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Russians suffer ice hockey exit, Ligety wins gold
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Finland sent Russia crashing out of the Olympic ice hockey tournament yesterday in a bitter blow for the home nation as US skier Ted Ligety stormed to giant slalom gold.
Russia — desperate to make amends for its dismal showing at the 2010 Vancouver Games — took the lead in the quarter-final tie but three goals from the Finns sealed the host nation’s fate.
The 1-3 loss was a second successive Olympic Games defeat at the last-eight stage for Russia, which was booed off the Bolshoi Ice Palace rink by its shell-shocked fans.
Teemu Selanne and Juhamatti Aaltonen scored first-period goals for Finland after Ilya Kovalchuk had put Russia ahead, with Mikael Granlund adding the third.
Russian TV did not hold back in its immediate post-match hyperbole. “We are all crying and we are crying with you, too. We are hoping for revenge. Maybe one day there will be revenge. But maybe not with this team,” said the commentator on state television Channel One.
A delighted Granlund said: “They had the first goal, but we bounced back really good, and throughout the game we defended well and didn’t give them much. We made it tough on them.”
Earlier, Sweden blanked Slovenia 5-0. Defending champion Canada was taking on Latvia in the last eight with the US battling the Czech Republic.
In the mountains above Sochi, four-time world champion Ligety, who disappointed in the super-combined and super-G, stamped his authority on the giant slalom early, leading by nearly a second after the first run in picture-perfect conditions.
The 29-year-old, who won combined gold at the 2006 Turin Games, did enough on his second ski to beat Frenchman Steve Missillier by nearly half a second in an overall time of 2 minutes, 45.29 seconds. French tyro Alexis Pinturault took bronze.
“This is the event I wanted the most,” Ligety said. “This is the event I have been putting so much pressure on myself to win, so to pull through is an awesome feeling.”
The main focus in Sochi yesterday evening was to be on the Iceberg Skating Palace, where South Korean figure skating queen Kim Yu-na was preparing to defend her title on her international farewell.
Standing in her way will be long-time rival Mao Asada of Japan and Russian prodigy Julia Lipnitskaia who, at just 15, became the youngest female figure skater in 78 years to win a gold medal after helping the Olympic host nation seal the inaugural team title.
Dubbed “Queen Yu-na” by her adoring fans, Kim, who won the world championships for the second time last year, has already announced that the Sochi Games will be her final competition.
The South Korean’s world record scores across the board in her stunning performance in Vancouver four years ago still stand but her Olympic season has been hampered by a right foot injury.
The short program was taking place yesterday, with the free skate the following day.
Russia’s Vic Wild captured the men’s snowboarding parallel giant slalom title just minutes after his wife Alena Zavarzina took bronze in the women’s event behind winner Patrizia Kummer of Switzerland.
Cross country skiing superstar Marit Bjoergen took Norway to victory in the women’s team sprint race, the fifth Olympic gold of her career, while Finland won the men’s race.
Czech speed skater Martina Sablikova defended her Olympic crown in the women’s 5,000 meters while Ireen Wust of the Netherlands took silver — her fourth medal of the Games.
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