Bode golden on sadness-tinged day
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Bode Miller looked at the camera, smiled and shrugged. Even he couldn't believe this.
Miller won the first gold medal of his Olympics career on Sunday, taking the super-combined with plenty of flair - roaring back from seventh after the downhill with a blazing slalom run.
That's not the easy way of doing it, but it was quite fitting for a guy who revels in being unconventional, like partying away his medals chances at the last Winter Olympics and skipping training last summer while pondering retirement.
With a medal of each color after three races, Miller is one of the feel-good stories of the Vancouver Games.
"The level I skied at is at the very top," he said. "It feels amazing."
Miller bumped the U.S. medal count to seven gold and 24 overall, easily leading all countries. One more medal and the Americans will match the 25 they won in 2006, their most at a Winter Olympics not held at home.
The day got off to a sad start with Joannie Rochette - Canada's best hope for a medal in women's figure skating - learning that her 55-year-old mother died of a massive heart attack.
In the afternoon, Rochette wiped her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping onto the ice for practice, then blinked hard during her first few laps around the rink. She'll remain in the event, which starts Tuesday, "to fulfill the goal they had together," said Rochette's agent, David Baden.
In other events decided Sunday, Germany's Magdalena Neuner won her second gold medal of these games in biathlon and Switzerland's Michael Schmid won the Olympics debut of men's skicross, a cousin to the NASCAR-on-ice snowboarding race featuring four racers charging through a winding course filled with jumps.
Andre Lange of Germany won the two-man bobsled, and speedskater Ireen Wust of the Netherlands took the women's 1,500 meters.
SUPER-COMBINED
Once Miller took over the lead, he had to wait out six challengers. The last was Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who finished a spot ahead of Miller in the super-G and the downhill.
When Svindal pulled up midway through the race, that was it. Miller tied the record for most Alpine medals won by a man at a single Winter Olympics (first since Norwegian great Kjetil Andrea Aamodt in 1994) and his five career medals are second only to Aadmodt among men's Alpine skiers.
"It's going to be hard for me go keep doing this," said Miller, who could still have two events left. "This is incredibly emotionally exhausting."
Defending champion Ted Ligety jumped from 15th to fifth with the fastest time in the slalom. Unfortunately for him, there was only one slalom leg this time, after two in Turin.
SKATER'S MOTHER
Joannie Rochette - a six-time Canadian champion who won a silver medal at last year's world championships - has been in Vancouver since the opening ceremony. Her mother, Therese, and father, Normand, arrived Saturday from their home in Montreal.
After visiting Canada House, the couple went to the apartment where they're staying. Normand Rochette later found his wife passed out and, when he was unable to revive her, took her to Vancouver General, the agent said.
Normand broke the news to his daughter early Sunday at the Olympic village, Canadian officials said.
"It's a tragedy. I'm sort of in shock by it," said Canadian figure skating great Brian Orser, who got to know Rochette's parents while touring with her in a skating show.
SKICROSS
For an unpredictable sport, the first men's winner wasn't much of a surprise. Schmid was the top-ranked World Cup rider this season.
But the final did have one of its trademark wipeouts, with Canada's Chris Del Bosco, winner of the Winter X Games last month, going down hard on the next-to-last jump.
Americans Casey Puckett and Daron Rahlves were eliminated in the first round of the four-man heats.
SPEEDSKATING
Wust stunned the home team by winning a gold medal in the 1,500. Canada's Christine Nesbitt, who took gold in the 1,000, had hoped to add another Olympic win. She was slightly ahead of Wust's pace heading into the final lap but couldn't match the last trip around the oval produced by the Dutch skater.
Wust won in 1 minute, 56.89 seconds. Canada did manage a silver, claimed by Kristina Groves in 1:57.14. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic took the bronze (1:57.96). Nesbitt was sixth.
BOBSLED
Germany's Lange rarely loses - and never in the Olympics. Bobsled's best driver won his fourth gold in four career races inside the winter rings, taking the two-man competition to become the winningest pilot in Olympic history.
Lange completed his four trips down Whistler Sliding Center's track in 3 minutes, 26.65 seconds, .22 ahead of Germany's Thomas Florschuetz (3:26.87), who won the silver. Russia's Alexsandr Zubkov (3:27.51) won the bronze.
Lange is the first driver to win four bobsled golds since the event debuted in 1932 at Lake Placid.
CURLING
The U.S. women's curling team lost to Canada after winning their previous two matches. The Canadians are 5-0, but have had some tight matches. They looked dominant, winning 9-2 in a shortened match.
BIATHLON
Neuner overcame two missed shots to win the women's 12.5-kilometer mass start. This gold will go nicely with the gold she won in the 10K pursuit and her silver in the 7.5K sprint.
In the men's 15-kilometer mass start race, World Cup leader Evgeny Ustyugov of Russia took the gold. Tim Burke failed again to end the American biathlon drought, finishing 18th.