Bobsled
Andre Lange slipped into history. Behind him, Todd Hays simply slipped away.

Germany’s Lange won his second gold medal of the Turin Games on Saturday, stacking a four-man bobsled title atop the one he won in two-man to complete a seldom-seen Olympic medal sweep.

Taming the wicked 19-turn Alpine course like he was on a weekend joy ride with three friends, Lange and teammates Rene Hoppe, Kevin Kuske and Martin Putze finished in 3 minutes, 40.42 seconds.

Lange defeated Russian’s Alexander Zoubkov (3:40.55) and Switzerland’s Martin Annen (3:40.83), who won his second bronze after finishing third in two-man.   The 32-year-old Lange is only the fifth driver to win both events in the same Olympics, and the first since Germany’s Wolfgang Hoppe in 1984 at Sarajevo. Lange, who captured gold in four-man at Salt Lake City in 2002, is the second sledder to win consecutive four-man titles, duplicating German Meinhard Nehmer’s back-to-back victories in 1976 and 1980.

Four years ago, Lang’s closest competitor was Hays.

In his final Olympics, Hays wasn’t even close.

The 36-year-old Texan finished seventh — Steve Holcomb in USA-2 was a spot ahead — and ended his brilliant U.S. bobsled career as one of the most decorated American drivers, but another who came up short in pursuit of Olympic gold. The U.S. hasn’t won a gold medal in four-man since Francis Tyler at the St. Moritz Games in 1948.

Hays is retiring from bobsled, giving up a sport he only took up after his dreams of playing professional football were snuffed by a shoulder injury. He’s planning a comeback — as a football coach.

He has already taught other American sliders well. Holcomb, still a relative novice steering a high-tech sled, outdrove Hays and appears ready to assume his more famous teammate’s front spot in USA-1.

Biathlon
Germany’s Michael Greis completed the shutout of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen by winning his third gold medal of the Turin Games with a win in the 15km mass start Saturday.

Biathlon’s biggest star, Bjoerndalen led for most of the race but settled for the bronze, 12.3 seconds behind Greis, who crossed the finish 6.3 seconds ahead of silver medalist Tomasz Sikora of Poland.

Greis also won the 20km race and was part of Germany’s gold medal-winning relay team.

With a fifth race added at these games, Bjoerndalen had visions of topping his performance from four years ago when he swept all four golds at Salt Lake City. But he managed only two silvers and a bronze in Italy.

The Norwegian looked like he was going to finish first at long last until the final shooting stage, where he missed two targets and had to circle the 150-meter penalty loop twice as Greis and Sikora sped past.

American Jay Hakkinen capped an up-and-down Olympics with a 13th-place finish.

Hakkinen was surprised even to make the field for biathlon’s premiere event after his epic collapse last week in the men’s 10km race in which he inexplicably missed all five of his prone targets. He made up for his flop, however, with a 10th-place finish in the 20km race, the best showing by an American in Olympic biathlon history.

The mass start, featuring the top 30 competitors in biathlon, is the ultimate race in the sport combining the rigor of cross-country skiing with the calm precision of rifle marksmanship. With all the competitors starting at the same time, there’s the added elements of jockeying and tactical risks on the loops.

Although it hasn’t been approved for the Vancouver Games, the International Olympic Committee was on hand Saturday to evaluate the men’s and women’s races for 2010.

Women's mass start
Anna Carin Olofsson of Sweden took advantage of a weeklong rest and a mid-race cushion to win gold Saturday in the 12.5km mass start, biathlon’s premier event.

Olofsson, in her first Olympics as a biathlete after competing in cross-country skiing at Salt Lake City, finished 18.8 seconds ahead of Kati Wilhelm and 41.9 in front of Uschi Disl, both of Germany.

Olofsson added to her silver medal in the sprint and because the Swedes did not have a team in the relay race, she had a full week off, helping her dominate the competition on the high-altitude, highly technical San Sicario course.

At the first standing shoot, Olofsson was so quick and accurate she added a 24-plus second cushion ahead of Wilhelm and later enjoyed a lead of nearly 35 seconds.

It was a gap the former cross country skier ended up needing when she was forced to ski a 150-meter penalty lap for missing one of five shots on her final shoot.

Wilhelm pulled within 9.6 seconds of the leader but was unable to get closer.

The mass start, featuring the top 30 competitors in biathlon and no Americans, is the ultimate race in the sport combining the rigor of cross-country skiing with the calm precision of rifle marksmanship. With all the competitors starting at the same time, there’s the added elements of jockeying and tactical risks on the loops.

Although it hasn’t been approved for the Vancouver Games, the International Olympic Committee was on hand Saturday to evaluate the men’s and women’s races for 2010.

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