OLYMPIC CAPSULES | Thursday's events

FIGURE SKATING
TURIN, Italy -- Evgeni Plushenko posted his score, then watched the other Olympic contenders crash and burn. The three-time world champion took few chances, yet still managed another personal best to grab the fifth straight gold medal for a Russian/Soviet man. He pretty much owned that when he showed up in Turin; the field at these games couldn't come close to measuring up to Plushenko. World champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland won silver and Canada's Jeff Buttle got bronze, although both struggled in the free skate. U.S. champion Johnny Weir, who fell out of medal contention with a cautious program filled with errors, stormed out of the rink when his mediocre marks were shown. He finished fifth.
MEN'S HOCKEY
TURIN, Italy -- Canada (2-0) roughed up Germany (0-2), 5-1. Wade Redden, Joe Sakic and Simon Gagne gave the defending gold medalists a 3-0 lead halfway through the first period. David Aebischer made 20 of his 40 saves in the second period, and Switzerland (1-1) stunned the Czech Republic (1-1), 3-2. The game-winning goal was scored by Canadiens defenseman Mark Streit, who has only one NHL goal this season. Alex Kovalev and Alexander Ovechkin scored less than two minutes apart during a three-goal second period, and Russia (1-1) shut out Sweden (1-1), 5-0. Also, Marian Hossa scored twice to lead Slovakia over Latvia (0-1-1), 6-3, and Teemu Selanne scored twice for Finland (2-0), which had five power play goals against Italy (0-2) in a 6-0 rout.
BIATHLON
CESANA, Italy -- Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva was thrown out of the Olympics and stripped of her silver medal for failing a drug test, the first athlete caught for doping at the Turin Games. Pyleva, who won silver at the 15km event Monday, was scratched just before the start of Thursday's 7.5km sprint, in which she was considered a leading medal contender. She also won gold and bronze medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. A hastily convened, three-member IOC panel found Pyleva guilty of a doping violation. She had tested positive for the banned stimulant carphedon in a urine test following Monday's race. Martina Glagow of Germany, who finished with bronze, will be awarded the silver. Albina Akhatova, Pyleva's Russian teammate, goes from fourth to bronze. France's Florence Baverel-Robert won the 7.5km sprint. Sweden's Anna Carin Olofsson won silver, and Ukraine's Lilia Efremova took the bronze.
SPEEDSKATING
TURIN, Italy -- Italy sent the home crowd into a frenzy at the speedskating oval by winning the first gold medal in men's team pursuit, defeating Canada in the final after upsetting the United States and the Netherlands. The Dutch came back to claim a bronze with a win over Norway in the third-place race. The Italians caught a break against the favored Dutch when 5,000-meter silver medalist Sven Kramer crashed on a turn and took out Carl Verheijen with three of the eight laps remaining in the semifinal race.
The powerful German women's team, led by Anni Friesinger and Claudia Pechstein, lived up to its role as favorite and beat Canada to win the women's team pursuit.
SKELETON
CESANA, Italy -- Switzerland's Maya Pedersen, who parked her sled to become a mother two years ago, is now an Olympic champion after winning her country's first gold medal of the Turin Games. Showing zero fear in a headfirst, freezing freefall down one of the world's fastest sliding tracks, Pedersen completed her two runs in 1 minute, 59.83 seconds, an astonishing 1.23 seconds ahead of Shelley Rudman of Britain -- the first medal of these games for the Brits.
NORDIC SKIING
PRAGELATO, Italy -- Estonia's Kristina Smigun watched World Cup leader Marit Bjorgen collapse across the finish line, glanced at the time, then raised her arms and screamed for joy in celebration of her second Olympic gold medal of these games. Smigun took the lead by the 7km mark in the interval-start women's 10km classical cross-country race, earning her second individual gold in as many events.
Mario Stecher erased a 20-second deficit during the final leg of the cross-country relay race to lead Austria to the Olympic gold medal in the Nordic combined team event, which had been delayed a day because of high winds.
CURLING
PINEROLO, Italy -- The United States rallied to beat first-place Sweden, 10-6. The Americans (3-2) and Sweden (3-2) traded two-pointers for four ends, then held serve with one point the next four times. With Sweden holding the big last-rock advantage called the hammer, the Americans stole two points in the ninth end when skip Pete Fenson converted a double-takeout on his second throw.
Cassie Johnson left her last rock short and Sweden held on for a 5-4 victory in extra ends, sending the U.S. women's team to its fourth loss in five games. The Americans will need to win their last four matches in the Olympic round-robin to have a chance at the medal round.
Associated Press
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