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Sights High. Sweden’s Beginning. Kalla’s Wild Ride. Wearing bib #31, Charlotte Kalla finished the 10K freestyle (cross-country skiing) with a time of 24:58.4, just 6.6 seconds ahead of Estonian Kristina Smigun-Vaehi . This was Sweden’s first gold of the Olympics.
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Sights High Sweden’sBeginning
Kalla’s Wild Ride • Wearing bib #31, Charlotte Kalla finished the 10K freestyle (cross-country skiing) with a time of 24:58.4, just 6.6 seconds ahead of Estonian Kristina Smigun-Vaehi. • This was Sweden’s first gold of the Olympics. • She won Sweden’s first women’s individual cross-country skiing gold since 1968, upsetting bronze-winning Norwegian MaritBjoergen.
More On Cross-Country • A native of Tarendo, Sweden, Kalla stands just 5’4” and is 22 years old. • She skied with the pressure of an entire nation on her back. • Sweden is considered “second-fiddle” to Norway in cross-country skiing, and it was huge to take this gold so early in the Olympics.
A Breath of Fresh Air • In the 12.5K pursuit (biathlon), Bjorn Ferry overcame a 1:12 “head start” (and from 8th place) to defeat leader, favorite, and eventual bronze medalist Vincent Jay (France). • At 32, Ferry is in his 3rd Olympics. Before this gold, he had yet to win a medal. • Announcers said he may “want it too badly” as he was coming into the final shooting leg—in almost a dead tie with Jay. • Both Ferry and Jay missed one target in the last range, as did eventual silver medalist ChristophSumann. • That miss was Ferry’s only miss of the day. • After the penalty lap, just .6 seconds separated Jay and him. Jay began to die, and Sumann caught him for silver. Ferry enjoyed a “victory lap” at the end of his run.
There’s No Iron or Brass Medal • Sweden has many memorable 4th place finishes that just missed the podium. • While Kalla took gold, Anna Haag finished within 5 seconds of the podium, but ended up in 4th. • In the men’s 15K freestyle (cross-country skiing), Marcus Hellner finished 4th, within 2 seconds of bronze. • In the 10K pursuit (biathlon), Anna CarinOlofsson-Zidek came back from starting 20th to finish 4th.
More 4ths and Disappointments… • In the women’s sprint classic, Anna Haag has the third best qualifying time, but she won the imaginary iron medal (finished 4th) in the end. • Emil Jonsson was a favorite in the men’s classic sprint. He finished third in his semifinal heatm, eliminating him from competition. • In moguls, medal hopeful JesperBjoernlund finished 8th, well out of medal contention.
Kalla’s Continuance and Haag’s Redemption (sort of) • In the team sprint, Charlotte Kalla and Anna Haag took home the silver medal. • Germany won the gold, and Russia nabbed the bronze. • “Charlotte Kalla had all the stuff to be an Olympic champion, but Anna Haag let down a bit.”- NBC’s Olympic Coverage. • Sweden had the lead after Kalla’s first leg and Kalla’s third leg (Sweden’s 5th leg), but Haag lost the lead each time. • http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-cross-country-skiing-photos/#photoScrollHref
SLINGSHOT-ENGAGE • In the men’s 30K pursuit, Swede Johan Olsson led most of the race, and fellow Swedes Marcus Hellner and Anders Soedergren were in the picture also. • Late in the race, the field was ready to make a move on Olsson. • The Swedes slingshot Hellner to the front, and he won the race by just 2 seconds over Germany’s Tobias Angerer. Olsson won bronze, and Soedergren finished 10th. • Norweigian favorite PetterNorthug Jr. finished 11th, to the pleasure of Swedish fans.
HAAG IS BACK • Anna Haag took silver in the women’s 15K pursuit. • MaritBjoergen (Norway) recovered from a disspointing bronze in the 10K to win gold. The bronze went to JustynaKowalczyk (Poland). • Haag outtouchedKowalczyk by .4 seconds. Bjoergren won gold by 8.9 sec.
Tough as Nails • In the super-combined (alpine skiing), AnjaPaerson recovered from her downhill fall to take the bronze. • She was 7th after the downhill, but turned in a blistering slalom time of 44.62 seconds, which was better than that of gold-medalist Maria Riesch. The silver went to Julia Mancuso of the USA. • Lindsey Vonn led after the downhill, but crashed in the slalom.
MEN AGAIN • The Swedish men won gold in the 4x10km relay classic. The team members are (in order of run): • Daniel Richardsson • Anders Soedergren • Marcus Hellner • Johan Olsson The silver went to Norway and the bronze to the Czech Republic. Sweden won gold by 15.9 seconds.
Review Game! • Who won Sweden’s first gold medal of the Olympics? • How many Olympics (counting this one) has Bjorn Ferry been in? • Name one member of the men’s 4x10K relay team. • In what event did AnjaPaerson redeem herself?
Tie-breaker question • When you are finished writing, tap your desk. • Silver and bronze count, so don’t stop writing if someone else taps. • If you know some but not all, tap. If no one gets all, the person who gets the most right wins. • Name the 5 alpine skiing events.