Silver Medal

MINNEAPOLIS -- Todd Eldredge leaves for professional skating without an Olympic medal or a second world title, but with the enormous satisfaction of having brought a Target Center crowd of 10,027 to its feet by battling his way to a silver medal at the figure skating world championships last night.As the five-time U.S. champion became a five-time world medalist, Russia's Alexei Yagudin, 18, was becoming the second-youngest world champion, despite losing the long program to Eldredge."This was not my best skating," Yagudin said.

NAGANO, Japan -- You should have seen her walk down the runway, the runway that cuts through Nagano Town Square to the medal stand, the elevated runway with the neon lights, dividing the screaming crowd.Picabo Street swiveled her hips in time with the music preparing to make her grand entrance. Then she walked toward the stage, a truly heroic Miss America, pumping her fists, raising the roof, waving to the cheering Japanese.They do this every night in Nagano, honoring that day's Olympic champions.

NAGANO, Japan -- We're No. 2.It's not exactly the slogan you hear at the Winter Olympics. But that's what winning the silver medal is all about.You're not first. You're not third. You haven't won. But you haven't really lost, either. It is the toughest medal of all to deal with for many Olympians.And today, it's the medal that Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski would like to avoid.These two terrific, teen-aged figure skaters are out to claim the women's title at the Winter Olympics. In all likelihood, one of them is bound for the most valuable gold at the Olympics, while the other is headed for a silver.

EIGHT teen-agers from Harvester Baptist Church returned recently from a week in Canada, where they visited and worked with missionaries in three cities."

ATLANTA -- North Baltimore backstroker Beth Botsford, who became the first American woman to win a gold medal at the Atlanta Games on Monday night, goes for her second gold medal today in the women's 4 x 100 medley relay.She'll probably get it.The U.S. team has to be considered the favorite in the second women's relay event, and Botsford -- by virtue of her victory in the 100-meter backstroke -- has earned the opportunity to swim that leg of the relay if the Americans make the final tonight.

BIRMINGHAM, England -- The kids in leotards look up as Svetlana Boginskaya of Belarus glides across the balance beam like a ballerina on a grand stage. Boginskaya is supposed to be too old and too tall for this sort of thing, yet here she is, nearly five years past her prime, trying to write what could be the most improbable of Olympic tales.At 23, standing 5 feet 4, Boginskaya is back in gymnastics.During the European Gymnastics Championships, Boginskaya showed that she still can compete with the children by winning the silver medal in Saturday's all-around final.

OCOEE RIVER, Tenn. -- In a comeback of truly Olympian proportions, Dana Chladek of Kensington, Md., shook off a horrendous first run to win the silver medal here yesterday in women's kayak.In an emotional moment, the Republic of Slovakia won its first Olympic gold medal ever when a 17-year old won the men's single canoe division. Michal Martikan edged out Lukas Pollert of the Czech Republic, the 1992 gold-medal winner.It was against the odds, but Chladek's silver was even more improbable than that.

ATLANTA -- Beth Botsford left something on the table.The 15-year-old backstroker from Timonium looked like a favorite to win a third Olympic medal in yesterday's 200-meter backstroke, but she swam well off her best time in the morning preliminary and failed to make the evening final.Botsford finished in 2: 14.16, more than three seconds behind the time that qualified her for the event at the Olympic trials in Indianapolis. She ranked sixth going into the final preliminary heat, but was edged out by New Zealand's Anna Simcic for the final place in the medal race.

Seven students from Mount Hebron High School won top awards recently on the National Spanish Examination.On the level one exam, Hye "Connie" Park won a gold medal for the second-highest score in Maryland, Kyoo "Chris" Park won a silver medal for the third-highest score, and Valerie Clark and Samuel Roy won bronze medals for the sixth- and seventh-highest scores, respectively.Jeffrey Weinstein won a silver medal for the fifth-highest score on the level three exam, and Karen Beck won a silver medal for the fourth-highest score on the level five exam.

ATLANTA -- Randy Barnes had the same thing happen to him eight years ago at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. And it had been done nearly the same way, with Ulf Timmerman of Germany winning the gold medal in the shot put on his last attempt.So when Barnes stepped into the ring last night here at Olympic Stadium, you would think thoughts of South Korea were floating through his mind.They weren't."I wasn't thinking about '88 until after I threw, because the rest of the night had been such a nightmare," Barnes said later.

Anne Arundel Community College's Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute recently won 12 major awards at a regional competition in Washington and an international contest in New York City. Seven culinary students and four instructors were awarded a total of four gold, six silver and two bronze medals. "Winning four gold medals is an unprecedented accomplishment for the AACC Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute," said Mary Ellen Mason, HCAT institute director. The first HCAT group won two gold, two silver and one bronze medal Nov. 8 at the Nation's Capital Chef's Association Category K Culinary Competition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, where 24 students and instructors participated.

