did not start. The Croatian
has been ill throughout the Games though she won a record career fourth
gold medal in last weekend's combined event.
Poutiainen was a double silver medallist at last year's world championships
but has not been on the World Cup podium once this season.
"After all the bad luck I have had I wasn't expecting much from this
season but this is a great way to have a good season," she said.
Ottosson, who has had a run of top-10 places this season but has not won
a World Cup race in six years, was also delighted after finishing 1.14
seconds behind Mancuso in two minutes 10.33.
"I can't believe it," said the 29-year-old Swede who had been
13th after the first leg. "This is a huge surprise. I didn't expect
it at all, especially after the first run when I was way behind."
Austria, who had won at least one medal in every other event, had a disappointing
day, with Nicole Hosp their best finisher in fourth place, 1.47 behind.
Mancuso
profile (pictured)
Camplin
survives fall to take bronze (Feb 23)
 From
the Australian Olympic site: Alisa Camplin’s comeback from major
knee surgery only four months ago ended with a bronze medal at the Torino
Winter Olympic Games. Camplin finished 3rd in the freestyle aerial finals
at Sauze d'Oulx after executing two outstanding jumps.
Team-mate Jacqui Cooper, who was the top qualifier, finished in 8th position.
Camplin was in disbelief and couldn't hold back the tears of joy.
"My goodness I cannot believe how good third feels. I never stopped
believing and here I am," Camplin said.
Jumping in a pea-soup fog, Camplin drew on the support she has received
to propel her to the podium in her final Olympic competition.
“I’ve had so much support from Australia,” she said.
“It’s been an amazing roller-coaster, real lows but real highs.
I never thought I’d get an Olympic medal and to walk away with first
and third is amazing. This is so much better than the first time around
because I’ve gone through so much heartbreak. It feels like magic.”
(Pic: AOC)
Full
story
Plus…
From the Torino web: Shame about the fog. But what a show at the Aerials
of Sauze. It was the women’s turn to let out the first shout. They
did it, and gave an unforgettable evening to the thousands of enthusiasts
watching. At the end of two exciting legs, the first spot was won by Swiss
Evelyne Leu, 30 years in July, vice world champion and four victories
in the World Cup. Leu – who performed an incredible second jump Back/Full-Full-Full
achieving a total score of 202.55 – preceded the Chinese favourite
Nina Li (197.39) and the Australian Alisa Camplin (191.39), gold four
years at Salt Lake and miraculously recovered in time for the Torino 2006
Olympic Winter Games after having been involved in yet…
Full
story
Plus…
What a show! The short track speed skating relays always offer sensational
results and surprises right up until the last moment. It was like this
also at Torino 2006. In the 3000m, the women gave life to an exciting
and well-balanced final.
The gold went once again to Korea, the absolute dominator of these Olympic
Winter Games. Canada in second place and the bronze to an excellent Italian
team…
Full
story
Plus…
Australian figure skater Joanne Carter suffered bitter disappointment
when an early fall in a triple jump shook the rest of her performance.
She finished 25th in the pre-final event.
Carter, 25, finished 8th in the 1998 Olympics and hoped to match or even
better that result.
The three top contenders for tonight’s final are Irina Slutskaya
(Russia), Saha Cohen (USA) and Shizuka Arakawa (Japan).
Torino
Olympics
More
news
AOC
Jones
& Lenton scoop awards (Feb 23)
Swimmers Leisel Jones and Libby Lenton scooped the major gongs at last
night’s announcement of the Australian Sport Awards. Jones was given
Female athlete of the year and Lenton the junior title.
Bitter-sweet
aerials for Australia (Feb 22)
The Australian women’s aerials team has tasted both phenomenal success
and bitter disappointment after Jacqui Cooper set a world record in the
women’s aerials for the fastest qualifying time while Lydia Ierodiaconou
was stretchered off the course after suffering a horrendous knee injury
during the second qualifying rounds at the Winter Olympic Games at Torino,
Italy.
The 24-year-old from Melbourne has re-torn the anterior cruciate ligament
in her right knee after she failed to complete a difficult series of turns
on her second jump. She let out a horrifying scream as her knee gave way
beneath her, and teammates Jacqui Cooper and Allisa Camplin looked away
in horror.
Both women watched on in tears as the World No.2 in aerials was taken
to hospital. Ierodiaconou originally had her knee reconstructed in June
of last year and came back to win the world cup event last month. She
was considered Australia’s best hope for a medal after Camplin had
the same surgery in October.
Head Australian aerials coach Todd Ossian was particularly upset because
Ierodiaconou had performed an outstanding first jump and was in third
place before her ill-fated second attempt.
“She had the highest jumping score of her life in the first round
(101.52) and it felt so good I thought there was going to be no problem
and Lydia was going to land her second jump," Ossian said.
