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The nineteenth installment of the Winter Olympic novel, characterized by the scandals of the votes of the members of the IOC bought, from "skategate" and disqualification for doping but also by the great triumphs of our women in alpine skiing and especially in the bottom
Wednesday 5 February 2014 31 minutes reading time
On 16 June 1995 at the 104th IOC Session in Budapest has to choose between the four cities as candidates to host the nineteenth Winter Olympic Games, as of 2002. And a little 'to sprpresa, not for the winner, who had been beaten by Nagano for the 1998, but it already gets an absolute majority on the first ballot, the U.S. triumphs in Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, which collects 54 votes against 14 to the head of the Swedish Östersund and the Swiss Sion and 7 of the Canadian Quebec City. A victory abnormal and you will understand how abnormal when three and a half years after the vote, the vote-buying scandal burst: it turns out that the two leaders of the organizing committee for the Salt Lake City Tom Welch and Dave Johnson have bestowed gifts of various nature of many members of the International Olympic Committee in order to ensure their votes for the cause of the city founded by Mormons. As a result of this scandal six members of the IOC will have to leave, as well as Welch and Johnson, but now, three years before the Games, there is no more time to change the venue. For further raise tension eve there was the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 after which the checks on anyone revolves around the Olympic become stricter than ever.
Games and Games armored therefore characterized by multiple scandals, not just that of the IOC vote buying but also the so-called "skategate," a real vote of exchange which consists of a win in the artistic pairs figure skating Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikarulidze and dance in the French Navy Anissina (Russian born) and Gwendal Peizerat. Actually done so: in pairs of two Russians outweigh the Canadians Jamie Salé and David Pelletier in the plane thanks to the complicity of the French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne, it does tip the scales in favor of the Russians. But the scam is exposed before the competition of dance and four days later the new IOC President Jacques Rogge in person decides to make everyone happy and no one giving a double gold at both Berezhnaya and Sikarulidze both Salé and Pelletier. Is not taken no action against Anissina, which is also involved in the plot, so the adoption of French skater is free to win gold with his partner Peizerat in a race in which Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio winning the bronze bring to Italy the first (and so far only) Olympic medalist in figure skating.
But it is a coin that leaves a bad taste in the mouth because the couple in Milan, Sesto San Giovanni Milan and she him, European and world gold in 2001, he was presented with very different ambitions but a fall in the free dance of Mauritius ago to say goodbye to the metal most beautiful Italian and indeed the two boys, they also risk losing the bronze but nothing worth the protest of Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, who claim to have been penalized in evaluations of the judges so much more that c & rsquo , was also a fall of Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, who finished the quarter before the Lithuanians. All these disputes will lead the ISU for the forthcoming Olympics to change radically in a short time and the evaluation system that currently provides the sum of the technical elements and program components for both the short and the free in all specialties of figure skating. About this sport, artistic male sees the duel between the two great rivals Russian Aleksey Yagudin and Evgeny Plushenko ends in favor of the former because of a fall of the second in the short program that does Yagudin in the free skate with ease. Women in the artistic triumphs surprise the 16 year old American Sarah Hughes while superfavorita, her compatriot Michelle Kwan, falling on a triple flip in the free and had to settle for bronze behind even the other co-favorite of the eve, Russian Irina Slutskaya .
The latest scandal in Salt Lake City, which dramatically changed the charts of the races to the bottom, is that of doping, in which they were involved Mühlegg Johann, German in those games competed for Spain because the team put out four years before the national of his native country, and the Russian Larisa Lazutina and Olga Danilova. Mühlegg triumphs all the individual events in which it participates, the 30 km mass start skating with the 10 km Classic + 10 km skating chase and finally the 50 km classic, but at the end of this race is found positive for darbepoietin and is also deprived of the other two gold medals. The title of the 30 km so goes the Austrian Christian Hoffmann, one of the 10 +10 Norwegians Thomas Alsgaard and Frode Estil who were second tie, and that of 50 km to the Russian Mikhail Ivanov. Same fate as Mühlegg for Lazutina and Danilova, with the difference that Lazutina in the 15 km mass start skating with is printed in a sprint from Stefania Belmondo nothing short of immense as the Piedmontese 4.5 km from the finish line had broken the stick right and was forced to recall about ten seconds from the head of the race. Russian jokes even in the 10 km classic won by the Norwegian Bente Skari but excluded from the ranking of Danilova second and fourth Lazutina Stefy will go back to the Bronze Age. In the 5km Classic + 5 km skating Danilova's first and second Lazutina but just before the women's relay Russia is not invited to participate because of Lazutina were found high levels of hemoglobin.
