MEN'S LUGE: THORPE GETS HIS MEDAL, WITH HELP U.S. PAIR WIN SILVER, BRONZE IN LUGE; GERMANS CAPTURE GOLD.Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer PARK CITY, Utah Park City is a city located in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is one of two major resort towns in Utah, the other being Moab. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back and a part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. - It took a Canadian to get Chris Thorpe Chris Thorpe (born October 29, 1970) is an American luger who competed from 1989 to 2002. Competing in four Winter Olympics, he won two medals in the men's doubles event with a silver in 1998 and a bronze in 2002. his second medal for the U.S. in doubles luge luge (l  zh), a type of small sled on which one or two persons, lying face up, slide feet first down snowy hillsides or down steeply banked, curving, iced chutes similar to those used in . Clay Ives Clay Ives (born September 5, 1972) is a Canadian-born American luger who competed from the early 1990s until his 2002 retirement. Competing in three Winter Olympics (the first two with Canada, the last with the United States), he won the bronze medal in the men's doubles event at , who quit the Canadian team four years ago and moved south because of a lack of funding, has been with the veteran Thorpe just two years. Until winning the bronze medal Friday, they struggled. Thorpe's former partner, Gordy Sheer, retired after the pair won silver last Olympics and the transition has been frustrating. ``It's crazy to me,'' said Thorpe, who is retiring after his fourth Olympics. ``This is my 32nd international medal and only Clay's second. To be able to get on the podium at the Olympic Games Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The Olympics of Ancient Greece Although records cannot verify games earlier than 776 B.C. with a two-year team, I still can't believe it.'' Patric Leitner Patric-Fritz Leitner (born February 23, 1977) is a German luger who has been competing since 1998. Together with Alexander Resch he won the men's doubles event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States. and Alexander Resch Alexander Resch (born April 5, 1979) is a German luger who has competed since 1998. Together with Patric Leitner, he won the men's doubles event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States. They also competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, finishing sixth. of Germany, also rookies in Olympic competition, won the gold medal gold medal traditional first prize. [Western Cult: Misc.] See : Prize , finishing the two-heat race in 1 minute, 26.082 seconds. Since luge was introduced to the Olympics in 1964, the Germans have won nine of 11 competitions. But the race also marked the second consecutive Olympics the U.S. finished with silver and bronze. Mark Grimmette of Muskegon, Mich., and Brian Martin Brian Martin may refer to:
Thorpe, of Marquette, Mich., and Ives of Bancroft, Ontario, took third in 1:26.220. Thorpe is only the second luger Lu·ger n. A German semiautomatic pistol introduced before World War I and widely used by German troops in World War II. [Originally a trademark.] Noun 1. to win Olympic medals with different partners. Klaus Bonsack of Germany won gold at Grenoble, France, in 1968 with Thomas Kohler and bronze at Sapporo in 1972 with Wolfram Fiedler. But the wild card in Friday's race was Ives. The two had shown little chemistry until finishing second in a World Cup race Jan. 26 at Winterberg, Germany. Now both are going out near the top. ``It feels great. I feel proud to be an American athlete,'' said Ives, who has dual citizenship. ``Thank God the U.S. took a chance on me. I can't express how happy I am to be here and win a medal for the United States.'' In front of an overflow crowd of 15,000, the race for medals was between the top four sleds after one run. The Germans broke the track record that Thorpe and Ives had set only moments earlier with a first-run time of 42.953 seconds. Leitner and Resch had won two world championships but also crashed 50 times. Still they were the favorites. ``We were under a lot of pressure, but before the competition, I didn't think gold,'' Leitner said. ``I just treated it like the last run of the season, concentrated and brought it down.'' The lead was .060 seconds after the first run. The Germans had a perfect second run and Ives and Thorpe lost speed in the final turns and fell to third. Grimmette and Martin took advantage and slipped into second by just .004 seconds. ``Having the experience of Nagano helped us to tune out the crowd and concentrate,'' Martin said. Thorpe wasn't so lucky. Despite appearing in every Olympics since 1984, the event was nerve racking. ``On the first run, the crowd gave us a big cheer and then settled down and were quiet so we could focus,'' he said. ``On the second run, it was just chaos. In 17 years of sliding, I've never felt such emotion on a sled. It felt like we were going to break apart into pieces.'' Fortunately, they didn't. When Thorpe and Ives reached the finish line, Thorpe's wife, Kristi, who is eight months pregnant, came out of the stands to give him a hug. ``She was crying,'' the 31-year-old Thorpe said. ``She said she was proud of me. That was real special to have her there.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Clay Ives, left, and Chris Thorpe won the bronze in men's doubles luge. Joe Cavaretta/Associated Press |
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