SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Fast Five, Sunday edition: Five things you’ll want to know about the 2014 Winter Olympics.
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CZECH GOLD IN SNOWBOARDCROSS: Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic dominated in three races to win her country’s first gold in snowboardcross. Her runs went wire-to-wire, free of the chaos that claimed several racers including Lindsey Jacobellis o Park City, Utah, the sport’s greatest racer who has consistently fallen short in the Olympics.
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CROSS-COUNTRY SWEEP: Sweden successfully defended its Olympic gold in the men’s 4-by-10-kilometer cross-country relay. The country became the first in 42 years to win both the men’s and women’s team cross-country events in the same Winter Games.
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WELCOME, INDIA: India’s Olympic athletes can finally see their flag in the mountain village. The flag-raising symbolically marked the end of a 14-month IOC ban because of corruption issues with India’s governing sports body.
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CHU HURT, BUT WILL PLAY: Julie Chu hurt her left hand in practice, but not seriously enough to keep her out of the U.S. women’s hockey team’s Olympic semifinal against Switzerland, coach Katey Stone said Sunday. Chu has played in every Olympics since Salt Lake City in 2002.
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MEDAL MOVERS: Sure, Russia didn’t get a big hockey win against the United States, but it hauled in more medals than any other country on Saturday and moved ahead of the U.S. as the Sochi Games reached its midpoint. Five more gold medals were being awarded Sunday.