Davis wins in second straight Olympics
RICHMOND, British Columbia, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- American Shani Davis, utilizing his combination of power and grace, won the men's 1,000-meter speed skating race Wednesday for the second straight Olympics.
Davis skated in the final pair at the Richmond Oval and he knew as he stepped on the ice that he had to turn in a time better than 1:09.12. That was the mark recorded by Tae-Bum Mo of South Korea, who 48 hours earlier had won the gold medal over 500 meters.
Davis was a third of a second behind Mo's split time after 200 meters and still a quarter of a second behind at 600 meters.
The American star, however, turned in one of the smooth, tight turns for which he is known and powered down the final stretch to win in a time of 1:08.94.
That was .05 of a second slower than his winning time in Turin four years ago, but he became the first skater to repeat as Olympic champion in a distance that has been contested since 1976.
American Chad Hedrick wound up with the bronze, the fourth medal of his Olympic career.
Hedrick won a gold, silver and bronze in Turin. His four medals have come in four different distances.
Davis will be at it again Sunday in the 1,500-meter race.
Vonn wins Olympic downhill
WHISTLER, British Columbia, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Lindsey Vonn sped down an icy, dangerous slope Wednesday to become the first American woman to win an Olympic downhill gold medal.
Vonn, by far the best female downhill skier in the world during the past three years, was concerned only a week ago that she would not be able to compete in the Vancouver Games because of a deep shin bruise.
When it came time for the most important race of her career, however, nothing could stop her.
Vonn defeated fellow American Julie Mancuso by a half second and Austria's Elisabeth Goergl by almost a second and a half -- a huge margin in the world of downhill skiing.
It was the first 1-2 American finish in an Olympic alpine event in 26 years and only the third ever.
The women's downhill was the first alpine event to go off as scheduled at these Olympics. The men's downhill was delayed for two days by poor weather and bad course conditions. Both the men's and women's alpine combined have been pushed back from their original starting dates.
Even though the women's downhill was run on the day it was scheduled, the course was not at its best. The icy, bumpy conditions made for a treacherous trip down Whistler Mountain.
Sweden's Anja Paerson, third in the overall World Cup standings, appeared headed for a silver medal when she catapulted off the final jump and took a hard fall.
Dominique Gisin of Switzerland also fell heavily.
Vonn, who added the Olympic title to five downhill crowns won in six tries on the World Cup circuit this season, covered the course in 1:44.19.
She will be the favorite in the super-giant slalom and will be among the challengers as well in the combined event, which is scheduled for Thursday.
McGowan stuns Stricker in WGC
MARANA, Ariz., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Ross McGowan rolled in a long par putt Wednesday and knocked world No. 2 Steve Stricker out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.
McGowan notched his 1-up victory with a putt of almost 30 feet on the first extra hole at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Marana.
Stricker was the only loser among four players seeded No. 1 in their brackets. The other top seeds are Lee Westwood, Jim Furyk and Martin Kaymer.
Westwood advanced with a 3-and-2 decision over Chris Wood, Furyk was a 2-and-1 winner over Scott Verplank and Kaymer defeated Chad Campbell 4-and-2.
Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy walloped Alexander Noren 7-and-5.
"I feel like I'm a good match player and I feel like if I get going and I'm playing well enough with a guy who's playing similarly I feel like I've really got a really good chance to win some of these matches," Ogilvy said.
Other winners in the opening round included Sean O'Hair, Adam Scott, Zach Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Oliver Wilson, Anders Hansen, Ian Poulter, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Y.E. Yang, Ryo Ishikawa, Matt Kuchar, Thongchai Jaidee, Jeev Milkha Singh and Ben Crane, who advanced when his opponent, Henrik Stenson, withdrew because of illness after playing just one hole.
Losers included Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Hunter Mahan, Angel Cabrera and Lucas Glover.
The second and third rounds will be played Thursday and Friday, with the quarterfinals and semis Saturday and the 36-hole championship and consolation matches Sunday.
Finland, Sweden win Olympic hockey openers
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Sweden and Finland, the teams that battled for the Olympic hockey gold medal in 2006, both won their opening games Wednesday at the Vancouver Games.
Niklas Hagman scored twice Wednesday in leading Finland to a 5-1 victory over Belarus to start Group C play and Sweden followed with a tougher-than-expected 2-0 decision over Germany.
Finland, which suffered a one-goal defeat against Sweden in the gold-medal contest four years ago, had only a 2-1 lead as time was running out in the second period.
Hagman, however, scored his second goal of the game with 3:08 left in the period, and Finland dominated from there to take a large step toward earning a quarterfinal berth.
Mikko Koivu had three assists and Miikka Kiprusoff made 21 saves. Hagman and Kiprusoff are teammates with the Calgary Flames.
Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers made 21 saves in recording the shutout for Sweden.
The game was scoreless until Mattias Ohlund of the Tampa Bay Lightning produced a power-play goal 4:29 into the second period. The other goal came from Loui Eriksson of the Dallas Stars late in the second.
Finland and Sweden will meet next Sunday in the game that will likely determine the group winner.
