Utter failure, utter joy

Czechs KO U.S. hockey hopes; Norwegian celebrates medal record

Posted: Wed February 18, 1998 at 11:25 AM ET

Dominik Hasek of the Czech Republic stops a shot by Mathieu Schneider of the USA. Jamie Squire/Allsport

NAGANO, Japan (CNN/SI) -- America's hockey "Dream Team," a heralded group of some of the biggest names in the NHL, crashed out of the Olympic Winter Games on Wednesday, losing to the Czech Republic before ever getting a chance at a medal.

It was a shocking end for the Americans, who came to Nagano looking for the first U.S. hockey gold since the "Miracle on Ice" of the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Already, this one has been dubbed the "Debacle on Ice."

"Everybody's shocked and disappointed," said American Mike Modano after the 4-1 loss. "A lot of guys are frustrated, thinking it was a waste of time ... to come over here at all."

The U.S. team, with a roster made up solely of NHL stars, won only one game in four tries in Nagano.

"We thought we were going to be invincible," Brett Hull said. "As a group, maybe we were a little high on our horses."

As Americans fumbled for explanations, Norway celebrated Bjorn Daehlie, who Wednesday became the most decorated medalist in the history of the Winter Games. Daehlie, aided by teammate and sometime-rival Thomas Alsgaard, won the seventh gold medal of his c areer in the men's 40-kilometer cross-country relay, his 11th medal overall.

Both are Winter Olympics records.

"I was not thinking about it so much, but it means something to me," Daehlie said of the record. "I will appreciate it in a few years when I look back on a fantastic career."

Americans rekindled some pride later in the day when figure skaters Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski finished the short program 1-2, in perfect position for Friday's deciding long program. And the U.S. could fete skiers Nikki Stone and Eric Bergoust, too, who both won gold in the aerial portion of the freestyle skiing competition.

Still, it was the utter failure of the U.S. hockey team that was the buzz of Nagano.

"We deserve to be out of it. This is bad for the USA. It's awful, it's devastating," left wing Keith Tkachuk said. "We were just a big disappointment. It was the biggest waste of time. This is disgusting."

Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek proved to be the difference, with 38 saves -- including all 29 shots over the final two periods -- as the Czechs advance to meet Canada.

Of the 23 NHL players on the American team, six are 50-goal scorers. Only 12 of the players on the Czech roster play in the NHL.

"A lot of my team, they play in Europe and I don't know them," Hasek said. "A week ago, I didn't even know their first names."

As the game ended, American Tony Amonte broke his stick over the boards in anger. Other Americans simply skated off the ice dejectedly, heads hung low.

"It's just a huge empty feeling," forward John LeClair said. LeClair is second in the NHL in scoring, but was shut out in this tournament. "We all came here not just to participate in the Olympics but to win a gold medal. I feel very disappointed. Embarrassed."

Said Hasek: "I think that we had better spirit today."

The U.S. loss was not the only upset of the hockey tournament. Defending Olympic gold medalist Sweden was bounced by Finland, 2-1.

Luckily for the U.S., most of its figure skating hopes are still intact.

Kwan and Lipinski skated good, clean short programs to finish 1-2, as expected. But any talk of a sweep was put aside when the third member of the skating "Dream Team," Nicole Bobek, fell coming out of a triple jump, stepped out of another and cut short a third. She is out of contention for a medal.

"I don't think pressure really crossed my mind when I skated," Kwan, 17, said. "There was so much adrenalin pumping through me I forgot about it."

The 15-year-old Lipinski, the defending world champion, skated what she called her best program ever.

"This is the first time I felt like I wanted to cry. This is not the most happy but ... I can't even describe the feeling," she said. "It's that feeling it seems so hard at the moment, and when you do it, it's like a miracle."

Back in the snow, Daehlie was poised to become the Winter Games athlete with the most medals overall when Alsgaard came through for him at the end of the 40-kilometer relay. Alsgaard thrust his right ski across the finish line two-tenths of a second ahead of Italy's Silvio Fauner to give Daehlie his record seventh gold, setting off a Norwegian celebration.

Daehlie is the first person in history to win seven Olympic gold medals   Al Bello/Allsport

After Daehlie reached his record, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and teammate Frode Andresen added more shine to Norway's day with a 1-2 finish in the 10-kilometer biathlon.

The American aerialists gave the U.S. its fourth and fifth golds. Bergoust's was especially sweet, coming only minutes after he wrecked badly on a training jump.

"I can crash every jump for the rest of my life and I won't care," he said. "I felt like everything I've done before doesn't matter now that I've finally done this."

Said Stone: "My dreams, everything I've dreamed of since I was 5 years old, I was in a gym saying, 'I'm going to win a gold medal some day.' I can't believe it."

A blizzard once again delayed another Alpine skiing event. The men's giant slalom had to be rescheduled. Alberto Tomba, seeking his fourth medal in as many Olympics, has yet to ski in these Games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.