VANCOUVER-- Sven Kramer banished his painful memories of Turin four years ago with a dominating performance to win the Olympic 5,000 metres speed skating gold medal on Saturday.
"This is the biggest one," the powerful Dutchman told reporters after claiming his first Olympic gold. "This is the most important one."
Kramer waited four years to wash away his disappointment in Turin where he had to settle for silver in the 5,000 and lost what seemed a near certain Dutch gold in the Team Pursuit when he fell and they ended up with bronze.
"The pressure was so high in Holland and yeah, I said, 'I must do this.' Finally, I'm pretty happy."
Kramer had won just about everything in sight since Turin.
Three times in a row he took the world all-around title. He set world records in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres and Team Pursuit, claimed six long-distance titles and won every race but one on the World Cup circuit over the past year.
"I worked my ass off to win this medal," he said. "It's an amazing feeling."
Kramer was cheered by the large Dutch contingent as soon as he stripped off for his warm-up laps.
The cheers from his frenzied orange-clad countrymen never stopped until he used his long pounding strides to complete victory by a massive 2.35 seconds.
Fans back home were no doubt also cheering. Those who signed up with a Dutch power company which is one of his sponsors will receive a discount of 50 euros for every gold medal he wins.
"I knew I couldn't go any faster. I gave it all," he said. "I was completely dead after the race. I think it was one of my best races."
Once victory was assured, Kramer climbed into the stands to hug his father Yep, a former Dutch Olympic speed skater, mother Elli and girlfriend Naomi Van As.
Kramer has visions of more Vancouver gold. He will be the overwhelming favorite in the 10,000 metres and yearns to make up for his 2006 error in the Team Pursuit title.
His victory allowed him to match Naomi in the Olympic gold department as she was in the Dutch team that won the field hockey crown in Beijing.
"Yeah I want to have more than her," he grinned. "I have two weeks left."
KINGSTON-- Triple world and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt opened his season with a meet record 45.86 seconds for 400 metres at the Camperdown Classic on Saturday.
"I guess I am getting there," Bolt told reporters. "I never felt as good as I wanted to, but it was a good race.
"My coach spoke to me about running the first 200 metres too hard, so I tried to pace myself and bring it home nice and smooth," said the 100 and 200 metres world record holder, who runs the 400 early in the season as part of his training.
Racing in lane four, Bolt established a commanding lead down the backstretch, then cruised to the fastest 400 metres run at the six-year-old meeting.
The 22-year-old covered the distance in 46.35 seconds at the classic last year. His personal best is 45.28 in 2007.
Bolt's coach, Glen Mills, told reporters earlier this week he was satisfied with the sprinter's training so far.
"His training has been going well and he is healthy," Mills said. "This year is really not an intense one."
Bolt said Mills would determine whether he participates in the Commonwealth Games in India in October.
"My coach decides what I do, and he is putting a lot of thought into participating at the games," Bolt said. "I am not even sure when and where my first 100 metres race of the year will be."
His only announced competition on the new Diamond League circuit is a 100 metres race at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 12.
Saturday's race is likely to be his only one at 400 metres, Bolt said.
"I pulled out of the UWI (University of the West Indies) meet next week because it clashed with some sponsors' duties ... and I should have run the 400 metres there, so I guess that I will not be doing any more 400 metres for the rest of the season."
Although current holder Michael Johnson and others have suggested Bolt could break the 400 metres world record, the Jamaican said his coach would also have final say as to whether he would push harder in the distance.
"That will be decided by the coach, and he has told me not to worry as if I am ever going to take up the 400 metres, he would design a brand new training programme for me," Bolt said.
"Right now I am just concentrating on the next world championships (in 2011) and Olympics (in 2012)."
PARIS-- A disciplined France performance ended Ireland's 15-month unbeaten run after a 33-10 victory in the Six Nations championship at the Stade de France on Saturday.
France scored three tries to one, dominating the scrum and holding off sustained bouts of Irish pressure with a well organised defence and ferocious, controlled tackling.
The Blues led 17-3 at halftime through tries from hooker William Servat and centre Yannick Jauzion, both converted by scrumhalf Morgan Parra, leaving the reigning champions with a mountain to climb in the second half.
"Paris is always a difficult place to come to when you go 14 points behind fairly quickly and as a result, even though I thought the boys stayed at it, we were never able to make any inroads to it," Irish coach Declan Kidney said.
France controlled their lead efficiently in the second half, keeping Ireland pinned back before fullback Clement Poitrenaud added a third try. Parra converted, later adding a drop goal to go with two penalties.
Irish flanker David Wallace scored a second half try that was converted by flyhalf Ronan O'Gara, who also scored a first half penalty.
But a late drop goal by France substitute Frederic Michalak drove the final nail into Ireland's hopes of repeating last season's grand slam.
France coach Marc Lievremont praised the intelligence of his players, notably the halfback combination of Parra and flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc.
But he picked out the controlled way the whole team soaked up an intense period of Irish pressure at the start of the game as the decisive phase of the match.
"The first quarter of an hour was particularly difficult but, looking back, it was the moment in the match that gave me the most satisfaction because we stood up to this Irish team that played excellent rugby," said Lievremont.
Ireland dominated the first phase and centre Gordon D'Arcy nearly scored with a chip and chase but France held out against a wave of green shirts until the pressure was broken when prop Cian Healy was given a yellow card.