The story has its epilogue after the 30 km classic: Lazutina is first and eighth Danilova but both are positive for darbepoietin and are excluded by the arrivals of all the races in which they have participated in these games. The title of the 5 +5 km so goes the Canadian Beckie Scott, the first non-European to ever Olympic gold in cross-country skiing, instead of 30 km is in blue with fantastic double Gabriella Paruzzi Belmondo silver and gold, 3 silver and 2 gold Stefy 5 bronze medals, the Italian woman becomes ever more medalist at the Olympics, including the Summer Games, but above all, together with the Russian Raisa Smetanina, the woman to have won the most medals at the Winter Olympics, 10. As for the other races of the fund, absent as we have said Russia, Italy is sixth in the women's relay because of a bad first-time director Marianna Longa village, the title goes to Germany. Among men, in the 15 km classic Andrus Veerpalu gives the first Winter Olympic gold Estonia. In the men's relay scene is the third duel between Italy and Norway and once again our nemesis Alsgaard to mock three-tenths our new protagonist of the final sprint, Cristian Zorzi, other members of our quartet are Fabio Maj, Giorgio Di Centa and Pietro Piller. Finally, two of the ten new events in Salt Lake City are part of its program of nordic skiing and are the two individual sprint free technique men and women. Among women won the Russian Yuliya Chepalova, who four years earlier had set in the 30 km always skating, men's gold Tor Arne Hetland while the Norwegian Zorzi is bronze.
Continuing with the sports that have brought medals Italy, Lidia Trettel captures bronze in the women's parallel giant slalom won by France's Isabelle Blanc in front of compatriot defending champion Karine Ruby, other securities of the board on the snow are the prerogative of the Swiss Philipp Schoch, ever winner first in the World Cup in men's parallel giant, and the Americans Ross Powers and Kelly Clark halfpipe in female and male. In short track is the only blue silver medal of men's relay composed by Maurizio Carnino, Fabio Carta, Nicola and Nicola Franceschina Rodigari that give the rulers of Canada. Two new events here: 1500 men, who go to American Apolo Anton Ohno of the controversy surrounding the disqualification of South Korean Kim Dong-sung, and the same distance reserved for women, who sees all beat South Korea's Ko Gi-hyn. South Korea also won the women's relay while in the 500 and the 1000 China's Yang Yang [A] is double giving, inter alia, the first Winter Olympic gold medals in the People's Republic of China. Other Canadian success in the 500 men with Marc Gagnon. Finally, there are 1000 meters they see the triumph probably the most amazing of all the history of the Olympics.
On Youtube there is still massively clicked a movie in which, during an episode of the famous TV program in Italy 1 "Mai dire Gol" Responded Band traces step by step the path of the winner of this race. Australian Steven Bradbury, mocking him for his starts slow and clumsy for his skating. Maybe they did not know that in a race in 1994, a shoe an opponent tore his right leg causing him to lose four quarts of blood and providing him with 111 stitches, also in 2000, fell and fractured two cervical vertebrae in training. Bradbury avoided paralysis occurs in Salt Lake City for his fourth Olympics as a miracle and with zero hopes of medal, which he had won the bronze medal in the relay at Lillehammer. But luck decides to give back all of a sudden what had taken. Easily passed the first round, Bradbury passes as the second of his quarter-final behind Ohno thanks to the disqualification of Marc Gagnon, in the semifinals with a lap to go, it is the last fall before the first one and then the other two and he goes into the final . In the face of all opposition has significantly higher and Bradbury is held at a safe distance and tactics incredibly pays: Ohno and China's Li Jiajun do they sportellate, snap and fall involving the other two finalists, the South Korean Ahn Hyun-soo and the Canadian Mathieu Turcotte, so quietly Bradbury is smoothed the way for the most amazing and successful gold medal ever, Bradbury is also the first Winter Olympic champion in the history coming from the southern hemisphere.
