For weeks, the names of Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya of Russia have been ... Winners and losers from th

For weeks, the names of Sasha Cohen of the United States and Irina Slutskaya of Russia have been on people's lips -- but it was Shizuka Arakawa of Japan who skated away with gold Thursday night. Chalk it up to the favorites' falls and skating's new scoring system, which emphasizes performance over a competitor's reputation.

Speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick just weren't providing enough drama, so the TV interviewers goaded them into whining louder about who had disrespected whom. Hey, if we wanted to watch people sniping at each other, we'd watch "Survivor" reruns.

Emily Hughes, Sarah's 17-year-old sister, managed a remarkable seventh-place finish among the world's top female figure skaters. She had arrived in Turin at the last minute to fill in for the injured Michelle Kwan. Nothing like being ready for opportunity when it knocks.

From all the air time given the event, you'd think Lindsey Jacobellis had bribed a judge or whacked a competitor in the knees. Her crime? She showboated a bit toward the end of her snowboardcross race, fell and won silver instead of gold. Let it go, folks. Isn't showing off the point of snowboarding?

Let's hear it for those sports you rarely if ever see on network TV outside the Games: curling, biathlon, cross-country skiing. Far from the spotlight, these athletes evoke the Olympics' true spirit better than many celebrities do.

Less hype and a bit more humility would have served skier Bode Miller well. Supposedly one of America's best hopes, he has competed in four events with no medals so far. His last chance comes Saturday with the slalom.

Walter Mayer, a coach banned from the Olympics because of past doping scandals, shouldn't have been hanging around Turin with syringes and blood bags. Austrian athletes shouldn't have been hanging around with him. Lab tests still were pending Thursday, but this week's raids looked like a blot on the Winter Games.

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