Sports Winter Games '94, 'Lillehammer'

Medals · Cross-country skiing Manuela Di Centa of Italy won a gold in the women's 30-kilometer cross-country race -- her fifth medal of these Games, more than any other athlete. Lyubov Egorova of Russia failed in her bid for a 10th straight Olympic medal, placing fifth. Marit Wold of Norway won the silver and Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi of Finland placed third. · Slalom Deborah Compagnoni of Italy won the gold medal in the women's giant slalom in a time of 2 minutes, 30.97 seconds. Compagnoni, who won the gold in the super-giant slalom at the 1992 Games, blew out her knee the next day in a fall on the giant slalom course and has only gotten back into top form this season. Martina Ertl of Germany was second in 2:32.19 and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland was third in 2:32.97. · Nordic combined Japan won its first gold medal of the Winter Games in the team Nordic combined event. Its three-man team ran the 30-kilometer cross-country relay in 1 hour, 22 minutes, 51.8 seconds, after leading in the ski-jump phase Wednesday. Norway finished second and Switzerland was third. · Freestyle skiing Lina Cherjazova of Uzbekistan won the gold medal in women's aerial freestyle skiing with 166.84 points. It was the first Olympic medal for her country since it gained independence during the Soviet breakup. Marie Lindgren of Sweden was second with 165.88 and Hilde Synnove Lid of Norway was third with 164.13. · Speedskating Cathy Turner of Hilton, N.Y., won the gold medal in women's 500-meter short-track speedskating in a time of 45.98 seconds. Zhang Yanmei of China was second in 46.44 and Amy Peterson of Maplewood, Minn., was third in 46.76. · Hockey The United States lost 5-3 to the Czech Republic and will play for seventh place against Germany, which lost to Slovakia 6-5 in overtime. The Czechs play Slovakia for fifth. Italy beat France 3-2 to finish ninth. Norway defeated Austria 3-1, finishing 11th. · Figure skating World champion Oksana Baiul needed three stitches in her right shin and Germany's Tanja Szewczenko suffered a bruised rib and nausea after the two skaters collided during practice. Szewczenko was carried off the ice and Baiul skated off. Szewczenko returned to the ice, did one jump, looked relieved, but then left. Baiul did not return. · Today's highlights Medal events: women's figureskating, free-skate final program; final round of men's Alpine-combined slalom; women's 4X7.5K biathlon relay; 90-meter-hill ski jumping; 5,000-meter ladies speedskating. Hockey playoffs-semifinals: Finland plays Canada, Russia vs. Sweden.