Sochi Shamans Pray For Snow; Athletes Guide

Shamans Drafted In to Pray for Olympic Snow in Sochi

Not content to merely watch the weather forecast, Russia’s Winter Olympic organizers took matters into their own hands Monday, arranging for dozens of shamans to pray for snow in Sochi.

As the record-breaking 65,000-kilometer torch relay entered Russia’s remote Asian region of Altai, where ancient shamanism is still popular, traditional holy men and women greeted the Olympic flame in full traditional dress.

"Altai shamans held a special ceremony to make sure everything’s fine with the snow at the Games in Sochi," Olympic organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said on Twitter.

A lack of snow forced the cancelation of some test events in February, putting the weather into focus as a possible problems for the February 7-23 Olympics.

Fears of unseasonably warm weather in the Caucasus Mountains have prompted organizers to store nearly half a million cubic meters of snow in huge refrigerated reservoirs ready for deployment on the ski slopes if the clouds fail to deliver.

The Vancouver 2010 Games were afflicted by spring-like conditions and snow had to be trucked into Cypress Mountain ahead of the event.

Sochi Form Guide: Sven Kramer and Shani Davis Shine in Speedskating

Speedskating stars Sven Kramer and Shani Davis cemented their status as Olympic medal contenders with wins at the latest round of the speedskating World Cup.

Meanwhile, Polish crosscountry skiing standout Justyna Kowalczyk continued her preparation for Sochi 2014 with two World Cup wins, Europe’s top curlers played for continental honors and the weather played havoc with the biathlon and ski jumping schedules.

Speedskating

Kremer of the Netherlands is targeting double gold in Sochi and he laid down an ominous marker for his rivals with a crushing victory in the first World Cup 10,000 meters of the season in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday. Kramer won in Kazakhstan with style, his margin of victory an almost unheard-of 12.26 seconds over second-placed Alexis Contin of France, with Germany’s Patrick.

That gold medal joins the two Kramer won over 5,000m at the two previous World Cup rounds. There was no 5,000m in Astana.

The reigning Olympic 1,000m champion, Chicago native Davis extended his dominance with gold in Astana, but could only manage fifth in the 1,500m.

South Korea’s Sang-Hwa Lee is the hot favorite for women’s 500m gold in Sochi, something she underlined with wins in both races over the shortest distance in Astana. Russia’s Artyom Kuznetsov won the first men’s 500m race and claimed bronze in the second.

Skiing

Poland’s Kowalczyk has four Olympic cross-country medals to her name and is looking for more next year. Winning World Cup gold in the sprint and 5km classic in Kuusamo, Finland, this weekend boosts her case.

"I'm really, really satisfied with these two days," she said on the FIS website. "Usually, at the start of the season I have not been in good shape so it is surprising for me to be so good."

Norway’s Marit Bjoergen was second in the 5km and won Sunday’s 10km freestyle pursuit, where Kowalczyk could manage only fourth.

Among the men, Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic won the 10km classic in Kuusamo, with Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby taking the 15km freestyle ahead of two Russians, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Alexander Legkov.

Alpine ski star Lindsay Vonn’s injury-enforced nonattendance dominated the ongoing women’s World Cup round in Beaver Creek, Colorado, where Switzerland’s Lara Gut took advantage of the Olympic champion’s absence, storming to downhill and Super G gold. No U.S. skiers made the top 10 of either event.

The ski jump calendar was shortened when high winds in Kuusamo forced the cancelation of one of the weekend’s two World Cup competitions. Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer had won the first event of the weekend. The Nordic combined season started with victory for Norway’s men in Kuusamoa head of Japan and Russia.

Curling

Switzerland and Sweden will go to the Olympics as reigning men’s and women’s European curling champions, respectively, after both edged tense finals Saturday.

The Swiss, Olympic bronze medalists at Vancouver 2010, snuck past Norway 8-6 in the men’s final, with bronze going to Scotland, whose top team will represent Britain in Sochi. World champion Sweden missed the playoffs.

The Swedish women, reigning Olympic champions, downed previously unbeaten world champion Scotland 10-5 in a game that was close until the final ends. Bronze went to Switzerland, while defending European champion Russia failed to reach the playoffs.

Biathlon

The season got under way with a weather-shortened World Cup event in Sweden that featured no pursuit races because of "tornado-like winds".

French star Martin Fourcade won Thursday's 20km individual and Saturday's 10km sprint. Norway's Ann Kristin Flatland took gold in the women's 7.5km sprint Friday.

On Wednesday, strong winds meant that a women's 15km individual race in the Oestersund World Cup round was postponed by a day. It was eventually won by Gabriela Soukalova, who was part of the Czech team that took gold in last week's opening mixed relay.

Bobsled and skeleton

The U.S. is the favorite for Sochi’s bobsled events and proved that with gold in the men’s two-man and four-man competitions Saturday at the second World Cup round in Calgary, Alberta. Canada’s Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse took women’s two-man gold.

In the skeleton, Latvia’s Martins Dukurs is the undisputed world No. 1 and is aiming to better the silver medal he won at the Vancouver Olympics. He took a dominant gold in Calgary, beating Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov into second place, with Dominic Parsons of Britain third.

Britain’s only gold medals of the last two Winter Olympics came in the women’s skeleton, and Calgary World Cup winner Elizabeth Yarnold is aiming to continue that tradition. She won ahead of Russia’s Elena Nikitina and Australia’s Michelle Steele, with Turin 2006 Olympic gold medalist Shelley Rudman fourth.

Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.

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