Day 1Heil Wins Gold in Moguls
Canada's Jennifer Heil captured gold in women's moguls Saturday in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy, four years after narrowly missing the Olympic podium in Salt Lake City.
Heil, the last skier down the hill by virtue of her first-place finish in the qualifying round earlier in the day, posted a score of 26.50, 0.85 points better than silver medallist Kari Traa of Norway, the 2002 Olympic champion. Sandra Laoura of France took bronze, 1.13 points back of Heil.
I don't know what to say, this has been my biggest dream. I didn't know it could come true," said a jubilant Heil, who is from Spruce Grove, Alta.
Heil's jumps – a 360-degree spin and a backflip with her skis crossed – weren't as difficult as Traa's "D-Spin" on the top ramp, a double-twisting jump in which her body goes nearly parallel to the mountain. But the Canadian executed her tricks almost flawlessly and received a superior air score. Heil also scored higher than Traa on speed and form on the moguls, which counts for 75 per cent of a skier's final tally.
"I just felt so well-prepared," Heil said. "I was more relaxed than I've ever been in the start gate, which actually surprised me. But I knew it was just a sign I was ready to go out."
Heil's gold was Canada's first medal of the 2006 Winter Games and the first Olympic medal of her career. It was also the first gold by a Canadian woman in moguls. The 22-year-old finished fourth at the 2002 Games, missing the bronze by one hundredth of a point.
Canada clobbers Italy 16-0 in women's hockey
Caroline Ouellette and Hayley Wickenheiser posted hat tricks to lead Canada to a tournament-opening 16-0 rout of the host Italians in women's hockey at the Torino Olympics on Saturday. Ouellette made history with three goals in the first seven minutes of play as the defending champion Canadians counted five goals in the first period, four more in the second and seven over the final 20 minutes. Before Saturday, no Canadian player had scored more than one goal in a period at the Olympics. It was the biggest rout in Olympic women's hockey history, besting Canada's 13-0 dismantling of host Japan in 1998, when women's hockey made its debut at the Games.
"We expected Italy to be weak but we're not going to apologize for winning," Wickenheiser said.
Ouellette and Wickenheiser also joined Goyette as the only Canadian players to net hat tricks in the Olympics. Ten of Canada's 18 position players found the net on Saturday, including Gillian Apps and Cheryl Pounder with a pair each. Singles went to Danielle Goyette, Jayna Hefford, Jennifer Botterill, Carla McLeod, Sarah Vaillancourt and Katie Weatherston.
Cherie Piper led the assist parade with six, followed by Apps and Botterill with three apiece. Cassie Campbell and Wickenheiser set up two goals each. Canadian goaltender Kim St. Pierre barely broke a sweat as her teammates outshot Italy 19-0 in the third period and 66-5 overall before a crowd of 8,399.
The loyal Italian fans chanted "I-tal-ia! I-tal-ia!" early in the game and waved the flag in the final minute as they sang the national anthem.
Canada, which is expected to face the United States in the gold-medal game, will face a tougher Russian outfit on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Elsewhere on Saturday, the Americans opened the tournament with a convincing 6-0 win over Switzerland. Only Patricia Elsmore-Sautter's saved her team from greater embarrassment, stopping 50 shots in the Swiss net.
The results of the Bell 3 Stars Poll, as voted by the fans, were Wickenheiser No. 1, followed by Ouellete and Italian netminder Debora Montanari.
Later,
Kenaz
No comments:
Post a Comment