Cuche still hopeful on Olympics despite thumb injury

(AFP) – 2 days ago

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Swiss veteran Didier Cuche still expects to compete at next month's Winter Games in Vancouver despite fracturing his right thumb in a fall in Friday's giant slalom at Kranjska Gora.

Cuche will have surgery on Saturday in Zurich but expects to make a swift recovery to keep his Olympic dream alive.

"The Olympics are still on. We will see how the operation goes and how (the injury) can be protected," said the super-G world champion, who last week produced a double downhill-super G triumph on the Streif at Kitzbuehel to take his season win tally to four and career total to 13.

Cuche, 35, will be operated on by Dr Walter Frey at Zurich's Schulthess clinic after he suffered the injury in clipping the third last gate "pretty hard".

The veteran has already been racing through the pain barrier in recent weeks after he fractured a rib six weeks ago at Val d'Isere, a problem which took three weeks to clear up.

Vancouver Olympics 2010: American snow boarding hopes a win

Vancouver Olympics 2010: American snow boarding hopes a win

2010 Olympic Torch returns to B.C.

KICKING HORSE PASS, on the B.C.-Alta border — At exactly 4:27 p.m. Alberta time, with about 200 loudly cheering people huddled on the side of the highway, the Olympic torch was passed by former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed to B.C. Lions coach Wally Buono.

With a spectacular backdrop of mountains that would be the envy of any Hollywood producer, the two former football players touched their torches together and Lougheed passed the flame on.

"I shouldn't be puffing like this, should I?" said the smiling 81-year-old Lougheed.

‘Lethal force’ an option in Olympic Games airspace: Norad

“lethal force” in a worst-case scenario to defend new airspace-security restrictions being imposed during the 2010 Olympic Games.

Lieut. David Lavallee, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defence Command, told The Vancouver Sun on Tuesday that the response to a violation of flight restrictions could range from simple radio contact with the pilot to the use of Canadian military CF-18 fighter jets and Griffon helicopters.

“There are many facets to a situation like that,” he said. “Suffice it to say we will have aircraft and people ready to respond to violations of the restricted airspace. Norad has a graduated response that can, if necessary, culminate in the use of lethal force.”

Zoë Gillings Winter Olympics diary: fasten your seatblets for Vancouver 2010

Welcome to the first of several blogs from me, as I swap the snow for the pen as I give you the lowdown on everything happening from Team GB camp here out in Vancouver for the 21st Olympic Winter Olympics over the next few weeks. Our first stop is training camp, a two-week warm-up ahead of the Vancouver Games on Feb 12th.

I’m hoping to represent my country in snowboarding cross - and as the No 1 ranked snowboarder in the UK – I’m hoping to bring home gold.

Kohn clinches 4-man Olympic bobsled spot

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mike Kohn of the United States has secured a four-man bobsled spot at the Vancouver Olympics, after finishing sixth in a World Cup race at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Kohn's result on Sunday means the Americans will have three sleds in the Olympic four-man competition, with Steven Holcomb and John Napier having already secured enough points to mathematically wrap up bids that will be formally announced later Sunday by the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. The USBSF said Sunday that Kohn had enough points to clinch his trip.

Kohn earned a spot in the two-man Olympic competition on Saturday, also giving the U.S. the maximum allotment of three sleds in that discipline. The USBSF took 14 of a possible 15 Olympic start positions in bobsled and skeleton.

Kohn won a bronze medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics as a push athlete in Brian Shimer's four-man sled.

Winter Olympics: Winter panel takes a cooler approach

New Zealand's summer Olympic selection policy has long been known as being demanding on athletes.

Tough standards are set. Expectations are such that in some sports simply achieving the international standard is insufficient.

So too the Commonwealth Games. But for the winter Olympics, which are in Vancouver from February 12-28, the philosophy is rather different.