updated 6:38 p.m. ET Feb. 15, 2006

TURIN, Italy - Day four of the Winter Olympics was tough for the U.S. team as the men's hockey squad stumbled out of the gate and Jeremy Bloom skied to a dissapointing sixth.

But there were some bright spots, including Apolo Anton Ohno pushing forward in his quest for a medal and the women's curling team earning its first victory.

Hockey
With a full roster of NHL players, it took a late goal by Jordan Leopold to salvage a tie against Latvia in an opening game for the U.S. hockey team that felt more like a loss.

When the final horn sounded, the Latvian players raised their arms in triumph while the Americans slowly gathered around goalie John Grahame.

Canada had less trouble with host Italy. The gold medal favorite was locked in a surprising 1-all tie early in the second period, but Dany Heatley scored and the rout was on, with four more goals to follow in the next 13½ minutes.

Dominik Hasek went down with an injured hamstring only a few minutes into the Czech Republic’s Olympic opener. Tomas Vokoun replaced him, and the Czechs held off Germany.

Freestyle skiing
Jeremy Bloom’s skiing adventure came to a less-than-satisfying close. The two-sport star finished sixth in Olympic moguls.

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Dale Begg-Smith of Australia won the event, and Mikko Ronkainen took the silver. American Toby Dawson finished third.

American Travis Mayer, the silver medalist in 2002, finished seventh and announced his retirement afterward, while teammate Travis Cabral came in ninth.

Bloom has bigger things on his radar now — starting with a trip to the NFL scouting combine next week.

Alpine skiing
American Lindsey Kildow, skiing 48 hours after a horrific crash in a training run put her in a hospital overnight, tied for eighth in the women’s downhill with Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer, 1.29 seconds behind the winner. Julia Mancuso was the top U.S. finisher in seventh.

Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister won the event, earning the gold medal that had eluded her for so long with a dominant run through windy, gloomy conditions in the Italian Alps.

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Martina Schild of Switzerland won the silver and Anja Paerson of Sweden the bronze.

Despite Austria’s world dominance in ski racing, Dorfmeister, who is retiring at the end of this season, was the first from that country to win the Olympic women’s downhill since Annemarie Moser-Proell won at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Dorfmeister has had world championships, dozens of World Cup victories and has won the overall World Cup title. But she had no Olympic gold before her triumphant run on the bumpy, steep and long Fraitieve Olympique course.

Spreedskating
Chad Hedrick’s hope of matching Eric Heiden’s record five gold medals in a Winter Olympics ended Wednesday night when the Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals of team pursuit.

Hedrick, KC Boutiette and Charles Ryan Leveille lost to the Italian team of Matteo Anesi, Stefano Donagrandi and Enrico Fabris by nearly a half-second after leading through the first four laps.

Leveille and Hedrick were first across the finish line, but Boutiette lagged about 10 feet behind. The Italians crossed together, giving them the surprising victory on home ice.

A team wins when its third skater crosses the finish line.

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