Riesch worth weight in gold

MANILA, Philippines - VANCOUVER, British Columbia –  Maria Riesch joined best friend Lindsey Vonn as an Alpine gold medalist at the Vancouver Olympics on Thursday, winning the super-combined race on Whistler mountain.

The German skier, who had been second to Vonn after the downhill portion of the two-run race, won the gold in a combined time of 2 minutes, 9.14 seconds – a day after the American won the downhill despite a bruised right shin.

“Today everything was fitting together,” Riesch said. “That’s what I said before these Olympics Games – for winning a gold medal everything must be perfect that day for you. Today everything was perfect for me.”

Julia Mancuso, who earned the silver on Wednesday in the downhill, was again second on the podium in the super-combi, and Anja Paerson of Sweden took bronze. Vonn missed a gate and then lost a ski in the slalom, failing to finish.

“My skiing is feeling really good now, and I have two more events and I hope I can make them just as good,” said Mancuso, who is the defending Olympic champion in the giant slalom.

The course used for the downhill portion of Thursday’s race was slightly shortened and the final jump was shaved due to a spate of crashes on Wednesday.

Evan Lysacek caused a big surprise in men’s figure skating, winning the gold medal ahead of Russian great Evgeni Plushenko. The American finished with a combined score of 257.67 after winning the free program.

Tora Berger reached a milestone for Norway, winning the country’s 100th Winter Olympic gold medal in the 15-kilometer individual biathlon race. A short time later, Emil Hegle Svendsen won the 101st for the Norwegians, taking gold in the men’s 20K individual biathlon.           (AP)