Winter Olympic great Bjorndalen has worst-ever finish; favored Americans struggle, too

Day 2 in Vancouver opens with biathlon surprise

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Here’s a comforting thought for Americans Tim Burke and Jay Hakkinen as they deal with their also-ran status in the men’s biathlon 10-kilometer sprint, an event they were hoping to win medals in: Norwegian great Ole Einar Bjorndalen stunk it up, too.

Winner of a record nine Olympic biathlon medals, Bjorndalen had the worst finish of his Olympic career, landing in 17th in a race blurred by a heavy, wet snowfall.

Burke, the first U.S. biathlete ever to lead the World Cup standings, endured the same muck and wound up 47th. Hakkinen was 54th, and lost his status as the American with the best-ever finish in an Olympic biathlon event. Jeremy Teela was ninth to match Hakkinen’s best.

Vincent Jay of France won the event, ahead of Emil Hegle Svendsen of and Jakov Fak of Croatia. They were all among the first 10 starters, before the snow began to cause problems.

Bjorndalen’s performance was the equivalent of Michael Jordan getting benched in the final two minutes of a playoff game. Not only does it not happen, it’s hard to even imagine it happening.

In 11 events over three Olympics, Bjorndalen finished lower than fifth only once — he was 12th in this same event in Turin. His three penalties from the prone position matched the most of all 87 competitors and his four total penalties tied for second-most.

Four more gold medals were to be awarded on Day 2 of the Vancouver Olympics, which opened with more warm weather (52 degrees early in the afternoon) and the United States atop the medal list with four.

Among the things to watch: A somber men’s luge, the debut game for the U.S. women’s hockey team, and figure skating cranking up.

There’s also Canada’s ongoing quest for the first gold medal won on home snow or ice, with the best chance for a drought-buster coming in men’s moguls, where a native Canadian competing for Australia is among the top challengers.

Americans were in good shape to vie for their first Olympic medals in Nordic combined, with Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane and Brett Camerota in the top 11 going into the cross-country portion. Billy Demong was 24th.

Lodwick and Spillane broke their skis while training at the jump hill Friday and had to use backups Sunday.

Camerota, who jumped early and got to sit in the leader box for a few minutes, predicted an American breakthrough in the European-dominated sport.

“We’re ready to go,” he said. “I think today’s going to be our day.”

It’s almost getting to the point where it will be news when they do ski in Whistler.

The Alpine schedule was wiped out yet again, this time keeping the women from a training session because of heavy rain and snow.

The women’s downhill race — Lindsey Vonn’s signature event — is scheduled for Wednesday, leaving only two more days to get in at least one training run, as the rules require.

The men’s downhill was supposed to have provided the first medal of these Olympics, but now it’s slated to begin Monday. Drier, cooler air is expected Monday, although it remains to be seen if that will be enough to make the course fit for competition.

“They’ve got some challenges because the top of the hill has been receiving snow, the middle has been a mixture of snow and rain, and the bottom has been pouring rain,” U.S. men’s head coach Sasha Rearick said. “Three different approaches they need to take on the hill, and they’ve been applying that very well.”

Officials in the republic of Georgia are planning to make sure Nodar Kumaritashvili is remembered in fitting fashion, announcing plans to build a luge track in his home town and to hold an annual competition in his honor.

Kumaritashvili was from Bakuriani, a top ski resort in the Caucasus Mountains. He died Friday after crashing during a training run, prompting changes to make the course shorter and slower.

The women’s event begins Monday and many of the competitors don’t like the new setup.

German standout Natalie Geisenberger said racing on the new track is “not fun.” She adds that if a switch in the name of safety was to be made, it should have been done a year earlier, “not when one is dead.”

American world champion Erin Hamlin said it’s extremely difficult to figure out how to handle the new start position.

Uh-oh, Canada: Sidney Crosby got hurt in his final NHL game before coming to the Olympics.

Crosby, the biggest star on a Canadian roster filled with big names, was seen wincing in pain and slamming his stick in frustration after blocking a shot off his right shin in the second period of a game against Nashville. He returned to the ice for his first shift of the third period.

Canada opens its Olympic tournament Tuesday against Norway.