They’ll Watch ‘Fear Factor’

Victoria Liljenquist, who lives in Phoenix, reports that aliens are planning a fly-by of the Olympics on Thursday between noon and 5 p.m.

“It’s not to create fear,” she told the Salt Lake Tribune. “This is a peaceful, wonderful thing.”

She said she has established a rapport with space travelers since her first visit from them in 1994. She didn’t say whether she also hangs out with snowboarders.

Runway Five Is Open

People think skeleton racers are crazy for basically riding face-first on a cafeteria tray down an ice-lined tube at speeds of up to 85 mph, but Austrian world champion Martin Rettl says it’s a breeze compared to his day job.

Rettl is an air-traffic controller back home in Innsbruck.

“This is my hobby,” Rettl said. “The other one is my life. And it’s very dangerous. I could kill other people; here, I can only hurt myself.”

As an air-traffic controller, though, we might suggest Rettl reconsider the nickname given in his Olympic athletic biography: Crashman.

No Couch Potato

More skeleton: Liz Couch made the New Zealand team by answering a newspaper advertisement that sought “fit young women with attitude.”

“I said, ‘Oh man, this sounds amazing,’” Couch, a one-time sprinter, said.

Couch went to Calgary for her tryout.

“I loved it; right from the beginning it was ‘WHOA!!!’ I can’t compare it to anything else. It’s not as scary as it looks, it’s just a lot of fun.”

Koz and Effect

Team USA hasn’t had much luck garnering Alpine medals, so maybe it’s time to turn things over to Team Koz.

One of America’s best remaining hopes for gold, silver and bronze rests on the skis of Kristina Koznick, who trains independently from the U.S. squad.

Koznick, 26, will be one of the favorites in today’s women’s slalom at Deer Valley.

Koznick, from Burnsville, Minn., left the U.S. team years ago because she became romantically involved with her coach, Dan Stripp, a violation of team rules.

Yet, despite her distance from the U.S. squad--”We’re not invited to train with them; we’re not allowed to stay in the same motels”--Koznick wants to make clear she’s still trying to bring home a medal for her country.

“The only people I am competing for is the United States,” she said.

Koznick has had to pay her own bills on the World Cup circuit, yet she is in the midst of an outstanding season, currently ranked second in the slalom standings.

“Everybody is different, I don’t know if I could recommend it to everybody unless it’s in their heart,” she said of going it alone. “This year, all the struggles paid off. This year, I’m just loving it.”

Koznick is one of the favorites to win gold, but she’s certainly not a cinch. She’s had problems in the past in big events. She was also one of the favorites in slalom at the 1998 Nagano Games, but skied out in her second run.

Koznick, however, says she’s racing with more confidence than ever as an independent.

“I’m much more confident in this environment,” she said.

Koznick must also contend now with the X-factor, Croatia’s Janica Kostelic, who has already won gold and silver medals at Salt Lake. Kostelic, the defending World Cup overall and slalom champion, had been slowed by injuries most of the winter but is obviously back in form.

“It’s been interesting to watch,” Koznick said of Kostelic’s skiing. “It’s taken time for her to get her confidence back. I think it’s good. She’s a good skier and adds to the flavor of it all.”

Defensive Coordinator

A shoulder injury dashed the Olympic dreams of a young wrestler named Donald Rumsfeld. Now secretary of defense, his Olympic moment arrived Tuesday.

In Salt Lake City to visit troops helping in a $310-million security effort, Rumsfeld congratulated the soldiers and spent time with athletes.

Rumsfeld stood and applauded as U.S. speedskater Derek Parra won gold and broke a world record in the 1,500 meters.

After the race, Rumsfeld was so excited, he called his boss.

“I just got off the phone with the president,” he said. “I told him there was a world record set and by an American. He was more than delighted.”

Rumsfeld said the Games so far “could not have been better,” then headed off to catch the U.S. women play Sweden in hockey. The Americans won, 4-0.

“This is not a man who takes much time off from national security,” Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said.

But on Tuesday, Rumsfeld seemed to catch some of the Olympic spirit, saying there was “a wonderful feeling among all of the countries. It’s wonderful to see.”

Rumsfeld also congratulated U.S. snowboarder Chris Klug, who was inside an Olympic village gift shop when the secretary strolled through.

“He told me he was proud of me,” Klug said, his medal hanging around his neck.

Klug competed in the Olympics 19 months after a liver transplant and won a bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom. Klug said he’s glad to have troops patrolling the Olympics.

“They keep us all safe and secure so we can get out there and do what we love to do,” he said.

There are more military troops in Utah for the Games than there are in Afghanistan. The Olympic security force includes about 4,500 military personnel, most of them from National Guard units around the country. About 4,000 Americans are stationed in Afghanistan.

Clarke said Rumsfeld was close to a berth on the U.S. Olympic wrestling team as a young man, but a separated shoulder kept him from qualifying for the Games.

A Lot of Benjamins

Fred Benjamin, president of U.S. speedskating, hoped to get his children better seats for tonight’s short-track races at the Salt Lake Ice Center.

Then he found out that even upper-deck tickets--which his children have--are going for up to $650 apiece. Face value is $40.

“They’re not getting into the lower decks,” Benjamin said. “This has got to be the hottest ticket at the Games, other than figure skating.”

Sellout crowds of more than 15,000 jammed the arena for the first two nights of short track.

The sport’s popularity intensified after Saturday night’s thrilling 1,000 meters, in which Apolo Anton Ohno was taken down in a last-lap crash that also wiped out three other skaters.

Ohno still picked up a silver and will be back today in the 1,500 to go for his second Olympic medal.

Silver and Gold

The day after rallying with a dramatic final slalom run to capture a silver medal in the men’s combined event, Bode Miller made a quick trip to Los Angeles to appear on the “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” last week.

On his way back, the plane stopped at Las Vegas and Miller had to go through a security checkpoint.

His publicist, Rodney Corey, had the silver medal in his pocket and set off the alarm.

So Corey took the medal out of his pocket and placed it in a plastic tray for inspection.

Seeing the shiny object, a national guardsman told Corey: “Man, that’s a cool belt buckle.”

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie

No typo, that’s sun-splashed Australia with two Winter Olympics golds, Alpine-ed Austria with one.

“That’s awesome,” Alisa Camplin said. “We’re a summer country, a sunny country. But this is amazing.”

Camplin won the women’s freestyle aerials Monday to give the Aussies a second Olympic gold medal in three days.

Australia had never won a Winter Olympic gold until Steven Bradbury, in the easiest victory of the Games, skated past the wreckage of four faster rivals to take the 1,000-meter speedskating title Saturday night.

Australia’s only two medals so far are gold; winter sports power Austria has 13 medals at these Games.

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Staff writers Randy Harvey and Chris Dufresne and the Associated Press contributed to this report.