Games first golds won in wake of tragic death

Vancouver: Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann won the first gold medal of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games on Saturday with the fatal crash of a Georgian luger weighing heavily on his mind.

The death of 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training run on Friday loomed large on the first day of medals contention, in which Netherlands and Slovakia picked up top honours and Canada waited to win a first gold in home Olympics. Nowhere was the loss more palpable than at the luge track, the world`s fastest in high-mountain Whistler. Amid soul searching and quick modifications, the men`s luge competition went ahead, but ran from the lower women`s start as an added precaution. Walls were raised at curve 16 exit where the first-time Olympian died. This time nobody was hurt. The gloom was inescapable for athletes although Ammann said he found strength as his thoughts turned to the Georgian before going for the normal ski hill title. "I knew that I had to jump very far. And with these events from yesterday, this gave me the idea of contemplating life," the Swiss jumper, all of 28 years old, told reporters after winning his third gold, the first two won in the 2002 Games. Away from the luge, warm weather and wet snow forced the delay of Alpine skiing men`s downhill at the Winter Olympics -- and also helped delay host Canada`s hopes of ending a jinx that has denied it from winning gold in two previous Games on home soil -- Calgary in 1988 and Montreal in 1976. Scheduled for Saturday, the event was put off until Monday due to bad course conditions and poor weather, an International Ski Federation spokeswoman said. The women`s super combined, originally scheduled for Sunday, will now take place on Thursday -- a delay that should help US skiing ace Lindsey Vonn recover from a shin injury. Orange Gold Canada had hoped for a speed skating medal, but that title went to Dutch world champion Sven Kramer, who stormed to gold in the 5,000 metres. The Dutchman brought much-needed joyous scenes to the Games when he vaulted the fencing in front of the crowd and embraced his ecstatic orange-clad entourage once his win was confirmed. "I worked my ass off to win this medal," said Kramer upon winning his first Olympic gold and banishing the painful memories of the Turin Games four years ago when he failed to triumph as many expected. Another gold was to be decided in the short track. Slovakia`s Anastazia Kuzmina won her first gold in the women`s biathlon 7.5km sprint, edging out Germany`s Magdalena Neuner, a six-times world champion. Freestyle skiing provided the day`s remaining hope for Canada to break its jinx through mogul runner Jenn Heil, though she finished qualifying in second place behind Hannah Kearney of the United States. After Friday`s tragedy, the International Luge Federation (FIL) shortened the men`s luge to reassure shaken sliders. Adjustments were planned for women`s and doubles starts as well. "The primary concern we have right now is the emotional aspect of it," FIL secretary general Svein Romstad said at a charged news conference. At times he could barely speak. The Whistler Sliding Centre is acknowledged as the fastest in the world, although an FIL spokesman said on Friday there had been 2,500 runs with only a three percent crash rate. Athletes had been remarking all week on the speed and technical difficulty of the 1,400 metre track, which features corners nicknamed 50-50 and Shiver. But three-times Olympic champion Georg Hackl was quoted as saying on Saturday that a "tiny driving error" and not the speed of the track was to blame for Kumaritashvili`s death. "At 60 kph he would have been dead too," Hackl, the greatest luger of all time, told Berlin daily Tagesspiegel. "It`s a challenge for all athletes to master that track and they have made it, including the Georgian, until that tiny driving error." The track changes prompted grumbling from at least one athlete that it was now too easy and Canada`s coach said rules needed changing to bar inexperienced athletes from competing. Bureau Report