Takanashi, White flop in Sochi

Japanese ski jumper Sara Takanashi and snowboarding pioneer Shaun White suffered embarrassing Winter Olympics flops Tuesday as both were left without medals after failing dismally to live up to the runaway hype. Takanashi, the 17-year-old World Cup champion and overwhelming favourite to triumph as women's ski jumping finally made its Olympic bow after a gruelling 10-year battle, could only finish fourth as the form which had seen her take 10 wins in 13 outings this season deserted her. She finished on 243 points with jumps of 100m and 98.5m as Germany's Carina Vogt grabbed gold with a total 247.4 points with jumps of 103m and 97.5m. "It's amazing, I'm the first woman (Olympic) champion in ski jumping. I've not won a World Cup round till now. It's unbelievable," said the 22-year-old German. Austrian favourite and 2011 world champion Daniela Iraschko-Stolz was second with 246.2 points, ahead of France's Coline Mattel on 245.2 points. "I couldn't jump the way I wanted to on both attempts," said Takanashi. "I came here wanting to do my best. I'm incredibly disappointed. "But it's a good experience being at the Olympic Games and I'm glad to be part of it." Takanashi wasn't the only gold medal favourite finishing off the podium as America's Shaun White, the two-time defending halfpipe champion, was fourth behind Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland and Japanese teenagers Ayumu Hirano and Taku Hiraoka. White, who had scored 95.75 in topping the heats, hit the lip of the pipe on his first run in the final and touched down with his backside on his second, finishing fourth with a score of 90.25. Podladtchikov scored 94.75 points with 15-year-old Hirano second on 93.50 and 18-year-old Hiraoka third on 92.25. "I am disappointed. I hate the fact that I nailed it in practice, but it happens. It's hard to be consistent," said White, who had earlier criticised the conditions at the Extreme Park site. "The conditions were pretty tough -- the hard part is not practising but it was the same for everyone." - Medal dedicated to murder victim - Norway celebrated double gold in the cross-country sprint with Maiken Caspersen Falla winning the women's title and Ola Vigen Hattestad the men's. With Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg taking the silver in the women's event, Norway can now boast 102 medals in Olympic Nordic skiing. Oestberg dedicated her silver medal to her cousin who died in the bombings and shootings carried out by Anders Behring Breivik in Noway 2011. Canada's Dara Howell claimed the women's slopestyle ski gold after compatriot Kaya Turski, the world champion, crashed out in qualifying. Devin Logan of the US won silver, Canada's Kim Lamarre claimed bronze while Canada's Yuki Tsubota was stretchered off the course after an ugly-looking fall on her final run and was treated for a jaw injury. The Extreme Park has been blasted over its safety standards, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended the state of the halfpipe course, claiming that the mild winter temperatures could be a factor. "It's always a problem when it is a little bit warm but there is no problem with the halfpipe itself," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. "There is no suggestion that there is anything wrong. As with events anywhere on snow when it is a little warm it can be a little challenging." Temperatures rose Tuesday to 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit) at sea level where stadium-based events are held and 5 degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit) at the mountain cluster which is hosting the alpine and nordic events. South Korea's Lee Sang-Hwa retained her 500m speed skating crown in a new Olympic record time, Darya Domracheva of Belarus claimed the women's 10 km biathlon pursuit while Germany's Natalie Geisenberger won the women's luge. There was one world record when Russian world champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov earned 84.17 points for the short programme to get their bid for a second Olympic figure skating gold off to a flying start. Trankov, resplendent in a military-themed outfit, and Volosozhar, in a ballroom-style dress, performed flawlessly to "Masquerade Waltz" by Aram Khachaturian. The event reaches a conclusion on Wednesday. Source: AFP