A Feb. 17 Sports column incorrectly said that U.S. skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender's father, Ted, was a major league pitcher. He was an outfielder.
In U.S. Skeleton, It's Survival of the Smartest, Healthiest, Cleanest . . .
CESANA, Italy
Lamenting the lack of a large talent pool for her sport, Lea Ann Parsley, the silver medalist in the skeleton at the 2002 Salt Lake Games, made a recruiting pitch in the Italian Alps Thursday: "If your kids like water slides or roller coasters, call 1-800-BOBSLED."
  Switzlerland's Maya Pedersen, a two-time world champion who finished fifth in the Salt Lake City Games, puts on a dominant performance, completing her two runs in 1 minute 59.83 seconds. (By Fabrizio Bensch -- Reuters)   American Seth Wescott becomes the first Olympic champion in the wild sport of snowboard cross.
Audio: Westcott talks about the excitement of the race.
American Johnny Weir fails to medal as Russia's Evgeni Plushenko takes gold in men's figure skating.
Sally Jenkins: Russia continues to dominate figure skating despite several obstacles.
Mike Wise: The U.S. skeleton team has had a host of bizarre problems.
The United States dominates Kazakhstan, 4-1, in men's hockey.
The TV ratings for the Olympics are way down this year.
In speedskating, Italy wins gold in the inaugural men's team pursuits.
Maya Pederson wins Switzerland's first gold medal of the Turin Games in women's skeleton.
The U.S. women's curling team falls to Sweden in 11 ends, 5-4.
The U.S. men's curling team disposes of Sweden, 10-6.
Mario Stecher erases a 20-second deficit as Austria wins the Nordic combined.
Estonian Kristina Smigun is the first athlete to win two gold medals, taking cross-country's 10-km classical event.
France's Florence Baverel-Robert wins biathlon's 7.5km sprint after Russia's Olga Pyleva flunks a dope test.
Notebook: Russian biathlete Olga Pyleva fails a doping test and is stripped of her medal.
Antipasti: Snow finally lands at the Turin Games, albeit in flurries.
Dolce Vita: The stench surrounding the media center could burn a layer in the ozone.
Russia HouseThe Russians have dominated men's Olympic figure skating for 14 years. Past Russian gold medalists:1992: Victor Petrenko
1994: Alexei Urmanov
1998: Ilia Kulik
2002: Alexei Yagudin
2006: Evgeni Plushenko
THURSDAY'S MEDALISTSFigure Skating, menGold: Evgeni Plushenko, Russia
Silver: Stephane Lambiel, Switzerland
Bronze: Jeff Buttle, Canada
Snowboard Cross, men
Gold: Seth Westcott, Farmington, Maine
Silver: Radoslav Zidek, Slovakia
Bronze: Paul-Henri Delerue, France
Skeleton, women
Gold: Maya Pedersen, Switzerland
Silver: Shelley Rudman, Great Britain
Bronze: Melissa Hollingsworth-Richards, Canada
Speedskating, men's team pursuit
Gold: Italy
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Netherlands
Speedskating, women's team pursuit
Gold: Germany
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Russia
Nordic Combined, men's team
Gold: Austria
Silver: Germany
Bronze: Finland
Biathlon, women's 7.5km
Gold: Florence Baverel-Robert, France
Silver: Anna Carin Olofsson, Sweden
Bronze: Lilia Efremova, Ukraine
Cross-Country Skiing,
Women's 10km (classical)
Gold: Kristina Smigun, Estonia
Silver: Marit Bjorgen, Norway
Bronze: Hilde G. Pedersen, Norway
PREVIEW SECTION A day-by-day guide to the 2006 Winter Games with the day's featured event and the likely winners.
BASICSTALES FROM TURIN The Post's Dan Steinberg has never been to the Olympics, but that won't stop him from putting his unique twist on the Games.
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She was only partly joking. Her sport could use some help: The U.S. skeleton team in Turin resembles the after photo in an avalanche. After all the debris removal, one woman was left sliding. Katie Uhlaender, the pride of Breckenridge, Colo., a 5-foot-3 fireplug who finished sixth in the women's skeleton final, completing both her runs in a combined time of 2:02.30. The daughter of former major league outfielder Ted Uhlaender, Katie got here by:
1. Not being suspended amid sexual harassment allegations, like her former coach Tim Nardiello.
2. Not failing a drug test for using a hair-replacement product, like her teammate on the men's side, Zach Lund, who was booted hours before the Opening Ceremonies.
3. She was lucky enough not to break her leg in training like Noelle Pikus-Pace, who was hit by a bobsled last October and failed to earn a spot on the Olympic team.
Sex. Hair-replacing drugs. Freak accidents. Team Tabloid just couldn't win.
"After we got taken out by the bobsled, it was like, wow, this is going to be an interesting season," Parsley said.
Uhlaender had but two years of experience in the skeleton, and gold medalist, Maya Pedersen of Switzerland, had 10 years of skittering down a mountain at nearly 80 miles per hour on a sled weighing about 90 pounds. She was 2.47 seconds faster in her two runs than Uhlaender.
Most of the steering in skeleton is done with the legs. It's like yoga on a boogie board. The trick for better control, after a frantic push-off and jump onto the sled, is to keep the feet together and the head down.
When it comes to U.S. skeleton, keeping your nose clean is also recommended.
Weeks after Pikus-Pace's injury, the mother of Tristan Gale, the gold medalist in Salt Lake City, sent a letter to the sport's federation, accusing Nardiello of sexually harassing her daughter.
