Swiss vet rules men's downhill

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Alpine skiing finally started Monday at the Vancouver Olympics, and Swiss veteran Didier Defago claimed the first gold medal by winning the men’s downhill.

Defago had an error-free run on the Dave Murray course in Whistler to win in 1 minute, 54.31 seconds – becoming the first Swiss skier to win the prestigious event since Pirmin Zurbriggen claimed gold at the 1988 Calgary Games.

“It is one of the most beautiful days of my life,” said Defago, who at 32 years and 4 months became the oldest man to win the Olympic downhill.

Jean-Luc Cretier of France was 32 years and 1 month when he won at the 1998 Nagano Games.

Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, the defending overall World Cup champion, was second, 0.07 seconds behind. Bode Miller of the United States finished third, 0.09 back.

“It was hard for me to push without making mistakes,” said Miller, who won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games but earned none four years ago at the Turin Games. “I skied really well at the top but I was pushing too hard.”

The men’s downhill was originally scheduled for Saturday but was postponed for 48 hours due to the mix of warm temperatures, heavy snowfall, rain and fog that have wreaked havoc with the Alpine schedule.

Mechanical problems delayed the start of the men’s 500-meter speedskating race, but Mo Tae-bum of South Korea won the gold when it finally did get going.

Mo posted the second-best time of the opening race, then blazed around the track in 34.90 seconds in the second heat to snatch the gold with a total time of 1:09.82.         (AP)