It was a bittersweet night for Jacqui Cooper, who suffered the same fate
during a practice session before the Salt Lake Games four years ago.
The former World No.1 qualified first after scoring 213.56 points from
her two jumps and will be joined by reigning gold medalist Alisa Camplin
who qualified tenth in the 12-woman final. The fourth Australian competitor,
Liz Gardner, did not make the final, qualifying 23rd.
While the final will be an exciting night for the women’s aerials
team, Australia will look on with a mixture of anticipation and excitement,
and a thought to might what have been for Lydia Ierodiaconou.
By Jessica Craven
German
near-miss leads to win (Feb 22)
 From
the Torino Olympics: andra Kiriasis steered her Germany I sled to victory
in the women's Olympic bobsleigh competition on Tuesday, tightening her
country's stranglehold on the sport.
A silver medallist when women's bobsleigh made its Winter Games debut
four years ago in Salt Lake City, the 31-year-old Kiriasis mastered the
tricky Cesana track for a comfortable win.
Shauna Rohbock's United States I sled won the silver medal while the Italy
I bob driven by Gerda Weissensteiner thrilled the home fans with the bronze.
Bobsleigh's superpower, Germany had won gold already in the two-man on
Sunday courtesy of Andre Lange and could complete a hat trick of titles
in the Feb. 24-25 four-man event, which Lange will start as favourite.
Kiriasis clocked the fastest time in three of the two-day event's four
runs to clock a combined winning time of three minutes 49.98 seconds.
She survived a scare in her second run on Monday, running into track frost
on the entrance to a curve, which left her too high at the bend.
"That was a shock," she said. "For one I thought it was
all over."
Full
story
Pic:
Kiriasis web site
Plus…
From the Oz Olympic site: Australia's history-making female bobsledders
have ended their Torino 2006 campaign with an excellent fourth run and
14th place, although they were five seconds off the pace set by the winning
German No.1 sled at Cesana Pariol.
Pilot Astrid Loch-Wilkinson and brakewoman Kylie Reed expressed the mixed
emotions typical of many elite athletes, happy with their efforts and
their results but thinking they could possibly have done a bit better.
"We came into this knowing that we would probably end up 15th and
we ended up 14th. We were hoping for 12th, but ended up better than we
expected, so we can't really complain about that," Reed said.
"I was a little disappointed in the pushing today. I pushed better
yesterday, but overall I think we did really well today," the Perth-born,
Melbourne-based 31-year-old added.
After clocking 58.53 and 58.85 seconds on their first two runs on Day
10, the pair put down runs of 59.00 and 58.73 seconds on a night which
saw most sleds record slower times than they had the previous evening…
Full
story
Plus…
Emily Hughes arrived in Turin without any illusions about her medal prospects.
She did, however, have the most famous cheering squad in town.
"Hughes Gotta Believe" proclaimed a giant blue and white banner
from the third tier of the stands as the 17-year-old skated onto the ice
for Tuesday's short programme.
Among the dozen people holding up the message, one face stood out -- that
of Olympic champion and proud big sister Sarah Hughes.
"I know how she feels up in the stands and I guess she knows how
I feel," Emily, bronze medallist at last month's U.S. nationals,
told reporters. "She knows I'm ready, she knows I can do it. This
is a tremendous step for me. The Olympics is a huge step. The only way
now is up."
In 2002, then 13-year-old Emily was among 15,000 roaring fans at the Salt
Lake Ice Centre cheering on Sarah, who caused one of the biggest upsets
in figure skating history to capture the women's crown.
Fast forward four years and sisters have swapped roles.
When Emily unexpectedly made a late dash for Turin after fellow American
Michelle Kwan had to pull out with a groin injury, her entire family were
quick to pack their bags and book their own airline tickets to the northern
Italy city.
As Emily skated on to the ice to make her own Winter Games debut, the
extended Hughes clan cheered wildly.
Even a slight slip on her step sequence failed to silence the deafening
roars and as Emily whirled out of her final spin, Sarah leapt to her feet
to lead the standing ovation at the Palavela rink.
The performance earned Emily a personal best of 57.08 points and seventh
place in the standings -- not bad for a girl who was not even supposed
to be at the Olympics.
"It was a very good night. I was very nervous though. I'm very happy
she skated well but it was very hard to watch," conceded Sarah…
Full
story
Plus…
From the Australian Olympic web: Australia's Lydia Ierodiaconou has suffered
a reoccurrence of a serious knee injury during the qualifying round of
the aerials competition at the Winter Olympics in Torino.
In 3rd position after the first round of jumps Ierodiaconou grabbed for
her left knee on landing the second jump and crashed heavily while sliding
down the slope.