That opened up a period when France scored 10 points to build a lead the visitors never threatened, despite a sustained assault on the French line just before the halftime break.
The powerful home forwards got the better of the Irish pack in the set pieces and rucks, notably during a series of scrums near the line that led to the first try when Servat barged over under the posts.
"It's very difficult to identify the moment when you have the upper hand over another team," Blues captain Thierry Dusautoir said.
"But that gave us a lot of confidence and the fact that they lost a man must have cost them physically. I think you could see that at the end of the match."
With the halfbacks delivering smooth ball, the three quarter line also functioned well, with Mathieu Bastareaud providing a powerful display and Poitrenaud also showing penetration.
Ireland played bravely and with flair at times but Healy's absence and a series of small mistakes left them stranded.
"If the ball had bounced a little differently for Gordon, if we'd got the score just before halftime, maybe," Kidney said. "Maybe, maybe. It doesn't matter. It just didn't happen for us today."
ROME-- England manager Martin Johnson highlighted his side's inability to finish their moves as his main criticism following an unconvincing 17-12 win over Italy in the Six Nations championship on Sunday.
Mathew Tait scored the game's only try in the 46th minute and Jonny Wilkinson kicked England's other points, although the flyhalf also missed three attempts at goal in a rare off day with the boot.
"The frustrating thing is that there were tries to score but we came away with just one," Johnson told a news conference after his first away win since taking over the English national team.
"We did play good rugby at times but there wasn't a try at the end. When you play in Italy over here it's never easy. The guys are happy to have won. They know they could have done better."
Johnson was also unhappy at the indiscipline that allowed Italy penalties, which wing Mirco Bergamasco converted to bring them within two points of England, before Wilkinson sealed victory with a drop goal.
His pack's performance in the lineout was also a disappointment, after they dominated Wales in their 30-17 first round victory.
"For whatever reason, I think in the second half we lost five lineouts," he said. "Our wide game was good, our counter-attack was good. We just didn't have the ball for long enough."
England's kicking from hand frequently looked aimless.
Johnson said the main problem was the failure to chase and put the receiver under pressure, rather than the kicking itself.
But he added: "There were times when we could have kept it in hand more. When we did, we looked good."
Italy coach Nick Mallett was pleased at the improvement shown after last week's 29-11 defeat in Ireland.
"They improved a lot in areas of the game we didn't do well in against Ireland, in particular our attacking play, the speed we moved the ball, and the lineout," he said. "There wasn't a hell of a lot in the game
"It's a good thing the team are disappointed because before they would have been happy about coming so close against England.
"The next 18 months are very important for Italy to acquire confidence. If we continue to develop like this we can do great things at the World Cup next year."
VANCOUVER-- Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old Georgian luger, died in a horrific crash on a training run on Friday, casting a pall over the Winter Olympics hours before the Games were to be declared open.
Kumaritashvili slammed into a pillar at 90 mph after being thrown off the sled as it bounced over the rim on the 16th and final bend of the lightning fast track at the Whistler Sliding Centre.
The tragedy darkened a mood that had been one of celebration, as Vancouver prepared to welcome the world on the day of the opening ceremony, to be held indoors in a first for the Winter Olympics.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, tears welling in his eyes and his voice cracking, had trouble expressing his shock at the death of a young athlete competing at his first Olympics.
"I have no words to describe how we feel," said Rogge, who confirmed that Georgia is considering the country's participation in the Games.
It was all so different on Friday morning in downtown Vancouver, where residents took to the streets to cheer on torch-bearers.
Small groups of anti-Games protestors swapped chants with pro-Olympic fans, many decked out in Canadian colours, but there was no serious trouble.
Speculation was rife about who would be given the honour of lighting the cauldron at the ceremony, with many tipping Wayne Gretzky as the man most likely after the former ice hockey great was spotted in the city this week.
The other two concerns prior to the official opening were Lindsey Vonn's bruised shin and the fog and rain that was wreaking havoc with the Alpine skiing downhill training sessions.
Vonn arrived worried that a bruised shin might stop her going for five gold medals in Alpine skiing but there was good news for her many fans on Friday as her husband revealed she was getting better all the time.
Vonn's cause was helped by the unrelentingly bad weather up in Whistler.
The opening women's skiing event, the super-combined scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed, with no time to complete the necessary training run.
The damp and foggy weather also meant the final men's downhill training run was cancelled.
Kumaritashvili's crash at a Whistler track regarded as the fastest in the world came the day after a luge federation official had told Reuters that sliding tracks needed to be slowed down.
Training was suspended immediately after the crash, which made for unbearable viewing, and the IOC said an inquiry was under way.
Like Rogge, Vancouver Games chief John Furlong had to fight back tears as he spoke of the death of Kumaritashvili, whose father is the head of the Georgia Luge Federation.
"We are heartbroken beyond words," Furlong said. "This athlete came to Canada with hopes and dreams that this would be a magnificent occasion in his life. I am told by members of his delegation that he was an incredibly spirited person. He came here to experience what being an Olympian was."
Despite the tragedy, the Games will go on and the BC Place arena will be crammed full of people there to see the cauldron brought to life by the final, as yet unidentified, torch-bearer.
It will feel like a tribute for Kumaritashvili.