Clarksville's McFadden wins two silver medals PARALYMPICS Tatyana McFadden of Clarksville captured two silver medals yesterday at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. She started her day in the women's 200-meter final, where she won bronze at the 2004 Paralympic Games. This time she set a new personal best time, 28.43 seconds, to clinch silver. The Atholton graduate grabbed a second silver medal, this time in the women's 800 meters with a personal best time of 1:46.95. "Oh my gosh, I'm so overwhelmed," McFadden, 19, said after winning her second silver medal of the meet.

BEIJING - The U.S. finally got untracked in the track and field competition at the Olympics yesterday. After a sluggish start over the first weekend that included no gold medals, Americans won five overall medals yesterday, including a 1-2-3 sweep in the men's 400-meter hurdles. Pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski also won a silver medal, and Stephanie Brown Trafton won a surprise gold in the women's discus - the first for a U.S. woman in the event since 1932. The U.S. hurdlers talked about the slow beginning for the track team at the Olympic Village and during the warm-up period for their final.

BEIJING - Nastia Liukin is having so much fun at these Olympics, she says she might stick around and compete again next year at the world championships. Shawn Johnson won't look beyond tomorrow's balance-beam final, her last chance to win a gold medal. Johnson won the silver medal in yesterday's floor exercise competition, her third silver medal of the Olympics, and it was a bittersweet finish for the defending world champion who had to compete first among the eight finalists and then watch and wait.

BEIJING - The water doesn't know what age you are, Dara Torres always says. Nor does it know how many medals you've won. Or how many precious tenths of a second you're behind the Dutch swimmer before diving into the pool in the clean-up position of the U.S. Olympic 400-meter relay team. Eight years after retiring, two years after giving birth, Torres began her latest and final Olympic competition today by swimming fiercely. But she was unable to overcome the lead of the Netherlands as the U.S. team won the silver medal.

A good way to enjoy watching the Summer Olympics is to snap on the television, put the recliner in the deep-comfort position and order Chinese takeout. I started my Olympics regime about a week early by ordering three versions of Moo Shu Pork, then settling into a recliner and alternately nibbling on the pancakes stuffed with meat and vegetables and working the remote control. Best Bite The Bamboo House Address: 26 Cranbrook Road, Cockeysville Phone: 410-666-9550 Hours: 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, noon-midnight Friday-Saturday The gold-medal winner.

Add steely nerved gambler to the list of words that can be used to define Kimmie Meissner. The Bel Air figure skater ditched her long program this fall, weeks before the start of the new season, betting that she could learn a more eye-catching routine in time to defend her national title in January and re-establish herself at the world championships in March. She did better than that. Despite some expected rocky moments at both Grand Prix events, Meissner finds herself competing tomorrow and Saturday at a competition that had eluded her: the Grand Prix Final.

Skiing BODE MILLER TV: Chs. 11, 4; 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m. When he's on the course, or off, Bode Miller is always the man to watch. The controversial Miller finished fifth in the downhill Sunday, which, considering the competition and small margin for error, was neither particularly disappointing nor unexpected. He's still a factor whenever he skis, which will be in today's alpine combined - a downhill run followed by two slalom runs. Miller won the silver medal in the combined in 2002, finishing first in the slalom but 15th in the downhill.

TURIN, Italy -- The marquee event of the first weekend brought its share of surprises and disappointments as little-thought-of French skier Antoine Deneriaz won the men's downhill yesterday. U.S. bad boy Bode Miller was considered a strong medal contender, but he struggled down the course and finished fifth. Teammate Daron Rahlves finished 10th on a course on which he won a World Cup event. Deneriaz was ranked 38th in the World Cup standings and was the 30th person down the course. But his mastery was evident from the top as he won the race by the largest margin of victory -- almost three-fourths of a second -- in 42 years.

This week, Kimmie Meissner needs to skate nosebleed big. So huge that even Mister Magoo could see her from the dizzying height of Section 320, Row Q, just under the roof of the Savvis Center in St. Louis. Meissner knows that's what it will take to win one of the three tickets to Turin being handed out by the U.S. Olympic Committee after the national figure skating championships in St. Louis. The gold medalist gets an automatic berth, with a selection committee of 36 athletes, coaches and skating officials picking the other two. Two-time world silver medalist Sasha Cohen is the favorite to make the team, and nine-time national champion Michelle Kwan is petitioning to make it on a medical waiver.