Chemmy Alcott off the pace as Rebensburg wins gold

Published on Thursday 25 February 2010 22:23

CHEMMY Alcott finished in 27th place in the women's giant slalom after the delayed second run was completed at a foggy Whistler Creekside.

Alcott, 25th after her first run on Wednesday, posted a time of one minute 17.53 seconds for a combined time of 2:29.94. The 27-year-old Londoner was 2.83 seconds off 20-year-old Viktoria Rebensburg, of Germany, who was sixth after her first run but claimed a surprise gold medal after completing her second run in 1:11.64 for a combined time of 2:27.11. Slovenia's Tina Maze took the silver while first-run leader Elisabeth Goergl, of Austria, had to settle for the bronze and the defending champion, Julia Mancuso finished eighth.

Alcott, who is due to complete her alpine skiing events today in the women's slalom, said: "I felt like I really knocked the door down. I didn't make a mistake, I just skied too hard. I'm disappointed because it didn't happen today, but I really enjoyed it."

She added: "It was a bit of a bad day at the office. Everybody has them, but you just don't want it at the Olympics."

Alcott also felt race officials had made the right call in postponing Wednesday's second run due to dense fog.

"It was a good a decision, a safety decision," she said. "The conditions were really difficult and they were much better today. We were all in the same boat."

Rebensburg was stunned by her surprise gold. "Unbelievable," she said. "I don't know what to say. I think I have to celebrate."

Maze's silver medal added to her earlier one in the Super-G. She was 0.12 seconds behind after a second run of 1:11.76, while Goergl's bronze matched the one she won in the downhill after a second run of 1:12.13 gave her a combined time of 2:27.25. Mancuso skied a quick second run – 1:11.24 – but had too much ground to make up after her first run.

Meanwhile, Marit Bjoergen became the first athlete to win three gold medals in Vancouver when she led Norway to a commanding victory in the women's cross country 4x5km relay.

Bjoergen held a slender 0.2-second lead when she set off for the final leg but she relentlessly pulled away from her rivals before coasting home 24.6 seconds in front.

Germany took silver while world champions Finland, anchored by Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, had to settle for the bronze.

Canada will play defending champions Sweden in the women's curling final, pitting a red-hot home team against one of the sport's most battle-hardened veterans.

The Canadians, led by Olympic rookie Cheryl Bernard, beat Switzerland 6-5 in a tense semi-final and Anette Norberg's Swedish team easily knocked off China 9-4 in just nine of the ten regulation ends. Canada ended the regular competition with an 8-1 record, helped by Bernard's accurate shots under pressure and a loud and highly partisan crowd at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane gave the United States a one-two finish in the Nordic combined large hill competition that was marred by bad weather. Demong ended America's drought in Nordic sports at the Winter Games by winning the 10-kilometre cross-country leg in 25 minutes, 32.9 seconds.

Spillane won his third silver of the Vancouver Games, finishing four seconds behind. Bernhard Gruber of Austria, who had a 34-second head start after jumping the farthest off the large hill, took the bronze, 10.8 seconds back.

Australia's Lydia Lassila cleanly landed two of the hardest jumps of the day to win gold in the women's freestyle aerials.

After finishing the first of two jumps in second place, Lassila showed nerves of steel as she executed a double twisting triple back flip on her second run to secure the gold medal.

Defending silver medallist Li Nina of China repeated the effort in Vancouver while team-mate Guo Xinxin won the bronze.

Karoliina Rantamaki scored when her pass was kicked into Sweden's net two-and-a-half minutes into overtime as Finland won the bronze medal in the women's hockey with a 3-2 victory last night. Heidi Pelttari and Michelle Karvinen also scored for Finland, who won a women's hockey medal for the first time since claiming bronze at the sport's Olympic debut in 1998.