olympic roundup Wednesday’s other events

SHORT TRACK SPEEDSKATING

The 3,000-meter relay team of Allison Baver, Alyson Dudek, Lana Gehring and Katherine Reutter was last across the finish in the four-team final, but got promoted to third when the apparent winners from South Korea were disqualified. Reutter also set an Olympic record in winning her heat in the 1,000 meters. The rest of the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are Friday. Apolo Anton Ohno is a baby step closer to another medal, too, winning his 500-meter heat. He, too, has to endure three more rounds if he’s going to extend his record of Winter Olympics medals by an American. He has seven, including gold in this event four years ago.

BOBSLED

Canada’s victory in women’s bobsled moved the hosts into a tie with the United States and Germany for the most gold medals with seven. So much for that “Own the Podium” concession speech, eh? Canadians had their best day yet, snagging a gold, two silver and a bronze. Americans added to their overall haul with bronze in women’s bobsled and short-track speedskating’s women’s relay. The total is up to 28, inching toward their record of 34 set at Salt Lake City in 2002. Germany has 24 medals, perhaps missing another when a bobsled crew lost control on its final run, the brakeman flying out the back and the driver careening down the course inside the sled. Both walked away. Just a few days ago, American Erin Pac said she didn’t feel safe on the Whistler Sliding Center track, then she strained her left hamstring in training. Now she and brakeman Elana Meyers have a bronze medal, finishing behind a pair of Canadians. This was the first U.S. medal in sliding after getting shut out in men’s and women’s skeleton and two-man bobsledding. However, Americans are now 3-for-3 in women’s bobsled since it was added to the Olympic program.

SPEEDSKATING

Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic captured her second gold medal in Vancouver, adding the 5,000 meters to the 3,000 title she’s already won. “If there was another 100 meters I would not have made it,” Sablikova said through a translator. Stephanie Beckert of Germany got silver, and 37-year-old, defending Olympic champion Clara Hughes of Canada thrilled the crowd by taking bronze. “This crowd gave me wings,” said Hughes, who also won two bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. “It was one of the best races of my life. Now, I am officially retired.” Jilleanne Rookard was the top American, finishing eighth.

SVEN KRAMER

The coach who cost Sven Kramer the gold medal in speedskating’s 10,000 meters will be keeping his job. Kramer said Wednesday that Gerard Kemkers has helped him too much to end their relationship over one mistake, no matter how colossal it was. “I don’t want to blame anyone,” Kramer said. “That doesn’t help you to move on from this.” In the Netherlands, 6.7 million of the nation’s 16 million people watched the race on television. “How is this possible!” screamed the headline in the mass circulation newspaper De Telegraaf. Kemkers said he still hasn’t seen the replay. Nor does he need to. “It is burned into my retina,” he said. IOC president Jacques Rogge called Kramer the “best speedskater of his generation,” comparing him to the the sport’s all-time greats such as Eric Heiden and Johann Olav Koss.

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Marcus Hellner was so far ahead at the end of his anchor leg that he had time to collect a Swedish flag to wave as he skied to the finish of the team relay, earning his second gold medal of these Olympics and Sweden’s first in this event since 1988. Norway got silver, and the Czech Republic took bronze. The Americans were 13th.

AERIAL FREESTYLE

Funny how it works at the Olympics. Snow was being imported to the weather-challenged Cypress Mountain just a few days ago, the lingering reminder of an often problematic venue. Then came Tuesday. It started snowing during the women’s ski cross event and started coming down harder and harder throughout the day and night. Perfect for a Currier & Ives holiday print. Not quite so ideal for the aerial freestylers. The women’s final was held Wednesday night and the men are scheduled to take center stage today. There will be a mixture of snow and rain expected at Cypress the final few days of the Olympics. Better late than never? Well... not exactly. “The perfect condition for us is a sunny day when it’s 25 degrees and no wind,” said American Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, who said he would not attempt his signature trick, the Hurricane, if it was too windy. “The snow at that point would be hard and wouldn’t be wet. It’d be perfect.”

ATHLETES COMMISSION

Angela Ruggiero is at her fourth Olympics as a hockey player. She’ll be around the games for the next eight years as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Ruggiero and British skeleton racer Adam Pengilly were voted onto the IOC and its athletes’ commission in an election of their fellow athletes. The U.S. now has three members on the 114-member IOC.

Wire reports