The Russians finally got even today.
Twelve years after the greatest U.S. hockey victory ever, the Unified Team ensured there would be no second Miracle by scoring three third-period goals to beat the Americans 5-2 in the Olympics semifinals.Outshot and outskated from start to finish, the Americans - heavy underdogs once again - improbably remained tied until late in the game thanks to a sensational performance by Ray LeBlanc. The career minor-league goalie made 50 saves as wave after wave of ex-Soviet attackers swarmed in on him.
Defenseman Sean Hill scored a fluke goal in the first period and Keith Tkachuk poked in a rebound in the second as the United States took the game into the third period tied 2-2.
But Andrei Khomoutov's power-play goal with 9:05 remaining opened the gates. Yuri Khmylev and Evgeni Davydov also scored within the next six minutes to send the second-seeded Unified Team (6-1) into the gold-medal game Sunday. The Unified Team outshot the Americans 55-18.
The spunky Americans (5-1-1), who arrived in Albertville with the fifth seed but little international respect, suffered their first loss of the tournament. They will play the loser of tonight's other semifinal game between Canada and Czechoslovakia for a bronze medal on Saturday. A victory would give the United States its first hockey medal since it shocked the Soviet Union and Finland in the final two games in 1980 in Lake Placid.
No one can say the best team didn't win this time. But the Americans felt they might have won had they not been doomed by five penalties in the final period. Before today, they had allowed only eight goals in six Olympic games, and two were on power plays.
"You can't kill five penalties against the Russians. We got beat by a great hockey club," said U.S. captain Clark Donatelli.
"You can't call five penalties against us in the third period. Some of them were questionable," he said.
Fellow U.S. forward Ted Donato added: "No disrespect to the Russians, but the referee kind of took the sticks out of our hands."
The United States had finished seventh in each of the last two Olympics. The Soviets beat the Americans in an early-round game in 1988, but it wasn't until today that they finally evened the score with a high medal on the line.
The Soviets won at least a silver medal in eight of the nine Olympics it entered.
The long-awaited matchup was one of two marquee events today as the Albertville Winter Games entered their climactic final phase. The other was women's figures, where the Americans figured to fare better.
When Japanese figure skater Midori Ito fell early in this week's Olympic competition, her gold-medal chances likely crashing with her, Japan's national newspaper tried to console her.
"Don't Cry, Midori. There's Always Tomorrow," read the headline in Sankei.
There's always the lure of Lillehammer, too, just around the corner.
Athletes who flopped in France - and those who can't wait to add to their medals collections - are taking solace in the once-in-a-lifetime interim of just two years between Winter Olympics. Less than 24 months of training remain until the Games open in Norway at 1 p.m. on Feb. 12, 1994.
Tonya Harding, another top skater who went sprawling in the original program Wednesday night, will be pondering Lillehammer not long after she leaves the ice in tonight's free skate. After pointing to the Olympics for four years, her medal hopes went poof in mere seconds.
"I've not made up my mind, being that the Olympics are only two years away," said the 21-year-old from Portland, Ore., earlier this week. "I've been skating 18 years and I'm a little tired of it, but I love competing."
Ito, 21, the pre-Olympics favorite who stood only third going into tonight's finale, also says she's weary from all the stress and strain of competing in her second Olympics. But it will be tough for any athlete in his or her prime to walk away from a shot at comparatively quick redemption in Lillehammer.
Kristi Yamaguchi, the 1991 world champion, had the inside track on the gold medal tonight, with countrywoman Nancy Kerrigan and French leaper extraordinaire Surya Bonaly ready to claim it if she falters.
Like most of her foes, the 20-year-old from Fremont, Calif., prefers not to talk about 1994 just yet. But here's a hint: She said this week she wants to add a new triple jump to her repertoire, a sure tipoff she isn't ready to retire from competitive skating.
Italy, already buoyed by an unprecedented five medals in Nordic skiing and four in Alpine, three of them gold, today won only its second cross-country gold ever. Stefania Belmondo, attacking at the finish as hundreds of flag-waving Italians cheered, beat triple-gold medalist Lyubov Egorova of the Unified Team by 21.9 seconds to win the 30-kilometer race.
Two Russian skiers got their fifth medals, tops in the Albertville Winter Games, and an all-time best for a cross-country skier at a single Olympics. Egorova finished the five women's Nordic skiing events with three golds and two silvers. Elena Valbe took a fourth bronze to go with her gold from the relay team.
"I'm very happy with the result because the 30K is my hardest race," said Egorova, who also won gold in the 15K, 10K and relay races and silver in the 5K classical. "Winning another silver is great, and I feel very good to have won five medals."
The two medals enabled the Unified Team to carve into Germany's medals lead going into the final weekend. Germany had 25 medals and 10 golds, the former Soviets 22 overall and nine golds. Next came Austria with 19 medals, Norway with 18 and Italy with 11.
Germany jumped out to the first-day lead today in the four-man bobsled competition when Wolfgang Hoppe, the 1984 champion and 1988 silver medalist, piloted his sled to a two-run time of 1 minute, 56.52 seconds, narrowly ahead of teams from Austria and Canada.
USA I, bolstered by top-notch pushoffs from the last-minute replacement for NFL running back Herschel Walker, was .76 seconds behind in ninth despite nearly crashing in the first heat. Walker was yanked from the team on Wednesday for Chris Coleman, long-time brakeman for driver Randy Will, and Will said today's excellent start times - tied for the best on the first run, second on the second run - justified his decision.
"I've got a lot of people saying, `Why did you take Herschel Walker off, he's one of the greatest athletes in the world?' " said Will, of Endwell, N.Y. "Well, the one reason is because Herschel's never raced a four-man race before in his life."
The top U.S. sled tied for the third-fastest second run but remained a considerable .57 seconds out of third in its quest for the Americans' first bobsled medal since 1956. USA II was in 14th place going into Saturday's final two runs.
"In turn 17-18, I did basically crash," Will said of his sled's first run. "We lost probably three-tenths of a second. It was a little bit better on the second run but not like I wanted it."
The United States earned its eighth medal Thursday night in the new medal sport of short-track speedskating, and for the sixth time in Albertville it was women who ascended the podium for the Americans.
Cathy Turner, 29, of Rochester, N.Y., anchored the 3,000-meter relay team that finished with the silver behind Canada. She was joined by Nikki Ziegelmeyer, 16, of Imperial, Mo., Amy Peterson, 20, of Maplewood, Minn., and Darcie Dohnal, 19, of Wauwatosa, Wis.
Kim Ki-Hoon set a world record in the men's 1,000, giving South Korea its first gold medal in Winter Olympics history.