SOCHI, February 18 (R-Sport) - There was Sochi Olympic glory for former Soviet neighbors Russia and Belarus on Monday as the host nation reveled in bobsled gold for its flagbearer and the latter wrote a new chapter in biathlon history - all on the tenth day of Winter Games competition.
The day started in disappointment as a blanket of fog shrouded the mountains and caused two events to be abandoned for the day, but ended in unforgettable fashion with a maiden ice dance gold for the United States down on the Black Sea coast.
At the Sanki Sliding Center, Russia won its first Olympic gold medal in bobsled, with victory for veteran Alexander Zubkov and Alexei Voevoda in the two-man event.
Pilot Zubkov, 39, and brakeman Voevoda led throughout the competition’s four runs and won by 0.66 seconds over the second-placed Swiss sled of Beat Hefti. On the way to victory, they broke the track record twice, lowering it to 56.08 seconds on their third run earlier Monday.
"I think we showed ... what we were ready for today," Zubkov said. "We feel that we're Olympic champions."
Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton of the United States took the bronze after a tense final run that left them 0.22 seconds off silver and just 0.03 seconds ahead of the second Russian sled, piloted by Alexander Kasjanov.
Russia’s previous best result in bobsled was silver for Zubkov's four-man crew at the 2006 Olympics, a team which also included Voevoda. It is the second sliding sport gold in Russia’s history, following Alexander Tretiakov’s victory in the men’s skeleton on Saturday.
"You have confidently proceeded through the entire length of the competition, holding off competition from experienced and renowned opponents," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement addressed to the bobsled pair.
"In an exciting and tense battle, you displayed the qualities of true Olympians and won. You have given millions of our fans a big, real celebration."
Zubkov, 39, and the 33-year-old Voevoda, a vegetarian and triple world armwrestling champion, have won the full set of Olympic medals - gold, silver and bronze - together, with the Sochi win and Turin silver joined by two-man bronze in Vancouver in 2010. Zubkov was chosen as the Russian flagbearer at the February 7 opening ceremony.
Across the valley, Darya Domracheva became Belarus' most successful Olympian of all time on Monday with victory in the biathlon 12.5km mass start, her record third gold medal of the Sochi Winter Games.
Domracheva, who won the pursuit and individual races last week, relied on her searing pace to win - a missed shot on the last shooting stage blotting an otherwise flawless performance from the 27-year-old.
She replaces double gold-winning rower Ekaterina Karsten as the most-decorated Belarusian Olympian of all time, and also becomes the first woman to win three biathlon golds at the same Games.
"It's amazing to be here because I dreamed about it, to be an Olympic champion, from my childhood," Domracheva said. "But to get three. Dreams do come true."
There was more unexpected joy for the nation later as Anton Kushnir landed an exceptionally difficult five-twist jump to take the gold medal in men’s aerials skiing.
At his third Olympics and chasing his first medal, Kushnir successfully performed a double-full-full-double-full jump, which involves three flips and five twists, to win with an almost unheard-of score of 134.50 points.
There was silver for David Morris of Australia with a solid score of 110.41, while the bronze went to China’s Jia Zongyuan with 95.06, even though he somersaulted on landing.
The only other man in the medal shootout third round of finals, Qi Guangpu of China, fell and scored 90.00.
Kushnir’s win completes a golden double for Belarus after Alla Tsuper of Belarus won women’s aerials gold Saturday.
Meanwhile, down at the Iceberg Skating Palace, ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White ended the American Olympic gold medal drought in spectacular fashion, dethroning perennial rivals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
After breaking their own world record in the short dance, Davis and White did the same in the free program with an achingly sumptuous performance to "Sheherazade" for a total 195.52, just under five points clear of the Vancouver champions.
It is the first-ever US ice dance gold at the Olympics.
Virtue and Moir, for their part, waltzed their way to silver with an overall score of 190.99 after breaking the free program record prior to their rivals with 114.66.
Below the Olympic podium reshuffle, the battle for the third spot was won by Russian couple Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, who held onto their overnight lead by scoring 183.48 for bronze.
After delighting the home crowd with a dance to "Swan Lake," Ilinykh and Katsalapov add the bronze to the gold medal they won with their compatriots in the team event earlier in the Games.
But just as Russia and the others thought they were catching Germany in the medal table, the country's ski jumpers soared above the rest to take team gold, narrowly defeating a strong Austrian team.
The German squad of Andreas Wank, Marinus Kraus, Andreas Wellinger and Severin Freund combined for a total score of 1,041.1 points, just 2.7 more than the Austrians.
Germany stays top of the standings with eight gold medals, while Russia leads a six-nation pack on five golds courtesy of its highest silver haul of seven.
The other countries on five golds are the Netherlands, US, Norway, Switzerland and Belarus.
Tuesday's medal events are in women's giant slalom, biathlon, snowboardcross, short track speedskating, Nordic combined, long-track speedskating and men's ski halfpipe.
