Turin – For the balloon of hype that built up Apolo Anton Ohno before these Olympics, and for all the air that leaked out when he failed to qualify for the finals of his first event, there is this: Ohno can still win as many medals as he did four years ago.
Ohno advanced to the semifinals of the 1,000 meters and led the U.S. team to the finals of the 5,000-meter relay in short track speedskating Wednesday.
“I’m really happy for me and for the team,” he said. “That was big. It’s another chance to hopefully go out there and get a medal.”
The U.S. relay team got no medal in Salt Lake City; Ohno won silver in the 1,000 and gold in the 1,500. His bid to repeat in the 1,500 ended badly Sunday – “Not my day,” Ohno said – when he bumped another skater, stumbled and did not advance past the semifinals.
Rusty Smith joined Ohno in qualifying for Saturday’s semifinals in the 1,000. The two teamed with Olympic rookies Alex Izykowski and JP Kepka as the U.S. posted the fastest time in qualifying for the relay finals, scheduled one week from Saturday.
“It was a very good day for short track in the USA,” Smith said. “I think we are all completely ecstatic.”
MEN’S CURLING: Upstart Italians defeat Americans 6-5
Italy, a first-timer that only qualified for this tournament because it is the host, shocked the United States and rocked the curling venue in Pinerolo with a 6-5 victory that tied the upstarts with the Americans in the round-robin standings.
“Every game we win is a surprise for us,” said Joel Retornaz, the Italian skip. “But we’re just proud winning games for the curling.”
The United States tied it 4-4 in the seventh but gave up the lead again when Italy scored one in the eighth. In the ninth, with Pete Fenson holding the hammer – the big advantage that comes with throwing the last rock – U.S. vice-skip Shawn Rojeski hit a bad patch of ice and missed with his second shot. That meant Fenson had to try to take out two stones with his first shot; he got one. The teams traded takeouts and the Italians broke serve with a one-point steal.
Trailing by two in the final end Fenson had to try a nearly impossible shot with his last rock: a bump-and-run that needed to move a guarding stone up and follow it into the target area. When Fenson couldn’t put both rocks into the house, the game was over.
Retornaz – with his spiky hair and retro glasses – said he might be just the man for the job of teaching Italy to love curling.
“I might have strange hair and strange glasses, but I play with my stomach,” he said.
Your stomach? “I want to feel everything,” he said, hitting his gut with his fist, “in here.”
WOMEN’S CURLING: Americans beat Denmark for first victory
Out went the individual iPods. In came the stereo speakers. And instead of struggling to function as a team, the U.S. women danced and curled together to earn their first Olympic victory.
“We changed it, to come together,” Jessica Schultz said after the Americans beat Denmark 8-3 and avoided a fourth consecutive loss.
“Lately, we’ve been dancing around the locker room, sometimes in our spandies. We’re trying to go back to the curling we did last year.”
That was when Cassie Johnson’s team won nine straight – going unbeaten in the round-robin at the U.S. Olympic trials – and won 11-of-12 in the opening round to take the silver medal at the world championships. A similar streak would help them dig out of the hole they fell into when they lost their first three Olympic games.
“Coming off those three losses, it’s nice to have a win,” said Johnson, the U.S. skip.
The Americans probably will need to win four – if not all – of the next five games to have a chance at the medal round. They are in last place in the round-robin; Norway is first at 3-1 with Canada, Britain, Sweden and Switzerland tied at 2-1.
Four teams make the medal round. Next up for the U.S. women, who remain in last place in the opening round, is Sweden today.
“Just to have one game kind of helps our momentum,” said vice-skip Jamie Johnson, Cassie’s sister. “We know that we can win.”
The Americans stole two points to take a 4-1 lead in the fifth end despite Denmark having the last-rock advantage. The Americans stole another point in the ninth to put Denmark down 6-3 and the Danes (1-2) conceded when they were down to their last two rocks in the 10th.
BOBSLEDDING: Hays going with Jovanovic as brakeman
American medal favorite Todd Hays has chosen brakeman Pavle Jovanovic to push his two-man bobsled in this weekend’s competition in Cesana, Italy. Hays said he made the decision “a long time” ago but chose not to reveal it publicly until after he and Jovanovic completed their first two runs of training at the Olympic track.
“He’s the best two-man brakeman in the United States,” said Hays, who won silver in the four-man event in 2002 and is expected to contend in the two- and four-man events in Italy. “He’s extremely fast and strong. He’s mentally very, very tough. … And if it comes down to a few-hundredths (of a second) at the end, I know he’s going to find it someplace.”
Steven Holcomb, who will drive USA-2 in the two-day, four-run event that starts Saturday, trained with Bill Schuffenhauer as his brakeman and is believed to be leaning toward using him in the competition. He’s planning to train with Curt Tomasevicz as well.
