U.S. women’s speedskating team fails to medal in team pursuit; Germany wins gold

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

With veteran Catherine Raney-Norman collapsing off-pace at the end, the United States speedskating women leave Vancouver’s Olympics without a medal.

A mid-race burst had the U.S. women leading the speedskating team pursuit bronze medal race by a half-second with two laps left when Raney-Norman completely lost any gas in the tank. She fell well behind her teammates, with Poland bursting forward to win the bronze by 1.56 seconds. Teams officially finish only when all three racers cross the line.

Thus a U.S. upset of Canada to get to the semifinal round went for naught.

Germany won the gold in the event, Japan won the silver.

-- Brian Hamilton in Vancouver, Canada