FRIDAY’S WEATHER
Expect highs in the lower 50s and a low of 36 on a partly sunny day. Conditions should turn windy later in the day.
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FRIDAY’S ATHLETES
Janica Kostelic
Alpine skiing, Croatia
With the women’s giant slalom, the 20-year-old is trying to become the first person to win four skiing medals at the same Olympics. She has two golds and a silver so far.
Derek Parra
Speedskating, U.S.
The double medalist returns to the Utah Olympic Oval to race in the 10,000 meters. It’s not his specialty, but neither was the 5,000, in which he won a silver.
Friday’S TV
Noon-6 p.m.
MSNBC: Men’s hockey (Canada-Belarus semifinal), men’s curling (gold-medal game).
3 p.m.-4 p.m.
NBC: Speedskating (men’s 10,000m).
5 p.m.-8 p.m.
CNBC: Men’s hockey (United States-Russia semifinal).
7 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
NBC: Alpine skiing (women’s giant slalom), bobsled (four-man), figure skating (champions gala).
11:05 p.m.-12:35 a.m.
NBC: Daily roundup.
12:35 a.m.-4 a.m.
NBC: Taped coverage.
1 a.m.-4 a.m.
MSNBC: Taped coverage.
Sundstrom’s future
As she skated the last, sapping lap of the women’s 1,500 meters Wednesday, Becky Sundstrom was just trying to hang on. Then all of the noise from the 4,800-plus fans at the Utah Olympic Oval penetrated her private mental tunnel. “The crowd was screaming and I thought, `Use that, use that,'” Sundstrom said. “You’re just disembodied at that point.”
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Sundstrom, 25, of Glen Ellyn, pushed through the pain to finish in 1 minute 57.33 seconds, placing 13th. If her last race in the 2002 Winter Olympics is her final Olympic race, there will be a lot to remember. The atmosphere was overwhelming and she missed a personal best by .05 in an event she rarely contests.
“It was a really strong race for me,” she said.
Sundstrom also finished 20th in the 500 and 16th in the 1,000. After a career that includes the Nagano Games in 1998, she’s not sure if she will retire or stick around for Turin, Italy, in 2006.
“I’m young enough that I could easily skate another Games, but I’m old enough that I’m starting to think about other things I want to do,” she said.
Sundstrom hopes to earn a degree from the University of Utah that will enable her to teach. Skating at a home-country Olympics was quite an experience, but she had just one regret.
“It was exhilarating and exhausting,” she said. “I really enjoyed it. It was truly a pleasure. I wanted to skate faster, that one unbelievable time you can’t believe you’ve just done. That didn’t happen.”
Lew Freedman.