Final Results from the 2006 Paralympic Games of Torino

• Medal Count
• Final Competition Recap
• Pictures from Torino
• Postcards from Torino
  • Sandy Dukat
  • Monica Bascio
  • Chris Devlin-Young

Medal Count

Country					Total
Russia		13	13	7	33
Ukraine		7	9	9	25
Germany		8	5	5	18
France		7	2	6	15
Austria		3	4	7	14
Canada		5	3	5	13
United States		7	2	3	12
Japan		2	5	2	9

Final Competition Recap
USA scores 5 Medals in final weekend of 9th Winter Paralympic Games

• Alpine Skiing: Men’s and women’s Standing Slalom
  Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, CO) won her first Paralympic Games Gold Medal while teammate Sandy Dukat (Vail, CO) took the bronze in the Women’s Slalom Standing division.
  In the men’s division The U.S. place two in the top ten with Monte Meier (Park City, UT) finishing 8th and Brad Washburn (Vail, CO) was 10th.
  
• Men’s and Women’s Sit Slalom
  After two straight 4th place finishes in previous races, Stephanie Victor (Park City, UT) made it to the top step of the medal podium by winning Gold in the women’s Sit Slalom race. Lacey Heward (Boise, ID) in her final race as a Paralympian finished 4th. Laurie Stephens (Wenham, MA) who had 2 gold and a silver in these games was 7th. In the men’s division Chris Devlin Young (Campton, NH) managed another top ten finish by finishing 8th in the competition.
  
• Cross-Country Skiing
  Steve Cook (Salt Lake City, UT) added a bronze medal to his collection with a 3rd place finish in the men’s 20km long distance race. In the women’s Standing 15km race, Kelly Underkofler (St. Paul, MN) was 10th overall. In the women’s 10km sit race Monica Bascio (Evergreen, CO) was 5th, just 40 seconds from the bronze medal podium spot. Candace Cable (Truckee, CA) in her final race as a winter Paralympian was 8th.
  
• Ice Sledge Hockey - US Wins Bronze
  Taylor Chance (Hampton Falls, NH) scored the game winner with 11:53 of the 3rd period to give the U.S. a 4-3 win over Germany and the bronze medal. Canada defeated Norway 3-0 to win the gold medal.

Day Eight – Friday, March 17

• Alpine Skiing: Men’s and Women’s Sit Giant Slalom
  Laurie Stephens (Wentam, MA) took second place and the silver medal in today’s Giant Slalom in the sit skier division to bring home her third overall medal of the Games. Stephanie Victor (Park City, UT) finished fourth and Lacey Heward (Boise, ID) finished 8th. In the Men’s sit skiing division, Chris Devlin-Young (Campton, NH) finished 4th and Tyler Walker (Vail, CO) was 6th. Andy Parr (Colorado Springs, CO) had an 8th place finish in the Men’s Giant Slalom for the visually impaired.
  
• Cross Country
  In the women’s 3 x 2.5 km race the American team of Candace Cable (Truckee, CA), Monica Bascio (Evergreen, CO) and Kelly Underkofler (St. Paul, MN) skied their way to a 7th place finish. In the men’s 1x3.75km + 2x5km Race the American Team of Chris Klebl (Heber City, UT), Mike Crenshaw (Boulder, CO) and Steve Cook (Salt Lake City, UT) powered their way to 6th place.

Day Seven – Thursday, March 16

• Alpine Skiing: Men’s and Women’s Standing Giant Slalom
  Allison Jones was closet to the medal ceremony among the US women with a 5th place finish. Sandy Dukat was 7th and Elitsa Storey was 10th. In the men’s standing competition, Clay Fox had the best finish for the US crossing the line in 8th place.
  
• Ice Sledge Hockey: USA looks to the Bronze Medal after 4-2 loss
  There will be no repeat gold medal for the US men’s Sled Hockey Team thanks to Norway. With the score tied 2-2 going into the 3rd period, US was hit with a penalty that resulted in a penalty shot which the Norwegians converted. Norway's power play goal in the final stanza wrapped up the scoring.

Day Six – Wednesday, March 15

• Men’s and Women’s Sit and Standing 10 km Cross Country Skiing
  Steve Cook (Salt Lake City, UT) picked up his second gold medal of the games by winning the men’s 10km standing race by more than 30 seconds. In the women’s division, Monica Bascio (Evergreen, CO) finished seventh in the sit 5km race while Kelly Underkolfer of (St. Paul, MN) finished 11 in the 10km standing race.
  
• U.S Medal Hopes Dashed in Wheelchair Curling
  All hopes of a podium appearance by the U.S. wheelchair curling team (2-5) came to an end, losing to Great Britain 5-2.

Day Five– Tuesday, March 14

• Stephens Finds Gold Again
  U.S. alpine team member Laurie Stephens of (Wenham, MA) picked up her second gold medal of the games with a win in the women’s Sit Super G competition. Stephanie Victor (Park City, UT), missed the bronze medal podium spot by four tenths of a second. In the men’s Super G competition, Nick Catanzarik (Winter Park, CO) missed a bronze medal by eight hundredths of a second. Campton, N.H. native Chris Devlin Young failed to defend his 2002 gold medal due to a crash halfway down the course.
  
• Empty Handed in Biathlon
  Team USA did not collect a medal in the skiing plus shooting competition, which ended with the men’s and women’s sit and Standing 7.5km event. Monica Bascio (Evergreen, CO) finished sixth place finish in the women’s sit division, while Kelly Underkofler (St. Paul, MN) had a seventh place finish in the women’s standing division. On the men’s side, Dan Perkins (Syracuse, NY) placed twentieth in the standing competition.
  
