Ice Hockey: USA knocked out by Slovakia
The United States is out of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics in stunning fashion after blowing a late lead.
Marek Hrivik scored with 43.7 seconds left in regulation, Peter Cehlarik had the winner and Slovakia beat the U.S. 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday to knock the top-seeded Americans out in the quarterfinals. Slovakia had knocked Germany out in the previous round via a ruthless 4-0 defeat.
Alpine Skiing: France’s Noel wins Gold
Clement Noel claimed France’s first alpine skiing gold medal of the Beijing Olympics when he won the men’s slalom on Wednesday.
Noel, sixth fastest after the first run, laid down the quickest second run to clock a combined total of 1min 44.09sec.
Austrian Johannes Strolz, already a gold medallist in the alpine combined at these Games, took silver 0.61sec behind, while Norwegian Sebastian Foss-Solevaag claimed bronze at 0.70sec.
Germany’s Linus Straßer finished in seventh .
“That was one of the most important races in my career. It’s not often that you are able to win a medal in the Olympic Games,” said 24-year-old Noel. “It’s one shot – one minute and 40 seconds every four years.
“I knew that I was in shape. My races in January were not good but training here was really good, I was fast.
“This is the best I can do. I have no words to describe it. Olympic champion … wooh!”
Noel’s gold completed a full house for the French men’s ski team after veteran Johan Clarey bagged downhill silver and Mathieu Faivre took a bronze medal in the giant slalom.
Clement Noel gave France the Gold in Alpine Skiing
Slopestyle: Two Americans on podium
There was an American double victory in the ski freestyle category: Alexander Hall won the slopestyle ahead of compatriot Nicholas Goepper. Third place went to Jesper Tjader from Sweden.
The Swiss Andri Ragettli, still the best athlete in the qualification, was only fourth. The Norwegian Birk Ruud, who had secured the Olympic victory in the Big Air, also went home empty-handed in fifth place.
Hall put in a strong run with impressive tricks and clean landings right in the first round earning him over 90 points and the lead. This ensured that his challengers were left to figh for the other podium spots.
“That last jump was definitely maybe my hardest trick,” the 23-year-old said, adding that he was “stoked” for landing it.
Alexander Hall’s impressive performance fetched USA’s eighth gold
“Lot of us (in the sport) are what we call spin to win and are spinning as much as we can, so to take a new approach and do a trick that has almost no rotation that’s still really hard was really sweet,” he told reporters after the final with the American flag draped around his shoulders.
la (rtre/afp)
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