Hoefl-Riesch of Germany wins 2nd consecutive Olympic gold in super-combined

SOCHI, Russia – Different American, same result for Maria Hoefl-Riesch — another Olympic gold in the super-combined.

Just as she did four years ago at the Vancouver Games, Hoefl-Riesch found herself trailing an American after the downhill leg before using her slalom skills to vault into first place and successfully defend her Olympic title in the dual-run event.

The German finished less than a second ahead of both silver medallist Nicole Hosp of Austria and Julia Mancuso of the United States, who won the bronze, just as she did in 2010.

Lindsey Vonn had the fastest downhill time in Vancouver, but when Vonn skied out on the slalom, Hoefl-Riesch roared back to claim gold. This time, Vonn is out with an injury, and Mancuso replaced her at the top the standings after the downhill.

In the Olympic Park, Charles Hamelin of Canada raced to the 1,500-meter short track speedskating gold medal, and Viktor Ahn earned the bronze to give Russia its first-ever short track medal.

Medals were also being awarded in men’s 500-meter speedskating, men’s 12.5-kilometre biathlon pursuit, and men’s moguls.

___

ALPINE SKIING: Hoefl-Riesch was fifth fastest in the opening downhill leg, trailing Mancuso by 1.04 seconds. The German’s two-run time of 2 minutes, 34.62 seconds was 0.40 seconds faster than Hosp. Mancuso, who finished 0.53 behind Hoefl-Riesch, won her fourth career Olympic medal in Alpine skiing. No other American woman has won more than two.

___

SHORT TRACK SPEEDSKATING: At 29, Hamelin was the oldest skater in the first final of the short track competition. The wily veteran maintained a top-three position throughout most of the 14-lap race, leaving enough at the end to defeat a loaded field, including Ahn and silver medallist Han Tianyu of China. Ahn was a three-time gold medallist for his native South Korea, but after missing the Vancouver Games he changed his name and became a Russian citizen. When he stepped on the medals podium, the mostly Russian crowd erupted in wild cheers.