Sasha Cohen dazzled the judges with her outstanding short program. Cohen was flawless and took a .03 lead over Irina Slutskaya. 16-year old Kimmie Meissner was impressive in her Olympic debut skating fifth overall. Long Island’s Emily Hughes was solid, finishing seventh overall. Four years ago her sister, Sarah, came from fourth after the short program to win the gold passing both Cohen and Slutskaya, so expect a lot of hype before Thursday’s final. more ›

As the disappointment on the mountain continues, history was made in Torino yesterday in the premier event in speedskating. Shani Davis became the first African-American to win a gold medal in Winter Olympic history, and only the third black athlete to win a winter medal ever, as he skated to victory in the men's 1,000 meter race. The victory must have been especially sweet for Davis as he trained by himself in Canada, apart from the rest of the US Speedskating team. Davis and US Speedskating have had a bitter battle that included the organization pulling Davis' financing for training over the placement of a logo. Davis' mother pressed for her son to be removed from the organization's website. Joey Cheek, who earlier won the gold in the 500 meter race, finished 2nd and Chad Hedrick, the gold medal winner in the 5,000, finished 6th. more ›