THURSDAY’S WEATHER
Expect a partly sunny day with a high of 46 and a low of 30, but the weather probably won’t matter much. Thursday’s two marquee events–the women’s figure skating final and the women’s gold-medal hockey game–are indoors.
THURSDAY’S ATHLETE
Sara DeCosta
Hockey, U.S.
The goalie got the starting job for the gold-medal game against Canada over Winnetka’s Sarah Tueting. DeCosta has two shutouts in the Olympics and was in goal for four victories over Canada during the pre-Olympic tour.
THURSDAY’S TV
Noon-6 p.m.
MSNBC: Women’s curling (gold- and bronze-medal games), women’s hockey (bronze-medal game)
3 p.m.-4 p.m.
NBC: Cross-country skiing (women’s 4x5k relay)
6 p.m.-9 p.m.
CNBC: Women’s hockey (gold-medal game)
7 p.m.-11 p.m.
NBC: Alpine skiing (men’s giant slalom), figure skating (women`s long program), women’s hockey (gold-medal game, conclusion), nordic combined (K120 sprint)
11:35 p.m.-1:05 a.m.
NBC: Daily roundup
1 a.m.-4 a.m.
MSNBC: Taped coverage
1:05 a.m.-4 a.m.
NBC: Taped coverage
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FIJI’S SKIER
Laurence Thoms hears the snickers when fellow ski racers spot his affiliation. He would like to prove that no Winter Olympian is an island, even when the island nation in question has a climate that approximates a steam bath.
“I don’t just want to finish,” he said. “I want to finish well.”
Thoms, 21, is slated to start the giant slalom and slalom representing Fiji, a South Pacific nation that has mountains but no snow. His mother is from Fiji and his father from New Zealand, where there is top-notch skiing. Thoms moved there when he was 3 and competed in rugby and sailing but didn’t ski until he was 17.
Two years later Thoms’ aunt in Fiji spotted a newspaper ad placed by Swiss businessman Tony Hauswirth, who is bankrolling Fiji’s nascent alpine effort. The ad solicited athletes aged 16 to 25 who weren’t afraid of cold weather. She called Thoms.
“I thought, Why not? What’s there to lose?” Thoms said.
Three other would-be alpinists answered the ad, but Thoms “has always been our crown jewel because he knew how to ski already,” said Phil Taylor, the country’s delegation head.
Thoms now trains with a Swiss coach, is based in Europe during the Northern Hemisphere winter and has a racing suit more to his liking. He qualified for the Olympics under rules that allow smaller countries wild-card entries.
“It’s a challenge to be able to race with all these guys who have been doing it for years and years,” he said. “I like it when I pass guys I train with. I know it ticks them off.”
Bonnie DeSimone.