• Team USA advances to Semis in Ice Sledge Hockey
  The Team USA sled hockey team won its second straight game, beating Sweden 6-1. Team USA advanced to the semi finals, having tied Germany for the top spot in Pool B. Canada and Norway advanced to the semis from Pool A.
  
• U.S. Medal Hopes Dashed in Wheelchair Curling
  After keeping their medal hopes alive with a crucial win over Canada in the morning session, the Italians upset the Team USA in the second match of the day, knocking them out of the medal round.

Day Four– Monday, March 13

Although Team USA didn't come away with any medals, today was still an exciting day!

• Alpine Skiing Super G
  Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, CO) finished 4th - a mere nine tenths of a second from bronze medal position. Sandy Dukat took 6th place and Elitsa Story grabbed 7th. Of the seven male American entries, only two were able to finish in the top 20. For the second straight race, Ralph Green (Vail, CO) crashed during his run.
• The U.S. Wheelchair Curling Team picked up their first win of these Winter Paralympic games in the round robin format by defeating Sweden 6-2. However in their second match of the day, Denmark came back from an early deficit to defeat the U.S. Squad 6-4.

Day Three – Sunday, March 12

• Team USA downhill skier Kevin Bramble (Truckee, CA), took home the gold medal, defending his gold medal from the Salt Lake City, Utah games and edging out teammate Devlin Young of Campton, N.H., who took silver.
• Team USA women’s downhill skier Laurie Stephens (Wenham, MA) collected her first medal by winning the gold. Stephens almost crashed halfway down the course, but recovered to win.
• Nordic skier Steve Cook (Salt Lake City, UT) ended a 14-year drought for the United States in Nordic competition, winning the men’s 5 km standing race.
• The U.S. sled hockey team shut out Japan 3-0. Team USA (1-1) plays Sweden (0-2) next.

Day Two – Saturday, March 11

• Kelly Underkofler (St. Paul, MN) had the best finish of any U.S. competitor, placing No. 4 in the women’s 12.5 km biathlon, just 32 seconds out of third place.
• In the opening round of sled hockey, the defending gold-medal U.S. team was shocked by Germany, 2-1.
• In wheelchair curling, Team USA lost its first match to Sweden 6-4.
• In alpine skiing, the United States did not reach the medal podium after the men and women’s standing down hill competition, despite good showings.

Day One – Friday, March 10

The Stadio Olympico welcomed 35,000 people for the games’ opening ceremonies:

• More than 500 athletes representing 41 countries marched into the stadium to huge ovations from the crowd.
• Chris Devlin Young, a Team USA alpine skier, was elected by his fellow athletes to carry the United States’ flag.

Pictures from Torino

Postcards from Torino

Sandy Dukat

As I said yesterday, no one remembers a slow ski racer, and that is exactly why I had to give it my all today! After a week of racing in the Paralympics, I finally did it, I am coming home with a medal. I am so happy today as I skied strong and fast to win the bronze in the Slalom race. After the first run, I was in 5th place - not where I wanted to be. As I inspected the second run, I saw the perfect opportunity to attack and that is exactly what I did .

As I came into the finish today, I could do nothing but celebrate because I knew I had the run of my life. As I looked at the scoreboard and saw how fast my 2nd run was, I knew I had a chance but had to wait until everyone came down. My teammate, Allison Jones finished first and I was 3rd. There is nothing like being on the podium when your National Anthem is playing, again a feeling that I will never forget. Standing on the podium and seeing my family, friend and coaches there supporting me was all I needed to remind me that I am a Paralympic champion!

Once again from Sestriere, this has been an amazing Paralympics!
Sandy

Sandy Dukat (Alpine Skiing)
Vail, Colorado

Monica Bascio

WHEW!!!!!!
Yesterday's 10K was my best placing, at 5th, 30 seconds out of third. It was so great to have my family cheering and bringing me home. I had felt pretty queasy in the morning, fighting some GI issues for last three days. So safe to say that I am quite done with the food at the village. I was holding steady the first two 3.3K laps, and lost time to 4th place Ukrainian in the last lap. My placing here does actually make up for missing out on the previous night's St Patty's day bash at the local "Irish Igloo" where the Bascio party closed the place down. The family support has been fabulous! Knowing that the brothers were taking me away from another questionable meal was an extra benefit to look forward to.

The women's relay on the 17th was somewhat disappointing, placing 7th of 8 teams. It's always a fun event, but somewhat tainted as the women’s teams are not regulated for disability factors. This means that a team can have any three women contending, versus teams like the US, where we have two sit-skiers, who are less able, than say, three stand-up skiers. The points are regulated for men's relay, so hopefully that can develop over time.

I am very much looking forward to returning home, some alpine skiing and hand cycling. It's hard to commit to Vancouver 2010 at the moment, but it's not too far from my thoughts. I'd like to thank you all for your emails and good wishes, as they have really made a difference and kept me motivated throughout the week.

Monica Bascio (Nordic Skiing)

Chris Devlin-Young

Tomorrow is the last day and the Slalom for the Sit's and VI's. The Downhill, SuperG and Giant Slalom are over and the most difficult of the events for the Mono-skiers remains. I have had a great Paralympics so far. Tomorrow I plan on having the best Slalom of my life and we'll see where I end up.

The race venue "Kandahar Nasi" is without a doubt one of the top five race hills I, in my twenty years of racing, have ever raced on. The course manager and crews, most of which are the military alpine troupes, are doing a top notch job of maintaining the piste. The fans have been steadily increasing day-to-day. The come with painted faces flags and banners. Along the ever-present cowbells at a ski race. The Americans are well represented with lots of flags and signs, and a loud singing of the National Anthem. All this sure makes a racer feel welcome when crossing the finish line.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support!
Chris Devlin-Young (Alpine Skiing)