Thomas misses out on Snowboard final

It was a quiet day in Torino for the Australians, with sole competitor Emily Thomas failing to qualify for the final of the women’s snowboard cross, which was sensationally won in the dying moments by Switzerland’s Tanja Frieden.

Thomas missed out on a spot after she finished 21st in the timed runs, with only the top 16 going through to start in the final.

The conclusion to the event was a thrilling race that proves the old adage that anything can happen in sport. American Lindsey Jacobellis led for virtually the entire run, but fell while performing a trick on the final jump, allowing Frieden to swoop in from behind and take the gold. Jacobellis recovered to salvage silver, with Dominique Maltais of Canada taking the bronze.

Estonia captured its third gold medal of the Torino Games, all in the cross-country skiing, when Andrus Veerpalu retained his Olympic title in the men’s classical event.

However, it was a dreadlocked Ethiopian, who completed the race in 84th position that was making most of the headlines. Robel Teklemariam, 31, became the first athlete from his nation to compete at a Winter Games and despite his lowly position, will leave Turin pleased with what he has achieved against the best in the world.

It was an emotional end to the men’s skeleton competition, with Canadian veteran Duff Gibson securing an unlikely win ahead of teammate Jeff Pain, before promptly announcing his retirement from the sport.

The 39-year-old Gibson fought back tears as he revealed he was bowing out from competition following the gold medal, earned with two perfect runs down the Cesana Pariol track. His close friend Pain clocked a combined time of 1:56:14 sec to take silver, marginally slower than Gibson’s 1:55:88 sec, with Swiss Gregor Staehli completing the podium.

Over at the Esposizioni fair pavilion, former champions the USA were bundled out of the women’s ice hockey tournament following a gripping 3-2 penalty shootout loss to Sweden.

The Swedes, who recovered from 0-2 down to draw level in regulation, will now confront either defending champion Canada or Finland for the gold. Goalie Kim Martin was the star for Sweden, stopping four shots in the shootout to deny America passage to the final.

Meanwhile, it’s been revealed Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva, already stripped of her 15km individual silver medal for a positive drugs test and yesterday expelled from the Games, could now face an Italian criminal inquiry.

It just goes from bad to worse for Pyleva, 30, and mother to a nine-year-old son, who was also banned from the sport for two years by the International Biathlon Association. Though she plans to retire from competition anyway, the latest news has her shocked and concerned.

“What? There is a case against me?” an upset Pyleva asked reporters upon hearing the news that she’d be the subject of an inquiry and have to face questioning from a Turin magistrate.

One of the sport’s most respected competitors, the Russian maintains her innocence, declaring she never intentionally took a banned stimulant, instead citing medicine prescribed by her home doctor as the reason for her positive test.

Following day seven, the USA has maintained its lead at the top of the medal tally, with six gold, three silver and a bronze, one gold ahead of Germany and the Russian Federation. Austria sits in fourth place with three gold and six medals overall, while Australia holds onto 15th position, courtesy of Dale Begg-Smith’s triumph in the moguls earlier in the week.

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Controversy as Aussie snowboarder finishes seventh (Fri Feb 17)

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