Kristina Šmigun-Vähi
Estonia yesterday captured its first medal of the 2010 Olympics. Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, winner of two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, claimed the silver medal in the women’s 10km freestyle cross-country event. She finished just 6.6 seconds behind gold medal winner Charlotte Kalla of Sweden.
Šmigun-Vähi’s achievement capped a significant comeback for the 32-year-old skier. She had “retired” from cross-country skiing after the 2006-2007 season in order to have a baby. She missed the past two seasons and began training for the Vancouver games only recently.
In other events Estonia has been far less successful. The country has to date participated in five events (men’s and women’s cross country skiing, men’s and women’s biathlon, and pairs figure skating), but Šmigun-Vähi can claim the country’s only competitive performance so far. Estonia will also compete in alpine skiing, ladies’ figure skating, ice dancing, and snowboarding.
The table below presents the top three finishers and all Estonian finishers in each medal event in which Estonia has competed. Estonian athletes are shown in blue.
| Cross-Country Skiing – Ladies’ 10 km F (15 Feb)
78 competitors |
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| 1 (gold) | Charlotte Kalla (Sweden) | 24:58 | |
| 2 (silver) | Kristina Smigun-Vähi | 25:05 | |
| 3 (bronze) | Marit Bjoergen (Norway) | 25:14 | |
| 58 | Tatjana Mannima | 28:13 | |
| Cross-Country Skiing – Men’s 15 km F (15 Feb)
95 competitors |
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| 1 (gold) | Dario Cologna (Switzerland) | 33:36 | |
| 2 (silver) | Pietro Piller Cottrer (Italy) | 34:01 | |
| 3 (bronze) | Lukas Bauer (Czech Republic) | 34:12 | |
| 51 | Aivar Rehemaa | 36:13 | |
| 67 | Karel Tammjarv | 37:38 | |
| Figure Skating – Pairs Short Program (14 Feb)
20 competitors |
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| 1 (gold) | China | ||
| 2 (silver) | China | ||
| 3 (bronze) | Germany | ||
| 19 | Maria Sergejeva & Ilja Glebov | ||
| Biathlon – Men’s 10 km Sprint (14 Feb)
87 competitors |
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| 1 (gold) | Vincent Jay (France) | ||
| 2 (silver) | Emil Hegle Svendsen (Norway) | ||
| 3 (bronze) | Jakov Fak (Croatia) | ||
| 31 | Indrek Tobreluts | ||
| 48 | Kauri Koiv | ||
| 62 | Roland Lessing | ||
| Biathlon – Women’s 7.5 km Sprint (13 Feb)
88 competitors |
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| 1 (gold) | Anastazia Kuzmina (Slovakia) | ||
| 2 (silver) | Magdalena Neuner (Germany) | ||
| 3 (bronze) | Marie Dorin (France) | ||
| 55 | Eveli Saue | ||
| 64 | Kadri Lehtla | ||
| 83 | Kristel Viigipuu | ||
| 84 | Sirli Hanni | ||
