Winter Olympics: Hosts Canada finally get over their golden curse

A pair of gold medals managed to brighten up the Vancouver Olympics yesterday, the first bringing a sense of relief to the tragedy-stricken sport of luge and the second helping host nation Canada to finally win at home.

Felix Loch, a 20-year-old German, sped safely down the shortened track at the Whistler Sliding Centre and won in a four-heat time of 3 minutes, 13.085 seconds - only two days after a Georgian competitor was killed on the same stretch of ice.

A few hours later, Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to ever win an Olympic gold medal on home soil in the men's moguls.

"I don't think I really realise it," Bilodeau said. "It's too good to be true."

In Canada's two previous Olympics - the 1976 Montreal Summer Games and the 1988 Calgary Winter Games - the country failed to climb to the top of the podium.

The euphoria that spread over Canada was far different than the sombre mood at the luge venue, with many still mourning the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili.

The 21-year-old Georgian luger died on Saturday after crashing and hitting a steel girder while on a training run. Luge officials then changed the start position to try to prevent another accident.

"It was the right decision," Loch said. "I was worried that I wouldn't do so well, but it's OK. It's great."

In figure skating, Chinese husband and wife Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo set a world record in winning the opening pairs short programme.

The two-time bronze medallists were the first skaters of the night - usually a disadvantage - and managed 76.66 points, .70 ahead of two-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, who skated last.

Earlier yesterday, the wet weather on Whistler mountain came in handy for French biathlete Vincent Jay.

A mixture of snow and rain kept the Alpine racers off the courses yet again at the Vancouver Games and it also made for difficult conditions for much of the 10km biathlon sprint, affecting most of the pre-race favourites.

Jay, however, shot flawlessly and took advantage of an early start number to win in 24:07.8.

Five-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway missed three shots in the prone position to end all hopes of a medal.

Another Frenchman, Jason Lamy Chappuis, also won a gold medal, overtaking Johnny Spillane of the United States on the final straight in the Nordic combined individual race.

In women's speedskating, Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won the women's 3000m, the first of a possible two long-distance golds.

Also, women's ice hockey entered its second day of competition, with the United States routing China 12-1 and Finland beating Russia 5-1.

But Alpine skiing, the marquee sport on the mountain is still waiting to get going.

International ski federation president Gian-Franco Kasper said everything was still fine despite a schedule that would see seven events held on seven consecutive days.

"The weather forecast looks relatively good tomorrow for the men's downhill, then we've got to get in a women's training," Kasper said.

"If in 16 days we still have the same situation, then I'll get worried," he said.

- AP