Austrians Soar to Gold Medal

Thomas Morgenstern picked up his second gold medal of the Turin Games and a piece of Austrian Olympic history. Not bad for a 19-year-old making his Olympic debut.

Morgenstern soared 140.5 meters in the final jump Monday at Pragelato, Italy, leading Austria to the gold medal in the team ski jumping event.

Austria led throughout the final round. Norway’s Roar Ljoekelsoey landed the day’s longest jump of 141 meters on the second-last jump, but Morgenstern didn’t falter.

“I knew even before my last jump that we were going to get the gold,” Morgenstern said. “The jumps of the competition were very long but that gave me an extra push because I knew I was jumping better.”

Morgenstern, who won gold in the large hill event Saturday, led Austria’s foursome to their third ski jumping medal of the these Games. The seven gold medals won by Austria in Turin are a Winter Games record for the country, and this was the first time Austria had won gold in the team jumping event.

Morgenstern’s second jump was as impressive as the 140-meter leap that won him gold in the large hill competition.

Austria finished with 984 points. Finland took the silver with 976.6 and Norway settled for bronze with 950.1.

With Morgenstern and 21-year-old large hill silver medalist Andreas Kofler, Austria went into the team competition as the gold medal favorite.

Kofler had two solid jumps of 133.5 and 130 meters. The only question was whether veterans Andreas Widhoelzl and Martin Koch, who have struggled here, could pull their weight.

Widhoelzl had a second jump of 129 meters and Koch leapt 128.5 meters.

“What a great feeling,” said Widhoelzl. “I knew even before Morgenstern’s last jump that I didn’t have to worry.”

BOBSLED

Rohbock and Fleming of U.S. Hope for Medal

Shauna Rohbock got pushed aside four years ago, forced to stand at the finish line and cheer as Vonetta Flowers and the U.S. team slid to Olympic bobsled history.

Now, Rohbock is on the edge of making a little history of her own.

Rohbock, who was replaced by Flowers just before the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and brakeman Valerie Fleming are in third place after the first two runs of women’s bobsled at Cesana, Italy, just behind two German sleds.

The Americans, desperate for a boost in what so far has been a disappointing stay in the Alps, barely trail Germany-1, piloted by Sandra Kiriasis, and Germany-2, driven by Susi-Lisa Erdmann.

Rohbock guided USA-1 through the 19-curve course in 1 minute 55.02 seconds and is just .01 of a second behind Erdmann, a bronze medal winner in 2002. Also within reach is Kiriasis, only .09 of a second away.

“We have one more night,” said Rohbock, of Orem, Utah. “I need to have two more good, consistent runs. I had some tough places on this track. I messed up a couple times, but everyone else did too. Hopefully, if I have two more good, consistent runs, then definitely I’ll be on that podium.”

Flowers and driver Jean Prahm had a bumpy opening day in USA-2, placing ninth in the 16-team field.

CURLING

Canada’s Men, Women Reach the Semifinals

Pete Fenson played a draw toward the center of the target area, helping the U.S. curling team tie Canada midway through their match. Then, the familiar chant began.

“U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”

It was coming from the Swiss fans.

The Americans had a few more supporters than usual on the final day of round-robin play, but Canada rallied late for a 6-3 win at Pinerolo, Italy, to clinch the fourth and final spot in the medal round. Switzerland (5-4) and Norway (5-4) needed the Canadians (6-3) to lose to remain in contention.

“It’s our fault,” Swiss skip Ralph Stoeckli said. “We played three bad games. However, there are many good teams and this round-robin was really close and tough.”

Olympic curling matches are played simultaneously on side-by-side sheets, so it’s easy for fans to follow multiple teams at once -- a necessity in both the men’s and women’s final sessions.

The women finished their round-robin at night with a scenario similar to the men. Four teams were fighting for one semifinal spot, and like in the afternoon, the Canadians had a chance to clinch it with a win.

Canada’s game against Denmark (2-7) was the last to finish, and skip Shannon Kleibrink won it on the last shot, knocking one of Denmark’s stones out of the center and keeping hers just close enough to earn a point for a 9-8 win.

That kept Britain (5-4) and Russia (5-4) out of a possible tiebreaker. The Russians beat Norway 10-8, also on the last shot just moments before Canada (6-3) won.

Britain beat the U.S. women, 10-4. The Americans (2-7) conceded after six ends, or innings, to finish a disappointing tournament.

Switzerland (7-2) beat Japan, 11-5, in eight ends. The Japanese (4-5) also entered the session with a chance to catch Canada.

In the morning, Japan and Russia beat Italy and Sweden by identical 6-4 scores, and Norway clinched its spot in the medal round with an 8-1 win over Denmark in six ends.

In Wednesday’s women’s semifinals, Norway (6-3) will face Sweden (7-2) and Canada plays Switzerland (7-2).

The Canadian men will face the U.S. again Wednesday in their semifinal. Finland (7-2) and Britain (6-3) will play in the other -- like the Americans, the two teams had clinched berths before Monday’s matches.