February 2006 in Sports - 17 February 2006 (Friday)

17 February 2006 (Friday)

• Rugby union: 2006 Super 14 – Round two.
  • Highlanders 25–13 Blues at Dunedin
    • The Highlanders had a lucky win over the Blues, with two tries in the second half. One was an intercept in the Highlanders 22 and the second was a very close video replay try.
  • Cats 21–16 Chiefs (1 BP) Johannesburg
    • The Chiefs lose their second South African Super 14 match. However they picked up a bonus point for their 5 point loss.
  • (1 BP) Bulls 21–27 Brumbies Pretoria
    • Stirling Mortlock scores and converts a try at the death to give the Brumbies their second win on the road, over the Bulls, who got a bonus point for their 6 point loss.
• XX Winter Olympic Games, Turin, day seven:
  • Cross country skiing, 15 km men:
    • Andrus Veerpalu wins Estonia's third cross-country gold medal, successfully defending his gold from the 2002 Games. Czech Lukáš Bauer wins silver, 15 seconds behind Veerpalu, while German Tobias Angerer bronze. (CBC)
  • Snowboarding, women's cross:
    • Tanja Frieden of Switzerland takes the first ever Olympic gold medal in women's snowboard cross, passing the American Lindsey Jacobellis near the end of the race. Canada's Dominique Maltais finishes with bronze. Maltais's teammate Maëlle Ricker suffered a bruised hip and a mild concussion after a spectacular crash early in the race. (CBC)
  • Ice hockey, women's semifinal:
    • In a remarkable upset, Sweden defeats the United States 3–2 in a shootout to advance to the gold medal game against Canada. The United States had previously never been defeated in Olympic play by any team except Canada; however, an incredible game by Swedish goaltender Kim Martin brought the Swedes an unexpected victory. The United States will play for the bronze medal against Finland. (CBC)
    • Canada soundly defeats Finland 6–0 in their semi-final, to set up a Canada – Sweden gold medal game. The United States will play Finland for bronze. (CBC)
  • Skeleton, men's:
    • Canadians Duff Gibson and Jeffrey Pain win gold and silver despite Pain nearly losing control of his sled coming around the penultimate corner. Switzerland's Gregor Staehli finishes third, beating out Canadian Paul Boehm by only two tenths of a second to prevent a Canadian sweep of the podium. The 39-year-old Gibson becomes the oldest individual gold medalist in Winter Olympics history. (CBC)