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| Austria's Matthias Mayer finishes to win the gold in the men's downhill at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. |
SOCHI, Russia (AP) -- Matthias Mayer shut his eyes for a moment, his day's work over.
If
he had trouble believing what had just happened as he stood before the
crowd it was with good reason. The Austrian struck a big upset Sunday in
one of the Olympics' marquee events, capturing the men's downhill and
upending the elite of his sport.
"It's amazing to be an Olympic champion," he said.
Mayer
has never finished better than fifth in a World Cup downhill. That
proved no obstacle in dismissing the preordained favorites - Aksel Lund
Svindal of Norway finished fourth and Bode Miller of the U.S. eighth.
Among
the eight gold medalists on Day 3 were: snowboarder Jamie Anderson, the
American slopestyle queen who triumphed in her sport's Olympic debut;
Irene Wust, who showed why speedskating is Dutch territory; and Russia
in team figure skating, likewise an Olympic newcomer, for its first gold
in Sochi.
---
SKIING:
In a country where skiing is revered, Mayer gave Austria a jolt. A few
weeks ago he was not even considered the nation's best shot for gold.
But he covered the Rosa Khutor course in 2 minutes, 6.23 seconds and
beat Italy's Christof Innerhofer by 0.06 seconds. Norway's Kjetil
Jansrud won the bronze.
Miller, who dominated the training runs, was so
unnerved by the change of visibility he thought he'd have "to do
something magical to win." That was left to Mayer, who enjoys good
skiing bloodlines - his father, Helmut, won a super-G silver medal at
the 1988 Calgary Games.
---
FIGURE SKATING:
With
Evgeni Plushenko and a captivating Julia Lipnitskaia winning the free
skates, Russia took the team event without needing to worry about the
concluding ice dance. President Vladimir Putin was among those in a
crowd relishing this victory as the Russians drew away from the U.S. and
Canada. Plushenko's body has been battered by 12 operations and he had
to convince his federation he merited a spot in Sochi. "All the fans are
cheering so hard that you literally cannot do badly because they do
everything with you," Plushenko said. "You get goose bumps."
---
SNOWBOARDING:
The U.S. now has a double gold hit in slopestyle, with Anderson doing
her part a day after Sage Kotsenburg. "Even though it's just another
competition, the stage and the outreach that this event connects to is
out of control," Anderson said. Finland's Enni Rukajarvi won the silver.
The bronze went to Jenny Jones, a 33-year-old former maid at a ski
resort who gave Britain its first medal in any snow sport.
---
SPEEDSKATING:
Another royal visit, more Dutch gold. Wust gave the Netherlands its
second victory by winning the 3,000. Skating before her king and queen,
Wust won in 4 minutes, 0.34 seconds. Defending champ Martina Sablikova
of the Czech Republic took the silver while Olga Graf won bronze for
Russia's first medal of the games. Claudia Pechstein, 41 and a six-time
Olympian, was fourth. Wust, her nails red, white and blue like the Dutch
flag, held up three fingers, signifying her third Olympic gold medal.
---
CROSS-COUNTRY:
Switzerland's Dario Cologna had ankle surgery in November, but that now
seems ancient. He won the 30-kilometer skiathlon, pulling away at the
top of the last uphill section. The three-time overall World Cup winner
claimed his second Olympic gold medal. He was timed in 1 hour, 8
minutes, 15.4 seconds. Defending champion Marcus Hellner of Sweden took
silver, with the bronze to Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby.
---
BIATHLON:
Slovakia's Anastasiya Kuzmina matched her gold from Vancouver in the
women's 7.5-kilometer sprint. Kuzmina shot flawlessly and finished in 21
minutes, 6.8 seconds. The silver medal went to Russia's Olga Vilukhina
and the bronze to Ukraine's Vita Semerenko. Kuzmina's brother is Russian
biathlete Anton Shipulin, who was fourth Saturday.
---
LUGE:
Felix Loch, still only 24, did it again. The German luger won his
second straight Olympic gold medal, leaving the rest of the field in his
icy wake. Loch completed four runs down the Sanki Sliding Center track
in 3 minutes, 27.562 seconds - 0.476 seconds ahead of Russia's Albert
Demchenko, who won the silver in his seventh Olympics. Italy's Armin
Zoeggeler won the bronze, giving him a record six medals in six games.
---
SKI
JUMPING: In control from the start, Kamil Stoch of Poland won the
Olympic gold in the men's normal hill individual ski jump. Stoch had the
best jump in each round, putting first ahead of the silver medalist
Peter Prevc of Slovenia and bronze medalist Anders Bardal of Norway.
Thomas Morgenstern of Austria, returning from serious injuries from a
fall during training a month ago, was 14th. Simon Amman of Switzerland,
the defending champion from Vancouver who was seeking a record fifth
Olympic gold medal, finished 17th.