In the men's luge Armin Zöggeler complete his collection of Olympic medals after the bronze in 1994 and silver in 1998 winning gold ahead of Germany's Georg Hackl, who stood on the podium for the fifth time in a row in the same event, a feat never none succeeded in the Olympics before then, Germany pockets titles of women's luge with Sylke Otto and the double with Patric-Fritz Leitner and Alexander Resch. And then there's downhill skiing, where the blue medals, three, they all come from the women's speed slanting for the first and so far only time the Winter Games medals Italian in favor of women, not counting the bronze Fusar Poli and Margaglio, bring home eight precious metals against four men. In the women's downhill is the big favorite Isolde Kostner but the dolomites is silver, beaten by France's Carole Montillet, never winning so far downhill in the World Cup, which dedicates victory to teammate Regine Cavagnoud, who died in end of October 2001 following a clash on track with a German coach while training on the Austrian glacier Pitztal. But the biggest race of our women's alpine skiing in the Olympics is the super-G of that edition, in which Daniela Ceccarelli, never before or since winning the World Cup, invented the game of life ahead of only 5 cents Croatia's Janica Kostelic of 27 Karen Putzer, the most reliable blue. Gold and bronze then to Italy and among other things the "cecca" is the one to beat Croatia in the Olympics since the other three races that dispute, combined, slalom and giant slalom, Janica won three gold medals. In the men's Austria wins two golds with Fritz Strobl downhill and Stephan Eberharter in giant, Norwegian Kjetil Andre Aamodt wins super-G in a decade after the first gold in the specialty and then adds the title of the combo, while the slalom is , the prerogative of the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Vidal, the bronze of this race, the British Alain Baxter, was disqualified for doping.
Two new races in the program of the Olympic biathlon pursuits men and women. Among men Ole Einar Bjoerndalen not only confirms the title of the sprint but win all four races scheduled triumphing also in pursuit, in the individual and relay, Germany dominates among women with Kati Wilhelm who wins the the individual sprint and Andrea Henkel, the German also won the relay and only Russian Olga Pyleva beats pursuit. German bob two goals in the male with Christoph Langen who is first in race two and André Lange in the four happening to Langen. There is the novelty of the two-man bobsleigh feminine and triumph is the American Jill Bakken, his brakeman Vonetta Flowers is the first athlete Olympic gold winter color including men. Back in the Olympic program after 54 years and the male skeleton triumph is the American Jim Shea, emulating his grandfather Jack, the winner of the contested race speed skating on the 500 and 1500 meters in Lake Placid 1932, and that two weeks before Salt Lake City was hit and killed by a car at the age of 91 years, Jim brings to this photo of his grandfather in the lining of the helmet as a further boost to the gold medal. Even nell'inedita female skeleton with success Use Tristan Gale.
En-plein only one athlete, as in the men's biathlon, even in the Nordic combined: adds a second individual race, called sprint, but it does not change, triumphed both times the Finnish Samppa Lajunen then drag the success in the team competition companions, among whom there Hannu Manninen, the most successful ever nordic nordic combined but has never been able to take home an individual gold medal. Even in the ski jump twice in the individual events by a Swiss who did not fit in certain circle of favorites, Simon Ammann, double gold thanks to generous assessments of the judges on telemark especially from small trampoline, Sven Hannawald, silver in that race and arrived at the Games from big favorite for completing the Grand Slam in the last Tour of 4 trampolines, refers in part by winning the title of the team competition with his teammates. The gold in the freestyle aerials go to the Czech Aleš Valenta and the Australian Alisa Camplin, the latter adequately compensates for the absence of compatriot and favored, Jacqui Cooper, severely injured his knee, the humps go to the big favorites, Finnish Janne Lahtela and Norway's Kari Traa.
