European Report: Czech Republic's 'Momma' Neumannova wins in comeback

By Published On: June 3rd, 2004Comments Off on European Report: Czech Republic's 'Momma' Neumannova wins in comeback

European Report: Czech Republic’s ‘Momma’ Neumannova wins in comeback{mosimage}Olympic cross-country champion Katerina Neumannova won her first race in nearly two years in Saturday’s 10-kilometer freestyle race after taking a break from competition to start a family.

The 30-year-old Czech gave birth to a baby girl six months ago and hadn’t raced since March 16, 2002, but she was strong enough to beat former World Cup winner Kristina Smigun by 25.4 seconds. Ukrainian Valentina Shevchenko and Italy’s Gabriella Paruzzi were tied for third, 32.5 seconds back.

“I’m so happy. I hope it’s not my last victory,” Neumannova told the AP after her eighth career World Cup victory. “I absolutely didn’t expect this.”

Just last week, Neumannova said she’d be happy with a top-10 this season. The Czech skier had another reason to be happy. She was awarded a silver medal Thursday from the 5-kilometer classical style event held at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics after Russia’s Olga Danilova was stripped of her medal by CAS last week.

Smigun took the lead in the overall standings with 476 points, with Shevchenko next at 460.

>> Kjus ends drought with big win

Veteran skier Lasse Kjus was glad to be back at the top after winning Friday’s super G ahead of Austrians Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier. It was the first World Cup win by the 32-year-old Norwegian since the combined in Kitzbuehel in 2001 and his first in the super G in eight years.

“It has been a long time without a good result and this feels good,” Kjus told Reuters. “I had my doubts two years ago and also last season. I started to doubt if I had what it takes to ski at the highest level. I was struggling with all the small things. I couldn’t find my position and everything was just a struggle.”

Kjus ruled the roost in 1999 when he won two gold medals and three silvers at the world championships in Vail and was overall World Cup champion, as he was in 1996. He said he’s overcome breathing problems and has more confidence coming into this season.

“I am gaining confidence slowly and now I have less respect (for the courses). I hope I continue like this throughout the season and lift myself up to a level where I can perform in a consistent way. I kept on going and I tried,” he said. “Now it is payback time.”

>> Weather nixes weekend action in Switzerland

Fog, wind and heavy snow nixed races over the weekend in Switzerland, forcing officials Sunday to cancel the scheduled women’s super G in St. Moritz and a ski jumping event in Engelberg.

Fog and strong winds wiped out the women’s alpine race Sunday just a day after competing under perfect blue skies in Saturday’s downhill. Race officials initially considered lowering the start gate, but the treacherous middle section of the Corviglia course was still affected by fog.

FIS officials weren’t sure when the event would be rescheduled. The races were originally scheduled at nearby Laax, Switzerland, but were moved to St. Moritz due to a lack of snow.

On the ski jumping circuit, heavy snow and strong winds prompted officials to pull the plug on the K120 ski jumping event after 28 athletes had taken their turn on a restarted first run. The earlier attempt had been stopped after 23 racers.

South Korean jumper Choi Heung-chul miscalculated his take-off and over-rotated in the air, crashing hard on to the ground and slid to the bottom. Choi, 22, remained conscious despite the crash and was quickly taken to the hospital. Initial reports indicated he injured his ankle and shoulder.

The K120 in Engelberg was the third World Cup event of the season to be cancelled due to poor weather conditions, after Trondheim and Titisee-Neustadt.

>> Canadian officials miffed at long route to justice

Canadian officials are miffed it took nearly two years for cross-country skier Beckie Scott to receive a gold medal from the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Scott — the only North American woman to medal in a cross-country event won bronze but moved up to silver and then gold after other athletes failed doping tests.

Officials from the Canadian Olympic Committee say they’re outraged that it appeared that the International Olympic Committee interfered with the case and tried to keep it out of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which made last week’s ruling.

“It reminds one of the book, ‘Catch 22,’ ” Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee told the Canadian AP. “To me, it would have been a better executive decision for the IOC to say, ‘We have a risk being wrong on this with one of the two parties involved, so we’re going with the clean athlete.’ That was the place the IOC should have gone at the beginning but they decided not to.”

Russian skier Olga Danilova won the Olympic women’s pursuit event among her three Olympic medals. She failed a doping test after a subsequent race, but was allowed to keep the pursuit medal and another one until last week’s ruling.

CP reported that Scott and the Canadian Olympic Committee went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to argue that under the Olympic Charter, the IOC had the power to take away all Danilova’s medals.

The court’s written decision shows IOC lawyer Jan Paulsson fought the Canadian challenge and argued that the decision to disqualify Danilova was a matter between the IOC executive and the Russian.

“I know that doesn’t sound sensible but that was what their argument was,” Chambers said, adding that the IOC feared “the floodgates for endless litigation over results in sporting events would thereby be opened” and threaten to “entangle the IOC in an endless web of challenges and appeals that would render its positions intolerable.”

>>Spain’s Muehlegg remains unrepentant

Disgraced cross-country ski racer Johan Muehlegg — stripped of two gold medals last week by an international court — says he won’t discount coming back to racing in the 2006 Winter Games.

Last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Muehlegg must forfeit two gold medals he won in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. Muehlegg was initially stripped of a gold medal in the 50km after failing doping tests for a banned performance-enhancing substance, but was allowed to keep the other medals.

“Right now I cannot think about competition. I am personally wounded by the decision. I am not a machine but I am person who is hurt by all this,” Muehlegg told the Spanish sports daily MARCA in an interview Sunday.

Muehlegg is German but raced for the Spanish national team in Salt Lake City and gave Spain its first Winter Olympic medals. Muehlegg, who earned the nickname “Juanito” in the Spanish press, remains unrepentant and maintains his innocence. Muehlegg’s racing ban concludes in February.

“All this is politics. I’m just an athlete who won some medals and later just had some problems,” Muehlegg said. “I won’t come back to racing yet. It’s too early to know what I am going to do in my future.”

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