It appeared her injured knee gave way on impact…
Full
story
Kostelic
sets new medal record (Feb 21)
 Croatia's
Janica Kostelic wrote another page of Olympic history on Monday by becoming the
first female Alpine skier to win six medals.
Second place in the super-G took
the overall World Cup leader's career tally to four golds and two silvers, one
medal more than Switzerland's Vreni Schneider accumulated between 1988 and 1994
and Germany's Katja Seizinger from 1992 to 1998.
The pigtailed 24-year-old,
who would have missed the race due to a high pulse rate and fever had it been
held as scheduled on Sunday, brushed aside the record-breaking achievement.
"I just take it so simply. More girls are coming, someone will win seven,
eight, nine, 10. Now I have six. Even if I quit here, I'm more than happy.
"Probably when I quit skiing I'll think about it more because right now I
just concentrate on my skiing and not think about how many medals I won already
and how much I'll win," said Kostelic.
"I'm just skiing, enjoying
it and having fun."
Kostelic said the silver possibly made her even more
happy than winning the combined gold medal last Saturday, a feat that made her
the first woman Alpine skier to win four golds.
Kostelic’s
web page (pictured)
Plus…
The German women set the pace as expected in Monday's opening run of the women's
bobsleigh competition of the Turin Games, which was marred by a spectacular crash.
The Netherlands number 1 sled rolled over and slid down the Cesana track around
several curves before driver Ilse Broeders and brakewoman Jeannette Pennings were
able to get out of it.
Neither appeared to have sustained any serious injury.
Sandra Kiriasis, a silver medallist as Sandra Prokoff when women's bobsleigh made
its Olympic debut four years ago in Salt Lake City, and brakewoman Anja Schneiderheinze
captured the lead in the Germany I sled with a track record time of 57.16 seconds.
The Germany II bob driven by 2002 bronze medallist Susi Erdmann was in second
position, 0.10 second back before the second run later on Monday.
The final
two, medal-deciding runs are on Tuesday.
Plus…
Ice hockey: The Americans, upset at missing out on a chance to play for a gold
medal, took their frustrations out on the Finns piling up three goals in the first
period.
Sweden edged the U.S. in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals to
stop the Americans from advancing to a rematch with Canada in the finals. It was
the first time the U.S. lost in a major tournament to a team other than Canada.
"At the beginning of the Games, we were looking to win one colour (a gold
medal) and in the end, we're taking home a different one (the bronze medal),"
said Angela Ruggiero.
"It was really hard right after the Sweden loss.
But I am proud that we regrouped. We were really up at the beginning of today's
game."
Kelly Stephens opened the scoring and King followed with a pair
as the U.S., the 1998 gold medallists and silver medallists in Salt Lake City
four years ago, dominated play.
King completed her hat trick at 1:44 of the
second period to close out the scoring.
The gold medal game between Canada
and Sweden will be played later on Monday.
Torino
Olympics
More
news
Skiers
snowed out (Feb 20)
From the Australian Olympic team: Australia's
aerialists will have to wait another two days before they launch their Olympic
campaigns, after heavy snow falls and blizzard-type conditions forced the postponement
of the qualifying round at Sauze d'Oulx.
Qualifying will now be held on 21
February (Day 11) with the top-12 competitors from a field of 24 advancing to
the final the following day on Day 12.
Australia's squad of Jacqui Cooper,
Alisa Camplin, Lydia Ieriodiaconou and Liz Gardner were reluctant to compete under
the worsening conditions as they would have been forced to change their inruns…
Full
story
Timmer
regains speed skating form (Feb 19)
 From
the Torinoi Olympic web: Marianne Timmer reached the highest rung of the podium
in the ladies' 1000m, duplicating the gold she won in Nagano 1998. The Dutchwoman
made the best possible amends after the double false start which got her disqualified
from the 500m. So she become, together with the American Bonnie Blair, the only
skater to have gained two Olympic gold medals across this distance.
This was
the third medal at the Torino games for Canadian Cindy Klassen - silver in the
pursuit, bronze in the 3000m and missing the most precious medal by only four
hundredths. Third medal also for the German Anni Friesinger, who raced in the
last heat and was tipped favourite on the eve of the after the five successes
this season in world cup. All three previous Olympic medal winners abdicated:
The US's Cris Witty, gold in Salt Lake City 2002, world and Olympic record holder,
came 27th; Sabine Wolker (D) the outgoing silver medal finished 21st whilst ex
bronze medallist Jennifer Rodriguez (USA) only came 10th…
Full
story
Torino
Olympics
More
news
Mauresmo
and Clijsters To Meet in Antwerp Final (Feb 19)
Frenchwoman Amelie
Mauresmo and Belgian Kim Clijsters have both progressed through to the Final of
the Proximus Diamond Games being held in Antwerp, Belgium.
