Apolo Anton Ohno completed his Winter Games programme by claiming the eighth Olympic medal of his career, then refused to rule out the possibility of coming back for more in four years' time in Sochi, Russia. The speedskater, 27, won bronze with the USA in the men's 5,000m relay. It made up for his earlier disqualification from a chaotic final of the men's 500m, having crossed the line second after a final bend crash.
Ohno had already become the most decorated American Winter Olympian after earning silver in the 1,500m and a 1,000m bronze. He had been expected to announce that Friday's race in the Pacific Coliseum would be his last. But Ohno, whose teammates and coaches are reportedly trying to urge him to delay retirement and aim for Sochi, would only say: "It's definitely my last race [for Vancouver]. But I'm not looking past tomorrow."
Friday proved to be another good day for Canada as they won the 5,000m relay final with the Hamelin brothers Charles and Francois, Oliver Jean and Francois-Louis Tremblay making up the quartet. Charles Hamelin also tasted individual glory as he claimed the men's 500m title to take Canada to 10 gold medals in Vancouver. In other action, Sweden, the defending Olympic champions, retained their women's curling title by beating Canada 7-6 in the final. The Swedes were 6-4 down but two points in the 10th end after a miss by Cheryl Bernard sent the final to an extra 11th end with the Canadians in possession of the hammer.
Anete Norberg put her final stone in the house giving Sweden two scoring stones and doubtless expected Bernard to deliver her stone nearest to the button to clinch victory. But Bernard's attempt to take out two Swedish rocks fell short, removing only one. Maria Riesch defied snow and fog to claim her second gold of the Games by taking the slalom title on Whistler Mountain. * With agencies