Speed ​​Skating Men: the American Casey FitzRandolph won the 500 meters, the Dutchman Gerard van Velde 1000, the American Derek Parra, big star of skating skates, triumphs in the 1500 beating the Dutchman Jochem Uytdehaage who had played the same trick on 5000, the tulip then goes on to win the 10000, note that only in the 500 does not set a new world record. Exact same speech among women: Canadian Catriona LeMay Doan only, which confirms the title Nagano at 500, does not improve the world record. Gold at the 1000 American Chris Witty despite a month before the Games has been diagnosed with mononucleosis. On long distances dominate the German: the beautiful Anni Friesinger won the 1500 Claudia Pechstein 3000 and 5000, distance over which triumphed for the third consecutive time. Then there are team sports: Once again Canada, this time led by Kevin Martin, is missing the title of the men's curling, the skip U.S. are wrong on the last stone and the gold delivery to Norway Pål Trulsen, among success of British women, or rather of the Scots, led by Rhona Martin. Canada draws disappointment Nagano winning both tournaments ice hockey beating in both cases, the United States, among women 3-2, 5-2 for men and thanks to this successful Canadians back men's hockey on the throne after 50 years.
The other results of Italy: Disaster in the men's alpine skiing where the only top ten placing in a single race is the eighth in giant Max Blardone while Patrick Staudacher is seventh in combined, Karen Putzer is tenth in the giant female. The defending champions of the two-man bobsleigh Günther Huber and Antonio Tartaglia are eighths while the luger Gerda Weissensteiner is passed to the feminine bob and is ranked seventh, his brakeman's another Olympic champion in another sport and that is the cycling, Antonella Bellutti, in pursuit gold at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney in the individual points in 2000. Many of the results out of the medals of the blue cross-country skiing: In the men's sprint Freddy Schwienbacher is fifth,'' in pursuit Di Centa fourth and sixth Piller, 30 km in the fourth and ninth Piller Zorzi, Paruzzi is eighth in the women's sprint and pursuit even where it is the ninth Sabina Valbusa, both also in the top ten in the 15 km won by Stefy Belmondo: Paruzzi is Valbusa sixth and tenth. In the men's luge ninth place Wilfried Huber, seventh in doubles Gerhard Plankensteiner and Oswald Haselrieder. Fabio Carta was fourth in 1500 and sixth in the 1000 short track, always on the short runway Mara Zini is eighth in the 500 and ninth in the 1500's, the women's relay team blue is fifth. On the long track Roberto Sighel is seventh on the 5000 and 10000 and Chiara Simionato tenth on the 1000 James Kratter is the fourth men's halfpipe snowboarding, finally Dany Locati is ninth in the women's skeleton.
Summary
19th edition of the Olympic Winter Games
Host city and date of the event: Salt Lake City (United States), 9-24 February 2002
Athletes participating: 2399 (1513 men, 886 women)
Participating countries: 77
Italian participants: 109 (63 men, 46 women)
Italian flag-bearer: Isolde Kostner (Alpine skiing)
Securities allotted: 78 in 15 sports
Official opening: President George W. Bush
Olympic athletes' oath: Jim Shea, Jr.. (Skeleton)
Olympic Oath of Judges: Allen Church
Last torchbearer: U.S. Olympic team in ice hockey in 1980
The medal
Norway: 13 gold 5 silver 7 bronze
Germany: 12 gold 16 silver 8 bronze
United States: 10 gold 13 silver 11 bronze
Canada: 7 gold 3 silver 7 bronze
Russia: 5 gold 4 silver 4 bronze
France: 4 gold 5 silver 2 bronze
Italy: 4 gold 4 silver 5 bronze medals
Finland: 4 gold 2 silver 1 bronze
Netherlands: 3 gold 5 silver
Austria: 3 gold 4 silver 10 bronze
Switzerland: 3 gold 2 silver 6 bronze
Croatia: 3 gold 1 silver
China: 2 gold 2 silver 4 bronze
South Korea: 2 gold 2 silver
Australia: 2 gold
Czech Republic: 1 gold 2 silver
Estonia: 1 gold 1 silver 1 bronze
Great Britain: 1 gold 1 bronze
Sweden: 2 silver 5 bronze medals
Bulgaria: 1 silver 2 bronze
Japan: 1 silver 1 bronze
Poland: 1 silver 1 bronze
Belarus: 1 bronze
Slovenia: 1 bronze
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