Winter Olympics

NAGANO, Japan -- America's medal drought finally ended at the Winter Olympics.In men's freestyle moguls, a brash racer with a startling jump, Jonny Moseley, won the first gold for the United States today.About an hour later, Picabo Street came roaring down the Happo'one super G course to pull off a surprising victory.The wins kick-started an American team that had faltered badly in the opening days. The Americans failed to medal in luge, speed skating, figure skating and in snowboarding. They were left far behind on the cross country trails and the ski jump.

NAGANO, Japan -- A skating ballerina named Oksana Kazakova stood up to her man yesterday.She matched Artur Dmitriev move for move in a 4 1/2 -minute duet on ice. Whatever he did, she did better. Wherever he led, she followed. And when it was over, she buried her head in Dmitriev's broad chest, an Olympic champion at last."I succeeded," Kazakova said. "I wanted very much to prove myself and I did."Kazakova overcame her nerves and her inexperience to team with Dmitriev to win the pairs figure skating gold at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- This is what it's like to be down and out in the land of television sports:No football.No baseball.And no John Madden.But shed no tears for CBS, the network shunned by the NFL and major-league baseball.The big eye has the big event of 1994, the Winter Olympics from Lillehammer, Norway.For television, this is the greatest sports show on earth, 16 days ++ and 120 hours of glory, not to mention colossal Nielsen ratings in the midst of the February sweeps.But for CBS, these Games take on added importance, as the network is out to prove it remains a player in the sports business.

NAGANO, Japan -- You had to be here.You had to be inside an Olympic stadium during closing ceremonies filled with joy and tears, as taiko drummers gave way to a stagecoach from Salt Lake City and an Olympic caldron that burned fierce and bright for 16 days was doused on a cloudless night.You had to search for winter, traveling two hours into the mountains, dealing with snow, sleet and rain before discovering Hermann Maier, the ex-bricklayer from Austria, somersaulting through the air in perhaps the most spectacular skiing crash in Olympic history.

SESTRIERE, Italy-- --The news broke earlier in the day that Michelle Kwan was catching an early flight home. She had hurt herself and was withdrawing from the Olympics. And now Bode Miller was high on the mountain, preparing for his own takeoff. He shot out of the start gate and flew down the hill. It was a good run, a fast run -- but a fifth-place run. "It would have taken a hurricane wind to get me into first," he'd explain. Later in the evening, Apolo Ohno, the third prong of the mighty American trident, flew around a speed-skating track, but not fast enough to defend his Olympic crown.

NAGANO, Japan -- Week 1 brought a sprinkle of memories. Week 2 will produce a flood.Forgive the water imagery, but halfway through the Nagano Olympics, the biggest star is El Nino's evil Japanese twin.Take heart, CBS: The Alpine skiing competition should be completed by time the 2002 Winter Games begin in Salt Lake City.We've seen thunder. We've seen lightning. And we've seen Hurricane Hermann, a terrifying new storm in which a skier tumbles out of the sky.Hermann Maier's flying cartwheel off Happo'one was the most lasting image of the first week, a jolting reminder of the danger inherent in so many winter sports.

Today we begin an irreverent look at the Winter Olympics.THE JUDDS WON'T BE THERE, EITHER -- Today's opening ceremonies will feature reindeer, sleighs, choirs, folk dancers, etc., depicting elements of Norwegian and Lapp culture.Officials politely declined an offer from rapper Snoop Doggy Dog to serve as host.HE'S NO EVIL KNIEVEL -- Ski jumper Ole Gunnar Fidjestol, who '' crashed while practicing his leap with the Olympic flame, is reportedly considering hiring attorney Stephen L. Miles.Fidjestol claims officials were negligent in failing to warn him of the dangers of soaring off a 90-meter jump.

A Brazilian bobsledder who tested positive for steroids in a pre-Olympic drug test became the first athlete sent home from the Turin Games for doping. Armando dos Santos failed the test in early January when a sample showed evidence of the steroid nandrolone, according to a statement posted on the Brazilian Olympic Committee's Web site. Dos Santos, a former hammer thrower, will be replaced on the four-man team by Claudinei Quirino - a silver medalist in the 400-meter relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - With one year to go before the caldron is lighted, it's gut-check time for those whose lives are intertwined with the five Olympic rings. The host city of Vancouver and the athletes and their coaches have covered a lot of ground to get ready for the XXI Winter Games, but hurdles remain before the opening ceremony next Feb. 12. Not surprisingly, many challenges are tied to the economy: * Sponsorships are down. * The Vancouver organizing committee has shaved millions from its budget and dipped into its contingency fund.

SALT LAKE CITY - George Steinbrenner and meddling used to go hand in hand. Now, it's Steinbrenner and medaling. At the halfway point in the Winter Games, the U.S. team has exceeded projections set by the U.S. Olympic Committee for the entire 16 days of competition. Americans have 16 medals - three gold, seven silver and six bronze. Give some credit to Steinbrenner and a rock-bottom finish at the Winter Games in Calgary in 1988, where the United States won just six medals, two of them gold, to begin the turnaround.