Mauresmo, the No.
2 seed, took care of the Russian No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova 6-4, 7-5, whilst Clijsters,
the current World No.1, had to come back from being a set down to win against
another Russian - this time, in the No. 5 seed, Elena Dementieva 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
“Kim
(Clijsters) in the final is of course great for the crowd, but will be extra hard
for me,” Mauresmo told Reuters, “I am expecting a very tough game. Kim
is a very dangerous player.”
“I hope there is still more to come.
I didn't feel too good in the first two rounds, but today was much better,”
Mauresmo said.
Both Mauresmo and Clijsters are the last two Grand Slam winners
after Clijsters won the US Open in September and Mauresmo claimed the Australian
Open title in dramatic circumstances. The two also met in last month's Australian
Open semi-final, with Clijsters retiring hurt with the score in the third set
in Mauresmo's favour at 3-2.
By Rick D'Andrea
Record
Oz crew tackles winter (Feb 18)
A record eighteen Australian women
make up the 40-strong Australian Winter Olympic Team in Turin, Italy, a big increase
on the 27 athletes who competed in the last Games in Salt Lake City.
Kylie
Reed and Astrid Loch-Wilkinson are Australia's first Olympic women's representatives
in the bobsleigh event. Both Reed and Loch-Wilkinson come from successful athletics
backgrounds. Reed, a former West Australian long jump champion, made her bobsled
debut at the Europe Cup in Winterberg, Germany, in November 2003, with current
pilot Astrid Loch-Wilkinson driving the sled. The duo finished in ninth place
at the Cup and a year later the pair achieved 19th place at the World Cup in Iglis,
Austria. They begin competition on the 20th February.
Michelle Steele made
history on Thursday as Australia's first female competitor in the skeleton event.
A former lifesaving beach sprint athlete, Steele was recruited for the event very
recently and yesterday achieved an outstanding thirteenth in the skeleton race,
which involves lying face-down on a sledge and sliding down an icy track at astonishing
speeds.
Australia also has two exciting competitors in cross- country skiing,
Esther Bottomley in sprint and Clare-Louise Brumley in the 30km Free and Pursuit.
Claire-Louise Brumley finished 42nd in the ladies's 15km pursuit at the cross
country venue, Pregato Plan near Sesquiere on the 13th February. The 29-year-old
skier from Templestowe was ecstatic with her efforts.
“"That's my
best ever race and I've done it at the Olympics," a delighted Brumley said.”Classic
is my strength and I had a really good first half. I had a quick, easy changeover
and out onto the 'skate' leg and my place jumped around between 37th and 43rd,"
she said. Brumley returns to competition on the 24th February for the 30km ladies's
freestyle, while Bottomley is yet to compete.
In the luge, Hannah Campbell-Pegg
was lucky to finish in 23rd place, after the competition was marred by a number
of crashes. Seven sliders withdrew from the competition after serious crashes
and a further six crashed but were able to cross the finish line.
"With
the long delays (for accidents) it was pretty stressful,” Campbell- Pegg
said. "It was such a relief to cross the finish line for the last time. I
was just hoping for second last, 28th or 29th."
In the moguls, Manuela
Berchtold has managed to overcome a number of knee injuries which have prevented
her from competing on the world circuit to achieve 14th place in the final at
Torino.
Australia has only one competitor in the figure skating event, 25-year-old
Jo Carter from Sydney. It has been eight long years since Carter's last Olympics
after a serious knee injury kept her from competing at Salt Lake City. Carter
is yet to compete.
Emily Rosemond is also returning from serious knee injury
to compete in the 1000m and 1500m speed skating events. The skater from Queensland
begins competing today in the 1500m heats.
In the exciting snowboard events,
Australian champion Torah Bright achieved an admirable fifth place in the half
pipe final but says she believes she would have placed high enough for a medal
had her shoulder not dislocated mid-trick. Bright says the joint popped back in
almost immediately but says the shock left her so distracted that she crashed
on her next trick, and had to abandon one of her toughest moves.
Bright's training
partner Holly Crawford placed 18th of the field of 34, despite severe bruising
from an earlier training crash and another heavy crash during the qualifying rounds.
Meanwhile,
snowboarder Emily Thomas placed 19th and 21st in her qualifying runs in the snowboarding
cross which wasn't high enough to get a place in the final. PGS champion Johanna
Shaw competes later this week.
Gold medalist Alisa Camplin is returning from
a second knee reconstruction to compete in the women's freestyle aerials later
this week along with Jacqui Cooper, Elizabeth Gardner and Lydia Ierodiaconou.
Such
a strong Olympic team is a sign of the growing popularity of winter sports, says
AOC secretary-general Craig Phillips. "It is fantastic. It is good to see
such a strong representation of women with almost a 50-50 split across the team,"
Phillips said.
