February 23/02 8:43 am - Hughes Wins Bronze, Palmer & Samplonius on New Team

Posted by Editor on 02/23/02
 

Hughes Wins Bronze

Cyclist Clara Hughes has won an Olympic bronze medal in the women's 5000m long track speed skating event. Hughes is the first Canadian ever to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics (she won 2 bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Atlanta Games), and only the 4th athlete in Olympic history to accomplish the feat. She took up speed skating competitively less then a year ago (after to switching to cycling 12 years ago).

Claudia Pechstein of Germany set a new world record to win the gold with a time of 6:46.91, with Dutch skater Gretha Smit also beating the previous record to win silver (6:49.22). Hughes' time was 6:53.53.

In an interview with CBC radio, Hughes credited her cycling background in helping her recover from a small slip during her race, saying that it was just like chasing down a breakaway to get back up to speed.

Another Canadian cyclist (and fellow Manitoban) also did well - Cindy Klassen finished fourth in the 5000m with a time of 6:55.89. The third Canadian entry, Kristina Groves of Ottawa, finished tenth with a time of 7:07.16.


New Team for Palmer and Samplonius

We just have a brief information at this time, but it has been confirmed that Sue Palmer-Komar and Anne Samplonius will be riding for a new U.S. squad - Talgos. New Zealander Susy Pryde will also be on the team. They will begin racing in California next month.


Tour du Haut Var - France

1 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 180 km in 4:42:50
2 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom s.t.
3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco at 0:23
4 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quickstep
5 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Alessio
6 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Team Gerolsteiner
7 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis
8 Andrea Noe (Ita) Mapei-Quickstep
9 Alexandre (Botcharov (Rus) Ag2R Prevoyance all s.t.
10 Franck Bouyer (Fra) Bonjour 1:08


Happy Birthday To...

Claire Townsend (today) and Kurt Innes (tomorrow).