(eca209) Bad-luck skater Kramer is in good company (News Feature)

By John Bagratuni Feb 25, 2010, 22:12 GMT

Whistler, Canada - Sven Kramer's unbelievable speed skating mishap was still the talk of the Olympics on Thursday, but the Dutchman was by far not the only athlete with bad luck at these and previous Winter Games.

Kramer looked to be on the way to victory in the 10,000m on Tuesday to follow up his 5,000m gold, until coach Gerard Kemkers directed him into the wrong lane eight laps from the end.

'I don't want to blame anyone. That doesn't help you to move on from this,' said Kramer, who was disqualified. 'These things can happen to the best. It can happen to amateurs and professionals.'

As said, Kemkers was in good company and that involved several stars.

Norwegian cross-country star Petter Northug had bad skis in the 10km and his ski pole broke in his favourite discipline, the pursuit. However, he still got a full set of medals from team sprint gold, relay silver and sprint bronze.

'I can't be disappointed. I have three medals and had some ups and downs earlier,' said Northug.

In the same sport, the big sprint favourite Petra Majdic crashed badly in warm-up shortly before the qualifying round. The Slovenian competed through the pain barrier to bronze and it was only revealed afterwards that she had four broken ribs and a torn lung membrane.

'This is not a bronze medal, this is a gold medal with little diamonds on it. I already won a medal for going to the start. The wish was so big because I have been fighting for this for 22 years,' she said.

Dutch speed skater Annette Gerritsen fell in the 500m but rebounded to take 1,000m silver.

Even US glamour girl Lindsey Vonn was not spared. Vonn won the downhill and got super-g bronze, but also crashed in the super combined and giant slalom, breaking a finger in that latter incident.

That incident also stopped team-mate Julia Mancuso halfway down the course.

Once she got back up for a second start the piste conditions had worsened as she had to settle far out of medal contention in 18th, at least improving to seventh in the end Thursday. But Mancuso at least has a 2006 gold from that event plus two silvers in Whistler.

One of the most bizarre ski crashes concerned French skier Marion Rolland, who fell seconds after pushing out of the start gate and badly damaged her knee.

South African Peter Scott was disqualified for a false start in the men's giant slalom while Belarussian cross-country skier Leanid Karneyenka took a wrong turn before the team sprint semi-final finish.

Some remember German favourite Markus Wasmeier who straddled the first gate in the 1988 super-g but made his Olympic peace with double gold six years later.

The same applies to American speed skater Dan Jansen who fell in the 500m (a few hours after his sister died) and 1,000m races in 1988, came fourth in 1984 and 1992, but then won his last Olympic race, the 1,000m in 1994.

Others will also hope to make up for a bad blunder or bad luck.

American snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis was brutally punished for showboating on the last jump in 2006, crashing instead of winning gold and coming up empty-handed in Vancouver as well.

She now has to wait for Sochi 2014 and so has German bobsleigh pilot Cathleen Martini, who crashed in the final run on Wednesday while in medal contention.

Norwegian cross-country skier Kristin Stoermer Steira avoided that fate on Thursday when she got gold at last, in the relay, after three agonizing fourth-place finishes and another one in Whistler in a photo-finish.

'This is a very special day for me,' said Steira Stoermer.