SNOWBOARDING

TETER, BLEILER DOMINATE HALFPIPE COMPETITION Not to be outdone by the boys, Hannah Teter won gold and Gretchen Bleiler won silver – another set of Olympic medals for the United States on the halfpipe.

Teter and Bleiler, the top two women in a distinctly American sport, dominated every part of the snowboarding event yesterday – from qualifying through finals – and gave the Americans four of the possible six medals over two days of snowboarding in sunny Bardonecchia.

A day earlier, it was Shaun White and Danny Kass finishing 1-2, with Mason Aguirre in fourth. And just like the men, the women came painfully close to a sweep. Kelly Clark got bumped out of the third spot by Norway’s Kjersti Buaas.

FIGURE SKATING

TOTMIANINA & MARININ LEAVE NO DOUBT IN PAIRs Tot and Max’s Russian rout made the judges’ jobs easy.Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin eliminated any chance for controversy and kept their nation’s domination of Olympic pairs going with a balletic free skate reminiscent of the greatest Russian couples.

A Russian or Soviet pair has won the gold medal every year since 1964, and this one was as good as any.The huge margin – 14.75 points over China’s Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao – also erased thoughts of any judging improprieties in the first Olympic pairs event since the 2002 Salt Lake City scandal that led to the new code of points system.

Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won their second straight bronze medal. Zhang and Zhang showed incredible courage and stamina. Skating last, Zhang Dan fell in a split while attempting an unprecedented throw quad salchow and doubled over in pain. Zhang Hao struggled to help her off the ice. After a few minutes talking with coaches, Zhang Dan asked to continue.With the fans clapping in support, the event referee allowed it. Somehow, they nailed every element in the next four minutes.

ALPINE SKIING

KILDOW INJURED IN NASTY PRACTICE FALL American gold medal contender Lindsey Kildow somehow escaped serious injury in a frightening free-fall crash on her downhill training run, moments after defending Olympic champion Carole Montillet-Carles of France was hurt in a spectacular fall.

It was a day of crashes – four in all, including one that knocked Canadian Allison Forsyth out of the Olympics with a torn knee ligament. Kildow was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Turin. She has a severely bruised left hip.

Kildow’s crash happened just eight skiers after Montillet-Carles of France lost control during a jump midway through her run and slammed into the protective fencing. She landed on her back and her head hit the snow. She was taken to a clinic in nearby Sestriere.

Montillet-Carles injured a rib, her back and face. She likely will not race Wednesday.

LUGE

AMERICAN RETROSI SUFFERS CONCUSSION IN CRASH American luger Samantha Retrosi was injured following a frightening crash on the second run of the Olympic competition and was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Turin for observation.Though she had a concussion and short-term memory loss, team officials said she wasn’t seriously injured. She smacked the wall near the bottom of the track, then appeared unconscious as she slid underneath her sled.

Team officials said Retrosi was complaining of knee pain and was cut on her chin. A large drape was pulled across the curve of the track where Retrosi came to a stop, shielding her from view. Retrosi’s was one of several crashes during the opening day of the women’s event – including one that knocked out Italy’s Anastasia Oberstolz-Antonova. She crashed on her first run and was disqualified.

CURLING

FINLAND, SWEDEN ADVANCE IN WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT Finland and Sweden won their second straight games to finalize the semifinal field for the Olympic women’s hockey tournament.

Therese Sjolander had three goals and an assist to lead seven Swedish players with multipoint games in a victory over Italy (0-2). Karoliina Rantamaki had a goal and an assist in Finland’s win over Switzerland (0-2).

Sweden and Finland will join Canada and the United States – all four teams have 2-0 records – in the semifinals Friday. The defending champion Canadians have won their first two games of the Olympics by a combined score of 28-0.

– Associated Press