Sochi scene

Ukrainian crisis felt by athletes

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia - Ukraine’s last remaining Alpine skier at the Sochi Olympics is competing with the blessing of his more famous and controversial teammate.

Dmytro Mytsak told The Associated Press that Bogdana Matsotska wished him well Saturday, and he hoped she would come to watch his second run in the men’s slalom. Matsotska refused to race in Friday’s women’s slalom while her friends were risking their lives to protest in Kiev against Ukraine’s pro-Russia government.

“It is her solution,” the 18-year-old Mytsak said.

“Some friends they die in Ukraine and she was really mad about this. That is why she just could not start.

“I will not say something like, ‘You should not do it,’ because it is her opinion.

Everybody has their own opinion.”

Mytsak said Matsotska, who has remained in the athletes village in the mountains, is “OK right now.”

“She will stay until the end and cheer for us,” he said.

Mytsak wore bib No. 102 of 117 starters under the floodlights Saturday. He was 72nd-fastest, 14.87 seconds behind leader Mario Matt of Austria. His race-time concentration was affected more by the soft, rutted snow than thoughts of events in Kiev, where his family lives.

“Yeah, I’m OK. I feel good,” he said. “I never ski like this. It was not alpine skiing now.”

He looks forward to competing in more Olympic Games, maybe even at home in 2022. Lviv, in western Ukraine, is bidding for hosting rights.

“You know, like they say, that at home you are skiing much more better because it is your ground, and your country, and your people,” Mytsak said.

Special pucks

The hockey pucks that wind up in the net get special treatment at the Sochi Games.

Jamie Benn got Canada on the board in the semifinal Friday against the United States with a goal in the second period.

Officials grabbed the puck and skated it over to the scorekeeper, who then wrapped it in tape and wrote when the puck hit the net and who scored it.

Keeping Bieber

Looks like the U.S. gets Justin Bieber. At least, one Chicago-area company thinks so.

Command Transportation this week put up an electronic sign along one of the Chicago area’s major expressways that featured pictures of U.S. and Canadian hockey players with the headline, “Loser Keeps Bieber.” The pop star is a Canada native but lives in the United States.

The Americans lost 1-0 to the Canadians on Friday.

The sign had a picture of Chicago Blackhawks stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Kane plays for the U.S. and Toews plays for Canada. A picture of pop star Justin Bieber was in between the hockey players.

Command Transportation owner Danny Zamost said he often puts sports-themed messages on his sign. “Good, clean fun,” he calls it.

Strutting in style

They come in Red Army hats, silly hats, even cowboy hats. They have painted faces and wigs in the national colors. A few wear bear costumes, tongue-in cheek displays as much for the television cameras as for the tourists.

Every day a constant stream of fans flows from the railway station into Olympic Park. A vast majority of them are Russian, and they want you to know it.

If every nation has its stereotypes, Russian fans are not afraid to play their own.

There are a few foreigners in the crowds, noticeable more for their rarity than their mass, draped with flags or their national team’s uniforms.

They are greeted with cheers from the Russians, who often stop them for photographs.

While many of the Russians who come to the games are from Sochi or nearby, some have traveled from far-flung corners of this vast country. Their flags proudly carry the name of their towns or cities and give a sense of how these Winter Games have come to represent a collective Russian celebration, not only for winning medals, but also for simply being here. And that, to these fans, seems to be something worth cheering for.

On the podium

Saturday’s medalists in Sochi, Russia:

ALPINE SKIING MEN’S SLALOM GOLD Mario Matt, Austria SILVER Marcel Hirscher, Austria BRONZE Henrik Kristoffersen, Norway

BIATHLON MEN’S 4X7.5KM RELAY GOLD Russia (Alexey Volkov, Evgeny Ustyugov, Dmitry Malyshko, Anton Shipulin) SILVER Germany (Erik Lesser, Daniel Boehm, Arnd Peiffer, Simon Schempp) BRONZE Austria (Christoph Sumann, Daniel Mesotitsch, Simon Eder, Dominik Landertinger)

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING WOMEN’S 30KM MASS START GOLD Marit Bjoergen, Norway SILVER Therese Johaug, Norway BRONZE Kristin Stoermer Steira, Norway

ICE HOCKEY MEN BRONZE Finland (Olli Maatta, Ossi Vaananen, Lasse Kukkonen, Sami Salo, Teemu Selanne, Olli Jokinen, Tuomo Ruutu, Aleksander Barkov, Sami Lepisto, Jori Lehtera, Sakari Salminen, Jarkko Immonen, Petri Kontiola, Lauri Korpikoski, Antti Niemi, Kari Lehtonen, Jussi Jokinen, Juuso Hietanen, Tuukka Rask, Antti Pihlstrom, Kimmo Timonen, Sami Vatanen, Juhamatti Aaltonen, Mikael Granlund, Leo Komarov)

SNOWBOARD MEN’S PARALLEL SLALOM GOLD Vic Wild, Russia SILVER Zan Kosir, Slovenia BRONZE Benjamin Karl, Austria

WOMEN’S PARALLEL SLALOM GOLD Julia Dujmovits, Austria SILVER Anke Karstens, Germany BRONZE Amelie Kober, Germany

SPEEDSKATING MEN’S TEAM PURSUIT GOLD Netherlands (Jan Blokhuijsen, Sven Kramer, Koen Verweij) SILVER South Korea (Joo Hyong Jun, Kim Cheol Min, Lee Seung Hoon) BRONZE Poland (Zbigniew Brodka, Konrad Niedzwiedzki, Jan Szymanski)

WOMEN’S TEAM PURSUIT GOLD Netherlands (Marrit Leenstra, Jorien ter Mors, Lotte van Beek, Ireen Wust) SILVER Poland (Katarzyna Bachleda - Curus, Natalia Czerwonka, Katarzyna Wozniak, Luiza Zlotkowska) BRONZE Russia (Olga Graf, Yekaterina Lobysheva, Yekaterina Shikhova, Yuliya Skokova)

Sports, Pages 26 on 02/23/2014

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