"It's also recognition, I think, that we now have athletes
performing at the highest level on the world stage in some of these winter disciplines."
The Australian women have achieved some excellent results so far and, with
competition continuing next week, Australia will be watching for more exciting
Olympic action.
By Jessica Craven
Pittman
dismisses her demons (Feb 18)
 From
Athletics Australia: After a day-two fade out at the national titles in Sydney,
all eyes were fixated on Jana Pittman (pictured) in the final of the women's 400m
hurdles at the Athletics Australia Invitational at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
tonight.
After an astonishing final 100m torture-test two weeks ago, Pittman
produced a one act affair to produce her fastest time of the season, 54.41 seconds.
Sonia Brito was second (57.69) with Lauren Boden in third (58.69).
"I'm
back… the demons have been put to bed. I backed up, at the nationals I faded
but tonight I backed up. It was an ugly race and I was a bit stuttery but otherwise
it felt great," Pittman said…
Full
story (Pic: Athletics Australia)
Prime
time still elusive for women's sport (Feb 17)
From the archives
of The Age newspaper, written by Tracee Hutchison: With the exception of
Cathy Freeman's gold medal run at the Sydney Olympics, I can't think of any other
time that women's sport is broadcast in prime time on commercial television other
than during the Australian Open. I also can't think of any other women's sport
where its top-ranked players are known by their first names…
The
Age home; Story
Winter
Olympics -- day 6 (Feb 16)
Day 6 overview: The day started with
the victory of the Esthonian Kristina Smigun, ladies cross country skiing champion,
adding to her golden collection her second medal of these XX Olympic Winter Games.
She shared the podium with Bjoergen Marit and Hilde Pedersen.
The day of surprises
debuts with the biathlon event: wonderful victory by Florence Beverel-Robert at
her first success. On the slopes of Cesana San Sicario she beat the super favourite
Swedish Anna Carin Oloffson, that anyway climbed the second step of the podium,
third the Ukrainian Lilia Efremova who repeated the Orsblie result. Snowboard
dominion by the USA…
Special emotions at the Oval Lingotto, with the great
German team, Daniela Anschuetz, Anni Friesinger and Claudia Pechstein sanctioning
the ladies' speed skating team pursuit record by overcoming Canada and Russia…
Full
story
Plus…
 Skeleton:
The strongest athlete won, the only one able to face the speed of the Cesana Pariol
track without making any mistakes. The Swiss Maya Pedersen follows the American
Tristan Gale in the Golden Roll and adds the skeleton Olympic title to the two
World Championships in 2001 and 2005. We know that the Swiss was one of the favourites.
This year she lost the World Cup winning as many as 4 legs in Lake Placid, Sigulda,
Saint Moritz and Altenberg.
To send her to the honours plaza was merely the
sensational regularity of the Canadian Melissa Hollingsworth-Richards, able to
gain seven consecutive podiums. The twenty-six-year old from Eckville was partially
disappointing. In the first heat she was 75 hundreds from Pedersen, but she could
have won the silver medal anyway, if a veering in the second heat hadn't forced
her to settle for the bronze medal. The German Diana Sartor was even out of the
medals area, after being second in the first descent.
The surprise came from
the UK Shelley Rudman, already very fast during training, who arrived behind the
winner, even if she had a significant delay, 1”23. This year, the 24-year-old
from Swindon won a silver medal also at the Saint Moritz European Championships.
Italy celebrates an excellent fifth place of Costanza Zanoletti from Piemonte,
who during her second descent climbed up three positions…
Full
story
Plus…
Australian Michelle Steele finished 13th in the women's skeleton at Cesana Pariol.
Steele clocked a combined time of 2:03.09 over her two runs, some 3.64 seconds
behind winner Maya Pedersen of Switzerland. The young woman from Bundaberg, in
Queensland, switched from beach sprints to winter sports as part of an Australian
Institute of Sport development program less than two years ago. This is her first
olympics.
Full
story
Torino
Olympics
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Zhurova
takes 500m speed skating (Feb 15)
 Russian
Svetlana Zhurova won gold in the women's 500 metres, in front of Chinese Manli
Wang and Hui Ren. It is an important gold for Zhurova that came after winning
the World championships sprint in January. Especially after the criticism she
received from her federation because she preferred to be mother to little Yaroslav
than skater. For the Chinese team the hope of winning the first Olympic gold will
have to wait until Vancouver 2010. They collected two very precious medals, however.
