Swiss goes the distance for gold

WHISTLER, B.C. — Switzerland's Dario Cologna won the men's 15-kilometer freestyle cross-country race at the Vancouver Games in his Olympic debut.

Cologna collapsed across the finish line after completing the course in 33 minutes, 36.3 seconds Monday, then stayed down for several seconds while catching his breath and soaking it all in.

"It was an incredible race for me," Cologna said.

Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer won the silver, finishing 24.6 seconds behind Cologna, and Czech skier Lukas Bauer won the bronze to go with the silver medal he won in the 15-kilometer classical style race in Turin.

Bauer's time was 35.7 seconds slower than Cologna's.

Leschi's Roberto Carcelen, competing for his native Peru, finished 94th in the field of 95 racers.

With Tord Asle Gjerdalen finishing as the best Norwegian in 28th place, it was the worst result ever for the ski-crazed country in an Olympic cross-country race. The previous low was when Frode Estil was 16th as the top Norwegian in the 15-kilometer classical in Turin.

In the women's 10K, Charlotte Kalla of Sweden led from start to finish to collect her first Olympic gold medal.

Kalla led by more than 12 seconds with less than 3 kilometers to go in the interval-start race and then held off Kristina Smigun-Vaehi's strong finish to win in 24:58.4.

"It feels crazy right now," Kalla said. "I can't believe I am a gold medalist."

Smigun-Vaehi, the Estonian who won two golds at the 2006 Turin Games but has struggled this season, won silver. Marit Bjoergen of Norway took the bronze.

Holly Brooks, who was born in Redmond, finished 42nd, 2:19 off the lead.

Woe is Cypress

Heavy rains have washed away so much snow at Cypress Mountain, the Olympics trouble spot, in the last few days that organizers were forced to refund general admission tickets for the men's and women's snowboardcross Monday and Tuesday.

That was just the latest misfortune to befall the venue now being described as the Vancouver Organizing Committee's "special child," which is throwing organizers a series of hurdles, from lack of snow to inadequate buses, long exit lines, torrential rains and even a broken food-service system.

The refunds, affecting about 4,000 spectators each day, would represent $400,000 in lost ticket revenue. That number, however, could grow much larger unless the organizing committee manages to find a way to replace the lost snow.

No decision has yet been made about the standing-room-only tickets for the two snowboard halfpipe events later this week.

Snow hauled up the mountain by truck and helicopter was used to build up the runs where the athletes compete, as well as to cover bails of straw to bolster the area where general-admission spectators stand. But heavy rain on the weekend washed the snow away, leaving sink holes — some thigh-deep — around the straw that officials deemed unsafe.

Déjà vu, eh?Meghan Agosta scored two goals, Hayley Wickenheiser added her first of the Olympics and Canada steamrolled another women's hockey opponent, beating Switzerland 10-1.

Two days after Canada's merciless, 18-0 thumping of Slovakia sparked discussions of the Olympic fitness of women's hockey, Switzerland provided a significantly tougher test — even if the result looked much the same.

Swiss goalie Florence Schelling actually played well, making 45 saves before sitting out the final minutes.

When asked if the Swiss thought they could beat Canada, Schelling was refreshingly blunt: "No."

"Our goal was to score one goal, and we did that," added Schelling, who plays at Northeastern. "We didn't want to give up more than 10 goals, and we achieved that, so we were satisfied."

Elsewhere ...

Lindsey Vonn turned in the fastest time in the demanding upper section of the downhill training, despite her aching shin. ... Johnny Weir is considering bringing back a quadruple jump in his free skate. ... Reigning world champion Erin Hamlin of Remsen, N.Y., is 15th after the first two women's luge runs. ... ... A candlelit memorial service was held for Georgia's Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed in a luge crash. Later, luge's international governing body said Sochi organizers will build a slower sliding track for the 2014 Olympics, reducing the risk for fatal accidents.

A golden couple

This is why Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo came back.

The Chinese pair finally won the Olympic gold medal that eluded them for so many years, a prize so compelling it lured them out of the cozy life of a happily retired married couple. It wasn't the best skate of their career, but it was good enough for gold — and that was all that mattered.

Their score of 216.57 points was more than three points ahead of teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian.

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany dropped to the bronze medal after a flawed free skate.

It's the first time since 1960 that a Russian or Soviet couple isn't atop the Olympic podium, ending one of the longest winning streaks in sports. Perhaps even more shocking, the Russians are leaving empty-handed, with no medals of any color.

Shen and Zhao, bronze medalists at the last two Olympic Games, retired after winning their third title in 2007. They got married, and lived the easy life of retirees, doing shows and appearances. But something was missing — that gold medal.

They returned this season and despite being 31 and 36, ancient in pairs skating, dominated everywhere they competed. This was no different.

As for the Americans, Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig came in 10th, while reigning U.S. champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett finished 13th.