Ireland's Barron finishes way down in cross country skiing

Swiss Dario Cologna took the gold in the men’s 15km free cross country skiing competition at Whistler Olympic Park in a time of 33 minutes 36.3 seconds.

Ireland's Peter James Barron came in 91st place in a time of 43 minutes 50.4 seconds, more than 10 minutes off the lead.

Silver went to Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer, who clocked 34mins 0.9secs. Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic claimed the bronze in 34:12.0.

Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla took the gold medal in the women’s 10km free cross country competition at Whistler Olympic Park with a time of 10:15.30.

Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia took the silver in 10:08.30 with Marit Bjoergen of Norway claming the bronze in 10:14.00.

Germany’s Tatjana Huefner led after day on in the women’s luge competition at the Whistler Sliding Centre with a time of 1:23.241.

Canada’s women thrashed Switzerland 10-1 and Sweden beat Slovakia 6-2 in the women’s ice hockey preliminary round at the UBC Thunderbird Arena.

Mo Tae-Bum celebrated his 21st birthday by claiming a first gold for South Korea in the men’s 500 metres speed skating at Richmond Olympic Oval.

And in the pairs figure skating, China’s Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao finally converted bronze into gold in their third Olympics.

In the rescheduled and much anticipated men’s downhill skiing race, Defago, 18th on the start list, made his vast experience count as he clocked one minute 54.31 seconds to set a mark that proved beyond his rivals.

Monthey-born Defago, 32, then watched as his countrymen – pre-race favourite Didier Cuche and Carlo Janka – offered no threat and Canadian hope Manuel Osborne-Paradis produced a disappointing run.

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, last year’s overall World Cup winner, took the silver medal with a time of 1min 54.38secs and American extrovert Bode Miller claimed the bronze in 1:54.40.

The 32-year-old Defago, who shot to stardom when he completed the famed Wengen-Kitzbuehel double last season, said: “I knew I could do something on this course. After three Olympic Games and a lot of World Championships I think my experience made a bit of difference.

“It is one of the most beautiful days of my life. The conditions were perfect for me. I knew I would do well but I never expected to do this well.”

Miller, a 2005 world champion, was eighth on the start list and took the early lead. Svindal overhauled him but Defago seized the lead with his run and never looked in danger of losing it.

The speed skating was disrupted by a long delay during the race one programme due to problems with the ice repairing machines at Richmond Olympic Oval.

But when racing resumed it was Mo who emerged victorious to take the gold medal with a time of 69.82.

There was silver and bronze for Japan to celebrate via Keiichiro Nagashima (69.98) and Joji Kato ((70.01).

Canadian pair Jamie Gregg and Jeremy Wotherspoon finished eighth and ninth respectively.

In the figure skating pairs, it was a triumphant return for Shen and Zhao, who had to settle for third in both Salt Lake City in 2002 and Torino in 2006 and had quit the sport for two years.

They had been the lowest ranked team in the competition due to the lengthy absence from the ice and held a lead of just 0.7 points after Sunday’s short programme.

Shen and Zhao, going last and needing to score 136.66 to steal victory, were near faultless and a 139.91 gave them a winning total of 216.57.

Qing Pang and Jian Tong made it a Chinese one-two, taking the silver with 213.31.

Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy claimed the bronze with 210.60.

American Seth Wescott dashed Canadian hopes in the men’s snowboard cross final on Cypress Mountain by defending his title.

When Wescott’s team-mate Nate Holland took a tumble Canada’s Mike Robertson was clear in the lead and looked to be on course for gold.

But with Wescott pushing hard and Robertson too cautious the American caught and overtook his rival to edge home in a thrilling finish.

Tony Ramoin of France took the bronze medal.