Won by 32 year old Manli Wang and the surprising 23 year old Hui Ren, they are
the only Chinese together with Ye Qiaobo (3 medals in 1994), to step up onto the
Olympic podium…
Full
story
Plus…
Luge: Germany
couldn't have done any better. It monopolised the women's luge podium, transforming
the Cesana Pariol Olympic competition into a national competition. Obviously not
a surprise. It had already happened at Salt Lake City and it is certainly not
the only time that the Germans have not lost a World Cup competition since as
far back as 1997. The athletes that won the medals were the same ones that won
the first three places in the general class of the Cup…
Full
story
Torino
Olympics
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Good
and bad news from Harrop (Feb 15)
Australian tri-athlete Loretta
Harrop has announced good and bad news: she is pregnant and this means withdrawing
from the Commonwealth Games, which is barely a month away.
Harrop has said
she has yet to decide what this may do for her career, but suggested the temptation
to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics may be too strong to resist.
She believes
that, at 30, age is still on her side - particularly considering the last two
Olympic champions have been in their mid-thirties.
Her replacement in the Games
squad will be announced on Monday.
Russians
dominate skating (Feb 14)
 From
the Winter Olympics: The first medal of the Olympic figure skating arrived at
the end of a competition rich in emotion that left the audience and the competitors
in doubt until the end.
If perhaps Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin’s
gold medal could have been predicted, the Russian duo – already ahead in
the short programme - revealed their best cards to assure themselves this trophy:
they came onto the rink with triumphant snatch, and completed their routine nearly
perfectly. Triple jumps (a stupendous Salchow) launched and landed safely, beautiful
spins, unison, grace and elegance: a superlative technique that allowed Oleg Vasiliev’s
pupils to earn a total of 204.48 points – an impressive lead of almost fifteen
points over second place.
The silver medal went to Chinese Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang,
victims of a brutal fall trying a Salchow quadruple jump launched at the start
and left the whole Palavela without breath. After a brief pause they showed their
courage continuing until the end with only a few minor mistakes. Their final total
was 189.73 points.
Chinese Xue Shen / Hongbo Zhao were on the third step of
the podium once again, surprisingly because they were fifth after the short programme
and affected by a bad injury…
Full
story (Pic: Torino Olympics)
Ice
hockey battles extremes in form (Feb 14)
After three Olympics women's
ice hockey was finally supposed to come of age at the Turin Winter Games.
The growing pains, however, look set to continue for some time as the gaping divide
in talent among the women's hockey playing nations that was to have narrowed since
the Salt Lake City Olympics has widened into a chasm into which the sport could
ultimately fall.
Hockey super powers Canada and the United States were always
expected to again play for gold in Turin but their road to the final was anticipated
to be tougher.
But both Canada and the U.S. reached the final four with embarrassing
ease, without conceding a goal.
Canada opened the tournament by thrashing
Italy 16-0, handing the hosts the worst beating in Olympic hockey history.
The defending gold medallist then continued their scoring rampage against Russia
with a 12-0 rout.
The U.S. passage has been equally smooth with 6-0 and 5-0
wins over Switzerland and Germany.
Canada and the U.S. have met in the final
of all nine world championships and the gold medal games of both Olympics in which
women's hockey has been played.
Of those Canada have only twice settled for
silver, at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and the 2005 world championships, in a 1-0
overtime shootout.
"Every team is getting better but so are we,"
said Canadian forward Cherie Piper. "They're closing the gap on each other
but we've kept getting better as well."
Sensing the possibility of a
blow out, Rene Fasel, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation
(IIHF), pleaded for patience and understanding before the opening face off between
Canada and Italy.
While the Italian players took their defeat in good humour
others were less impressed.
Torino
Olympics
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 Torah
Bright has overcome a shoulder injury to finish fifth in the women’s snowboard
halfpipe final at Bardonecchia. Bright’s shoulder popped out in the first
run of the final, and she required treatment before her second run.
econd
run to prove she is one of the elite competitors before coming up just short of
Australia’s first medal of the Games.
After a disappointing opening run,
Bright responded like a true champion. Landing all of her tricks including a switch
backside 540, Bright registered 41.0 to challenge the early leaders.
Bright
just missed landing the first trick in her opening run and subsequently scored
just 17.0. That left Bright in 10th place going into the second run. But pressure
seems to bring the best out in the affable 19-year-old.
Bright was philosophical
about her performance.
“It’s good, it’s all good, a great experience,”
Bright said..
Australian
team link (Pic: Olympics.com.au)
First
women's MX (Feb 13)
 It's
official - the first-ever Australian Women's Motocross Championship will be held
in 2006.
The board of Motorcycling Australia has approved the elevation in
status for Australia's female motocrossers, with the title set to be held alongside
the final two rounds of the Australian Motocross Championship - in Newcastle (NSW)
on July 15-16, and Coolum (Qld) on July 22-23.
