ICE DANCING

BELBIN & AGOSTO SNAP U.S. MDEAL DROUGHT At last, a figure skating medal for the United States – in ice dancing, of all things. And yet another Olympic gold for Russia. Tanith Belbin and partner Ben Agosto snapped the U.S. medals drought in figure skating with a silver. They were behind Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, who gave Russia a gold medal hat trick – pairs, men’s and dance. No nation has swept the four skating events in one games, and Russian Irina Slutskaya is favored in the women’s competition.

Belbin and Agosto won the first dance medal for the United States since a bronze in 1976 – and only the second medal of any kind. It also is the only medal for American figure skaters at these Olympics. Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine won the bronze.

All three couples performed with poise and style. Even better, nobody crashed to the ice. Sunday’s original dance was marred by falls and an injury that forced the top Canadians out of the free dance. Italian favorites Barbara Fusar Poli and Maurizio Margaglio were back, friends again, after their flop and subsequent venomous stare down. Not only were they clean, but they kissed and made up after four minutes of tense skating featuring some intricate lifts and carries. She put her arm around his shoulder as they sat next to each other this time – observing the mediocre scores that placed them sixth.

ALPINE SKIING

DORFMEISTER WINS SECOND GOLD OF GAMES IN SUPER-G Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister won her second gold medal of the Turin Games and Janica Kostelic of Croatia became the most decorated woman in Olympic Alpine skiing history with a silver in the super-G. Dorfmeister, the last of the top 30 skiers to race, overcame a course softened by the sun to edge Kostelic by .27 seconds in a time of 1 minute, 32.47 seconds.

The 24-year-old Kostelic’s silver was her sixth Olympic medal – four of them gold – and her second these games. No other woman Alpine skier has more than five. Austria’s Alexandra Meissnitzer won the bronze, .59 behind the 32-year-old Dorfmeister, who is retiring after this season. Lindsey Kildow was the top American finisher, in seventh place.

HOCKEY

CANADIAN WOMEN CRUISE TO GOLD No more Swedish surprises. Hockey is Canada’s game, and their gold-medal win was a fitting finale for the most dominant women’s team ever assembled.

The Canadians scored with pinpoint passes and dazzling pirouettes, soft wrist shots and firm tip-ins. The 4-1 victory wasn’t the rematch with the U.S. everyone expected, but Canada still sent upstart Sweden home with the same thrashing it had planned for its American archrivals.

Behind Kim Martin, its 19-year-old wall of a goalie, Sweden managed a 3-2 semifinal shootout win over the U.S. on Friday. But Gillian Apps’s goal on a surreal backhand just 3:15 in, showed Canada was on its game. The Canadians’ relentless forechecking, heady passing, and sturdy defense – improbably questioned by the cocky Swedes beforehand – were practically flawless in a game just as one-sided as every other in their 46-2 march through Italy.

In the bronze-medal game, the U.S. women hustled to loose pucks, finished their checks, and showcased their superior talent, jumping to an early lead and dominating Finland with a 4-0 win. Katie King scored two of her three goals in the first period to give the Americans a three-goal lead, and they glided to a 4-0 victory over Finland yesterday, playing in the third-place game they would’ve rather watched on TV from their dressing room.

Germany won the fifth-place game 1-0 in a shootout after 70 minutes of scoreless hockey with Russia. Goalie Jennifer Harss stopped all four Russian attempts in the shootout, while Maritta Becker and Nikola Holmes converted penalty shots for the Germans. In the seventh -lace game, five players scored two goals apiece for Switzerland, which found a tonic for its scoring woes by shutting out the winless Italians 11-0. Overall, Italy was outscored 48-3 in the tournament.

CURLING

CANADIAN MEN SECURE FINAL SPOT IN MEDAL ROUND Canada clinched the fourth and final spot in the medal round with a late rally that secured a 6-3 win over the U.S. in men’s curling. The Americans (6-3) had already wrapped up a spot in the medal round. They will face Canada (6-3) again tomorrow in one semifinal. Finland (7-2) is to play Britain (6-3) in the other. Italy (4-5) conceded to Switzerland, and New Zealand (0-9) did the same against Germany (3-6), as the Kiwis became the only squad in men’s and women’s curling to finish the games without a win.

CANDIAN WOMEN WON’T BE OUTDONE Norway and Canada clinched the final two spots in the women’s curling medal round, with each beating Denmark yesterday. Sweden (7-2) is to face Norway (6-3), while Switzerland (7-2) faces Canada (6-3) in semifinals tomorrow. The winners play for the gold on Thursday, while the losers play for bronze. Russia (5-4) and Japan (4-5) both kept their medal round hopes alive with wins in the morning session, but Canada’s win meant they were done for the tournament. Britain (5-4) ended the tournament run of the American “Curl Girls,” who were officially eliminated yesterday and finished 2-7. Only Italy (1-8) had a worse record.

SKI JUMPING

AUSTRIANS SOAR TO TEAM GOLD Thomas Morgenstern and Andreas Kofler carried over their success from the large hill competition, leading Austria to the Olympic gold medal in the ski jumping team event. Morgenstern, who won individual gold Saturday on the large hill, landed a jump of 140.5 meters in the final round to secure Austria’s third ski jumping medal of the Turin Olympics. Finland took the silver medal with 976.6 points. Norway got the longest jump of the final round from veteran Roar Ljoekelsoey – 141 meters – but had to settle for the bronze medal with 950.1 points.

– Associated Press