Olympic comebacks in many forms: Wescott’s late-race surge, Miller’s redemption, Vonn’s injury

Great Olympic comebacks by Wescott, Miller & Vonn

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Comebacks make for great Olympics stories, and they come in many forms. Just look at what Seth Wescott, Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn pulled off Monday.

Wescott came to the Winter Olympics as the reigning champion in snowboardcross, yet also as damaged goods. He hurt his leg and pelvis two months ago and it showed in the races since. The American opened Monday’s event by finishing 17th of the 32 riders in qualifying, but found his stride to reach the finals.

Then he found himself way back with five jumps left — only to make it up with a thrilling finish that snatched a gold from the host country.

Miller is America’s most decorated Alpine skier and the guy who let everyone down in 2006, failing to finish higher than fifth. He didn’t earn a medal at the two world championships since then and considered retiring before deciding to give the Olympics one more try. After several days of weather delays, he was one of the first guys down the mountain. The result: a terrific time good enough for bronze, just nine-hundredths of a second behind the winner and only the third-ever downhill medal for the United States.

Vonn was the headliner coming into Vancouver, then all the hype seemed for naught when she revealed a shin injury that made it painful to even wear a ski boot. But the bad weather was a blessing for her recovery and in her first training run early Monday, on the upper section of the course, she had the fastest time in the field.

Then there was a downturn. A bumpy afternoon run on the lower section left her hobbling again and hoping for more weather delays.

With Wescott’s in-race rally and Miller’s career redemption, the United States upped its medal collection to eight, three more than any other country. Americans have won two golds, topped only by Switzerland’s three.

Miller’s nine-hundredths of a second behind winner Didier Defago of Switzerland was the smallest margin between gold and bronze in the history of an event that began in 1948.

“It’s such a relief to get a medal,” Miller said. “The fact that those other guys beat me to the hundredth of a second doesn’t bother me.”

The only other Americans to win a medal in the event were golds by Tommy Moe in 1994 and Bill Johnson in ‘84.

Miller won silver medals in the giant slalom and the combined events in 2002, then went into the 2006 Winter Olympics as one of the headliners, only to make the wrong kind of history. A fifth-place finish in the downhill started his demise; it turned out to be his best finish. A rebellious, couldn’t-care-less attitude made things worse. This time, the big grin he flashed at the end of his run showed how much this meant to him.

“I was psyched,” Miller said. “I skied hard.”

The most important thing about Vonn’s training run wasn’t her time. It was simply finishing, which fulfilled the requirement of running the course on the same day at least once.

With a starting spot waiting for her, Vonn will turn her attention to being there. The race is scheduled for Wednesday and there’s another training session Tuesday, although she’s now eligible to skip it.

“The course here is just so bumpy,” Vonn said. “It was a fight just to make it down the whole way.”

When Wescott crossed the finish line ahead of Canada’s Mike Robertson, fans gasped and cheered while the 33-year-old champion fell to the ground, exhausted and exhilarated.

Tony Ramoin of France won the bronze.

American Nate Holland, a five-time Winter X Games champ, spun out early in the final foursome.

That Russian-Soviet hold on the pairs figure skating gold? Nyet. Big time.

The Russian duo of Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov finished fourth. It’s the first time since 1960 their countrymen haven’t won this event, much less come home empty-handed.

The winners were China’s Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a married couple that had won bronze twice.

Americans Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig were 10th.

Problems with ice-resurfacing machines caused a delay of about an hour during the men’s 500 meters. But that’s not why American Shani Davis dropped out.

Davis finished 18th in the first race, then withdrew, skipping the second heat to save his energy for the 1,000 on Wednesday night. He’s the defending champion and the world record-holder at that distance.

Gold went to Mo Tae-bum of South Korea, a country better known for its short-track speedskaters. Tucker Fredricks was the top American, finishing 12th.

Switzerland’s Dario Cologna collapsed across the finish line after winning the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle cross-country race. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla led from start to finish to win the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle race.

In the men’s race, Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer won the silver and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic took bronze. James Southam was the top American finisher at 48th.

In the women’s event, Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia, who won two golds in 2006 but has struggled this season, took silver and Marit Bjoergen of Norway got the bronze. Caitlin Compton finished 30th, the best by an American since 1984.

A brief, private memorial service was held at a Vancouver funeral home for the Georgian luger killed in a crash during training, then his casket was flown home for burial.

Three Georgian athletes, including figure skater Otar Japaridze, wearing a black armband on his red team jacket, filed past the open casket to touch the body of their fallen teammate, Nodar Kumaritashvili. His uncle and coach, Felix Kumaritashvili, broke into tears outside the funeral home.

The president of Georgia’s Olympic Committee was accompanying the body back to Georgia, where the casket would be received by a spiritual leader.

Kumaritashvili’s father told The Associated Press in Georgia that shortly before the fatal run he spoke to his 21-year-old son, who said he was worried about the track’s speed.

“He told me, ‘I will either win or die,’” David Kumaritashvili said. “But that was youthful bravado, he couldn’t be seriously talking about death.”

Reigning world champion Erin Hamlin of the United States came out of the first two runs in 15th place, but came away insisting, “It’s still a race.”

There are two more runs Tuesday. Germany’s Tatjana Huefner is the leader so far.

The head of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is OK with the track at the Whistler Sliding Center.

American skeleton athletes trained on the track Monday for the first time since Kumaritashvili’s death. They were among the majority of competitors who started at the top of the track, bypassing the option of starting from a lower spot. Luge events were moved down the track to make races slower and safer, and indeed there wasn’t a single wreck in the finals.