1ST Canada and US celebrate golds and records (Roundup)

By Barry Whelan Feb 28, 2010, 0:28 GMT

Vancouver dpa) - Canada captured two more victories Saturday to break the record of most gold medals for winter Olympics host nations, and are on course to a new overall gold record.

The United States meanwhile secured gold in the four-man bobsleigh and will now break Germany's record of most medals overall in a single winter Games.

The US are now level with Germany's best of 36 in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and are guaranteed a medal from Sunday's ice-hockey final against Canada.

Canada's golds Saturday came from Jasey Jay Anderson in the men's parallel giant slalom in snowboarding and in the men's team pursuit in speed skating.

With 12 golds, they are closing in on the best previous overall gold tally of 13 from Norway in 2002 and the Soviet Union in 1976.

The alpine skiing meanwhile ended with victory for Guiliano Razzoli to give Italy its first men's alpine gold medal since Alberto Tomba 18 years ago. Austria finished its worst ever Olympics, without a single men's medal.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia got the silver and Andre Myhrer of Sweden bronze.

In cross-country, world champion Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland denied Marit Bjoegen a historic gold medal at one Olympics when she outlasted the Norwegian on the home stretch of the 30-kilometres race.

Kowalczyk was the only skier to follow when Bjoergen attacked at the 22km mark and then claimed the gold after sprint silver and pursuit bronze as both skied neck-to-neck down the home stretch.

Bjoergen missed out by a mere three tenths of a second, adding silver to sprint, pursuit and relay gold, and a 10km bronze. Aino Kaisa Saarinen of Finland took the bronze.

Germany captured the women's team pursuit gold medal in speed skating with the narrowest of victories over Japan.

Germany, the 2006 Olympic champions, were behind for most of the final but a storming last two laps by Daniela Anschutz Thoms, Stephanie Beckert and Katrin Mattscherodt just took them past the Japanese trio of Masao Hozumi, Mao Kodaira and Maki Tabata by 0.02 seconds.

For Beckert, the gold follows two individual silvers at the Games.

Germany's route to the final was a dramatic one with Anna Friesinger-Postma sliding over the line on her stomach as last of the German trio in the semi-final against the United States.

Canada beat rivals US to capture the men's team pursuit, while the Netherlands set an Olympic record in clinching the bronze with victory over Norway.

That Canadian gold was followed minutes later by victory for snowboarder Anderson who made up a 0.76-second deficit from the first run of the parallel giant slalom to beat Austrian Benjamin Karl by 0.35 seconds in the final. Bronze went to Mathieu Bozzetto of France.

Canada's tally of golds has gone past the host record of 10 golds from the United States 2002 in Salt Lake City and Norway 1994 in Lillehammer. It also betters its best of 10 golds from any Olympics, winter or summer, achieved at Los Angeles in 1984.

Further golds could follow, with Canada playing Norway in Saturday's men's curling final, and the men's ice-hockey team battling the US for gold in Sunday's final.

The hockey final and the men's 50km classic cross-country will be the final medal events of the Games on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the US gold medal tally went to nine when Steven Holcomb ended a 62-year drought for the nation in four-man bobsleigh.

World champion Holcomb and his crew of Steve Mesler, Curtis Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen posted track records in the first two runs and were fastest in the third run on the treacherous Whistler course to triumph in 3 minutes 24.46 seconds from four runs.

It was the first US four-man gold since Francis Tylor's success 1948 in St Moritz, Switzerland.

Andre Lange of Germany stole silver on the last run from Canada's Lyndon Rush who missed out on an unprecedented third straight gold in the event a week after his two-man gold.