The women's championship will
be promoted by Williams Event Management (WEM), which first started hosting women's
support events during the now-defunct Thumper Nats natural terrain motocross series
in 2000.
“I am ecstatic that women have finally been granted a championship
in their own right,” said WEM principal Kevin Williams. “I now look
forward to further developing the class into something special, because Australia
has some world-class riders in its own right.
“While this year's championship
will only be held over two rounds, WEM is certainly looking at expanding it in
2007 and beyond. I fully expect that we will have packed grids in Newcastle and
Coolum, so there's no reason why it cannot be a big multi-round championship in
years to come.”
The Horsham (Vic)-hosted Women's National Motocross Cup
will now go down as the final women's event with non-championship standing, which
saw New Zealand's world No 2, Katherine Prumm, win from Australian star Kristy
Gillespie.
For more information on the Australian Women's Motocross Championship,
contact WEM, tel (03) 5622 2332, email wem1@bigpond.net.au,
or visit http://www.ozmotox.com.
(Pic: Suzuki Racing)
Plus…
Motorcycling Australia (MA)
is now accepting applications from female motocross and moto trials competitors
for a five-day training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra
from April 24-28.
Open to senior national competition licence holders, three
days of the camp will be set aside for general sports science (nutrition, sports
psychology, exercise physiology, strength & conditioning, etc), with the balance
on motorcycle-specific training. The latter will see participants receive personalised
tuition from some of Australia's leading coaches.
There is financial assistance
available for travel and bike freight to the camp.
Applications are open forthwith,
and close on Monday, March 13. For more information, contact Daniel Hutchinson
at MA, tel (03) 9684 0500, or email daniel@ma.org.au.
Australian Institute of Sport -- http://www.ais.org.au/
Australian Sports Commission -- http://www.ausport.gov.au/
Motorcycling Australia -- http://www.ma.org.au
Ski
jumpers bid for Vancouver (Feb 12)
 The
Women Ski Jumpers (USA) from Salt Lake City have attracted a storm of publicity
at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. The organization is protesting against
the fact that Ski Jumping is the only Winter Olympic Sport in which women are
not allowed to compete.
Many of the winter sports at the Games involve great
risk: incredible speeds and impacts which carry a high risk of serious injury.
However, the International Ski Federation states that the landing after a ski
jump is involves a shock similar to jumping to the ground from two metres up.
The Federation argues that it is not medically appropriate or sound for women
to be doing this repeatedly.
Nevertheless, The Women Ski Jumpers from Park
City in Salt Lake are fighting this decision every step of the way. They are trying
to convince the Federation to set aside this verdict and let women compete, just
as the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federations opened the competition to
women seven years ago.
There is no doubt that the young women from Park City
are phenomenal athletes. Alissa Johnson, 18, whose younger brother Anders [16]
made the U.S. Olympic team, had no chance to compete for her country, even though
she is ranked 12th in the world. Park City also boasts jumpers such as Lindsay
Van, who holds two national ski jumping titles and Jessica Jerome, the no. 3 ski
jumper in the world.
"Our situation is very frustrating," said Van,
a University of Utah student who has been jumping since she was 7. "We feel
as if we are not recognized for the same work as the males do. It is harder for
us on every front of the sport. Each day is a battle for us, to improve the sport,
and to push it forward. We hope to be added as an Olympic event in 2010. We think
if this happens much will follow.”
The sport has to meet a number of strict
criteria by both the FIS and the IOC if it is to be accepted into the winter Olympics.
The sport must have World Championships and regional championships regularly.
There is a minimum number of countries which must participate in the sport and
each nation must have a national federation which complies with the international
federation's requirements.
Despite all the hurdles, US Nordic director Luke
Bodensteiner is confident women ski jumpers will make it into the Olympics, sooner
or later. "I think so, for sure," he said." They should be there.
They deserve it. Their sport has grown to where it's worthy of Olympic competition.”
By
Jessica Craven
Women
Ski Jumper web (USA)
13yo
dives past medal winner (Feb 7)
 Thirteen-year-old
Brisbane schoolgirl Melissa Wu has qualified for the Commonwealth Games in the
10-metre platform event in a shock win over Athens bronze medallist Loudy Tourkey
and Olympic champion Michelle Newbery.
Wu, who stands at 135 centimetres and
weighs 28 kilos, was ranked third going into the final round, but nailed her final
dive to win the event and take the lead from Loudy Tourkey. Wu scored 96.90 for
her final dive, a stunning back 2 _ somersault with 1 _ twists and won the event
with 694.50 points to finish less than two points in front of Tourkey, with Newbery
in third place on 685.65
Newbery said she was not shocked that Wu won. "She
trains like that every day, so we are not surprised that she pulled that off."
