Tuesday at the Games

Local athletes

Park City native Ted Ligety won a gold medal in the men's downhill-slalom combined, finishing .0.53 seconds ahead of silver medallist Ivica Kostelic of Croatia. See stories on Pages A1 and D1. Steve Nyman of Orem finished in 29th place.

Park City resident Wendy Wagner and Alaskan Kikkan Randall, who was born in Utah, teamed for a 10th-place finish in the cross-country skiing women's team sprints. See story on Page D4.

Utah Valley State College student Michelle Despain, a luger on the Argentine team, finished the singles competition in 24th place.

TODAY: Salt Lake native Preston Griffal will compete in the luge men's doubles.

Skater en route

Emily Hughes' long road to the Torino Olympics is almost over. The newest Olympian will arrive on Thursday and skate for the first time the following day. She'll also hold a news conference Friday. Hughes, the younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, found out only Saturday night that she'd be competing in Torino. She finished third at last month's nationals.

Snowboarder hurt

The rough-and-tumble sport of snowboard-cross claimed its first Olympic victim before the opening race was even run when American Jayson Hale tore up his knee during a practice session Tuesday. Hale was running alone, not four-wide as is typical in competition, when he got too much air on a late jump and landed awkwardly. His spot on the U.S. team is expected to be taken by Idahoan Graham Watanabe, an alternate who traveled to Italy to serve as a wax technician for his friends on the team but now will likely find himself racing in the Olympics.

Grizz alums in Italy

The Utah Grizzlies will be represented by eight former players when men's ice hockey begins today in Torino.

NHL fixtures Scott Niedermayer (Grizzlies 98-99) and Todd Bertuzzi (Grizzlies 96-97) will be representing Canada. Grigorijs Pantelejevs (Grizzlies 95-96) and Viktors Ignatjevs (Grizzlies 94-96) will be representing Latvia. Antti Miettinen (Grizzlies 03-04) and Niko Kapanen (Grizzlies 01-02) will be representing Finland. Former Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Milan Hnilicka (Denver Grizzlies 94-95) will suit up for the Czech Republic. He also played for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (93-94). Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mark Streit (Grizzlies 99-00) will play for Switzerland.

Russian mother wins