Alpine winner defies his age
SOCHI, Russia — One racer called the course “borderline unsportsmanlike.” Another said it was “brutal.” Five of the top eight skiers in the opening leg failed to even finish the second.
Leave it to 34-year-old Mario Matt to handle the tough gates and soft snow better than anyone. The Austrian veteran added a safe second run to his fantastic first run and won the Olympic slalom Saturday night to become the oldest Alpine gold medalist in Winter Games history.
“We are used to tricky course-setting,” Matt said, “but today, I have to say, it was a lot.”
In the last Alpine event, Matt’s combined time of 1 minute, 41.84 seconds allowed him to edge the runner-up, Austrian teammate Marcel Hirscher, by 0.28 seconds. They raised their skiloving country’s total to an Alpineleading nine medals in Sochi, quite a turnaround after only four — zero for the men — at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
“For us,” said Hans Pum, sports director of the Austrian ski federation, “it’s perfect.”
The bronze went to 19-year-old Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, the youngest man with an Olympic Alpine medal. He was only 15th-fastest in the opening leg but was superb under the artificial lights at night to move up while plenty of men fell.
Cross-country skiing
Marit Bjoergen is now the most decorated female Winter Olympian in history with 10 total medals and six gold, including three in Sochi and three from Vancouver. Her career total puts her one ahead of Russian cross-country skier Lyubov Egorova, who had six golds and three silvers. Two other women — Stafania Belmondo of Italy and Soviet skier Raisa Smetanina — also have 10 medals but fewer golds. Therese Johaug took silver in the 30K race, while Kristin Stoermer Steira completed the Norwegian sweep by winning bronze.
Speedskating
The Dutch men’s team of Sven Kramer, Jan Blokhuijsen and Koen Verweij set an Olympic record of 3 minutes, 37.71seconds in the team pursuit. The Netherlands also held the old record of 3:39.95, set in Vancouver four years ago. South Korea took the silver and Poland the bronze. In the women’s race, the Netherlands trio of Ireen Wust, Marrit Leenstra and Jorien ter Mors also set an Olympic record of 2:58.05. Poland took silver and Russia bronze. Wust now has won five medals in Sochi, more than any other athlete — two golds and three silvers.
Biathlon
Russian anchor Anton Shipulin beat Germany’s Simon Schempp on the final lap to give the host nation its first biathlon gold of the Sochi Games. The 4x7.5-kilometer relay was the last biathlon competition at the games. Defending champion Norway led for most of the race but dropped to fourth after anchor Emil Hegle Svendsen missed three targets in his final shooting. Germany got the silver and Austria the bronze.
Snowboarding
The American-born Vic Wild, who became a Russian citizen in 2011 after marrying Russian snowboarder Alena Zavarzina, won gold in parallel giant slalom earlier this week. Wild and another adopted Russian, former South Korean short track speedskater Viktor Ahn, have won five of Russia’s 11 gold medals in Sochi. Zan Kosir of Slovenia took silver behind Wild, and Benjamin Karl of Austria won bronze. In the women’s parallel slalom, Dujmovits edged Anke Karstens of Germany at the finish.