Wu
is the youngest diver in Australian history to win a national title and is considered
to be a strong medal chance in next month
Thirteen year old Brisbane schoolgirl
Melissa Wu has qualified for the Commonwealth Games in the 10-metre platform event
in a shock win over Athens bronze medallist Loudy Tourkey and Olympic champion
Michelle Newbery.
Wu, who stands at 135 centimetres and weighs 28 kilos, was
ranked third going into the final round, but nailed her final dive to win the
event and take the lead from Loudy Tourkey. Wu scored 96.90 for her final dive,
a stunning back 2 _ somersault with 1 _ twists and won the event with 694.50 points
to finish less than two points in front of Tourkey, with Newbery in third place
on 685.65
Newbery said she was not shocked that Wu won. "She trains like
that every day, so we are not surprised that she pulled that off."
Wu
is the youngest diver in Australian history to win a national title and is considered
to be a strong medal chance in next month's Games.
Wu says her age should
not be an issue. "It doesn't really mean much because I really just want
to rise to the occasion and I'd rather act more maturely, than just be the baby
of the competition," she said.
By Jessica Craven
Comm
Games site story
Swimmers
triumphant at games trials (Feb 5)
 The
Australian women's swim team looks set to continue their domination of Australian
swimming, leaving the men's team trailing in their wake. The women have smashed
a number of world and Commonwealth records during this weeks Commonwealth Games
trials and are expected to bring home a swag of medals during the Games next month,
following their phenomenal success at the Athens Olympics
Leading the charge
is breaststroke champion Leisel Jones, who shattered the world records in both
the 100m and 200m breaststroke, becoming the first woman to ever break the 1.06sec
mark on Friday night.
Golden girl Libby Lenton has also shown that the best
is yet to come, reclaiming her 100m freestyle world record in Friday's semi-final.
Lenton stormed home in 53.42sec and said she was out to prove her coach Stehan
Widmer wrong after he angrily questioned her motivations and commitment after
a disappointing second place in the 200m freestyle final. "I had a bit of
a, well, not a tantrum, but Stephan had a few words with me about my attitude,"
she said. "I swam fast to prove him wrong. I really hate it when he's right.”
Lenton
and Jones weren't the only swimmers tearing up the pool: Jade Edmistone lowered
her own world 50m breaststroke record, while Giaan Rooney set a Commonwealth record
in the 50m backstroke. Tay Zimmer set a new national record in the 100m backstroke
while Jessicah Schipper set a Commonwealth record in the 100m butterfly.
Schipper
will be one to watch during next month's Games. Schipper is out to claim the world
record which is rightfully hers, after she was robbed of the 200m record in last
year's world championships in Montreal. Schipper finished 0.04sec behind Polish
champion Otylia Jedrzejczak's time of 2.05.61 in a race in which both swimmers
beat the previous record. However, video replays showed Jedzrejczak illegally
touched the wall with only one hand. FINA rules state that breaststroke and butterfly
swimmers must touch the wall with both hands.
“ I guess I was angry at
first, but I turned it around and made it my fault and something I could learn
from,” said Schipper after last night's race. “I died a lot in the last
50m over in Montreal and if I had not died she would not have caught me and it
wouldn't have happened.”
The women's success in the pool stood in stark
contrast to the men, who after five days of competition, had failed to break a
single record. There were a number of disappointing swims, with Thorpe swimming
a fairly pedestrian time for him in the 200m freestyle of 1 min 46.42sec, more
than two seconds outside his own Commonwealth record.
With the exception of
Thorpe and Hackett, the women have stole the limelight on the world swimming stage
for the past two years. The women won nine of Australia's 15 medals at the Athens
Olympics in 2004, with Petria Thomas and Jodie Henry winning three gold medals
apiece. They also won 10 of Australia's 13 gold medals at the world championships
in Montreal.
However, Leisel Jones still believes the women have a way to go
before achieving the profile of swimmers such as Thorpe and Hackett. “ I
would like to think that we are closing the gap but I know if Hacky (Hackett)
was here it would be an absolute show and I'm so glad he's not here.”
One
thing's for sure: Australia's golden girls are the ones to watch come March.
By
Jessica Craven
Leisel
Jones profile (pictured)
Records
tumble at Comm Games trials (Feb 1)
 The
Australian national swim championships -- the main run-up to this year's Commonwealth
Games -- has already produced two new world records from Melbourne's new swim
centre at Albert Park.
Last night 20-year-old Libby Lenton (pictured left)
reclaimed her 100m freestyle record from popular compatriot Jodie Henry, with
a time of 53.42 or 0.10 off the old mark.
On Tuesday, 23-year-old Jade Edmistone
(pictured right) set a new 50m breaststroke record of 30.37. "I can't wait
for the 100m, that's what I've come here to do," Edmistone said.
Pics: Australian Swimming
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