American Burke falls short in biathlon

Tim Burke will go home empty-handed.

America's best hope for a winner in biathlon at the Winter Olympics finished a disappointing 41st yesterday in the men's 20-kilometer individual race in Whistler, British Columbia.

Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen denied countryman Ole Einar Bjoerndalen his sixth Olympic gold, beating his mentor.

Sergey Novikov, of Belarus, tied Bjoerndalen for the silver medal. This was the first tie for a medal since biathlon was added to the Winter Games 50 years ago.

Burke, of Paul Smiths, N.Y., missed five targets, including three on his final shoot, and finished 5 minutes back in what he figured was his last shot at a medal.

He said earlier in the week that he didn't think he could contend in the mass start because he's not skiing well enough right now.

Burke is the first U.S. biathlete ever to don the coveted yellow bib as the overall World Cup leader, and he was hailed as America's best hope for a breakthrough at Vancouver in the sport that combines cross country skiing and rifle marksmanship.

But Burke was done in by a midrace snowstorm in the 10-kilometer sprint Sunday, which served as a double-whammy because the start times for Tuesday's 12.5-kilometer pursuit were based on results from that first race. He finished in 47th in the first race and 46th in the second.

"It's a disaster," Burke said. "The sprint race was not fair, but today I did not succeed."

American Jeremy Teela, of Heber City, Utah, was a late scratch because of sinus troubles. He was replaced by Wynn Roberts, of Battle Lake, Minn., who finished 10 1/2 minutes back, in 86th place, two from the bottom.

Norway's Tora Berger won gold in the women's 15-kilometer individual race. Elena Khrustaleva, of Kazakhstan, won silver, and Darya Domracheva, of Belarus, took bronze.

Australian Torah Bright won gold in the women's halfpipe, scoring 45 points to defeat defending champion Hannah Teter, of the United States, by 2.6. The 2002 champion, American Kelly Clark, won bronze.

Despite nearly tumbling face-first at the finish, Christine Nesbitt lived up to her billing as one of Canada's best hopes for gold by winning the women's 1,000 meters. Nesbitt gave Canada its third gold medal overall.

Annette Gerritsen, of the Netherlands, won silver and countrywoman Laurine van Riessen won bronze.

Malvern Prep product Eric Bernotas was 14th after two runs of the men's competition, with a total time of 1 minute, 46.78 seconds. Bernotas, who finished sixth in 2006 at Turin, ran 53.23 seconds on his first run and 53.55 in the second. Martins Dukurs, of Latvia, was first, with a time of 1:44.91. Britain's Amy Williams is the women's leader.

Americans Daron Rahlves and Casey Puckett say they're ready to compete Sunday, even though they're not entirely healthy.

Rahlves says he is about "88 percent" after dislocating his right hip last month in a wreck at the Winter X Games. Puckett dislocated a shoulder during a race last month, then landed awkwardly during a run last month, which caused further damage.

The American men lost to Denmark, 7-6, in yet another extra end. They are 0-4 and will need to win their remaining five matches in the round-robin schedule to stand any chance of reaching the semifinals.

"I've let my teammates and USA Curling down," said John Shuster, the U.S. skip. Shuster won a bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Games, the first American Olympic medal and first in a major competition since 1978.

The U.S. women fell, 7-6, to Denmark for their third straight defeat.

The International Luge Federation plans a complete review of its sliding events at the Olympics, which were marred by the death of one of its athletes.

In a statement released Thursday, the FIL said plans to share its conclusions with the public by the end of March.

Georgian athlete Nodar Kumarishtavili was killed during a practice run when he lost his control of his sled in the final curve, was thrown from the track and slammed into a metal support pole. Officials moved the starts for competition, raised a wall at the turn and built a wooden wall to cover the steel girders.

The Austrian ski jumping team says Swiss gold medalist Simon Ammann has improper bindings, and it wants him to use different ones for the large hill competition tomorrow. Ammann won the normal hill event, beating Austrian favorite Gregor Schlierenzauer.

Swiss team head Gary Furrer said Ammann will not change his bindings was confident any protest would be rejected. *