By Sportswriter Cao Jianjie

    TURIN, Feb. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The day started with the tearful withdrawal of a figure skating legend and ended with a South Korean gold in short track speedskating.

    The Turin Games lost one of its biggest names on Sunday as American five-time world champion Michael Kwan was forced out by a groin injury, while Ahn Hyun-Soo and Lee Ho-Suk finished a powerful 1-2 in the 1,500m short track on Sunday.

    Earlier seven countries split as many golds as French downhiller Antoine Deneriaz won the Alpine skiing's blue-ribbon event and 2002 Olympic luge champion Armin Zoeggeler delivered Italy's first Turin gold.

    Kwan's decade-long chase of an elusive Olympic gold came to a sad end Sunday morning since she had worsened her injury in Saturday's practice.

    "It's one of the toughest decisions I've had to make, but I know that it's the right one," Kwan said in a press conference.

    Exquisite as well as hardworking, Kwan has won an unprecedented 42 championships, including five world championships, eight consecutive and nine overall US championships titles.

    The day's last event saw three-time world champion Ahn Hyun-Sooclinch the Games' first short track gold in 2:25.341 seconds, 0.259 clear of his teammate. Chinese Li Jiajun picked a bronze in his fourth Olympics.

    Defending champion Apolo Anton Ohno from the United States tripped in a semifinal and didn't make it to the six-men final.

    To the great joy of the host country, Zoeggeler totaled 3:26.088 for four runs to win the luge title, beating Russia's Albert Demtschenko and Latvia's Martins Rubenisinto into second and third.

    The Olympic swansong for Georg Hackl didn't go well as the German collector of three Olympic golds and two silvers ended seventh, finishing out of the medals for the only time in six Olympic appearances.

    Frenchman Deneriaz stole victory from heavily favored Austrian Michael Walchhofer to become Olympic downhill champion.

    Deneriaz, who has not won a World Cup race in more than two years, beat World Cup holder Walchhofer by 0.72 seconds and defending champ Bruno Kernen of Switzerland by 1.02.

    Cross-country skier Kristina Smigun won Estonia's first Turin gold as she swept past Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic in the final stretch of the women's 15km pursuit event.

    Russia's Eugeni Dementiev also staged a comeback victory to winthe men's 30km pursuit. Norway's Frode Estil, dual Olympic champion, took the silver and Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer picked the bronze.

    Shaun White, nicknamed "Flying Potato" for his strikingly red hair, led a U.S. 1-2 ahead of teammate Danny Kass in the men's snowboard half-pipe. Finland's Markuu Koski took the bronze.

    Ireen Wust, 19, led a Dutch 1-2 finish in the women's 3,000m speedskating, with world champion Cindy Klassen in third place.

    Cheered on by hundreds of countrymen, Wust clocked a winning time of 4:02.43 seconds, fastest time of her career. Renate Groenewold took her second consecutive silver in the event in 4:03.48.

    Following a two-silver, two-bronze finish on Saturday, Norway finally struck gold in the ski jumping, where Lars Bystoel grabbed the normal hill individual event.

    The 27-year-old sealed victory with a final jump of 103.5 meters, as Finland's Matti Hautamaeki took the silver and another Norwegian Roar Ljoekelsoey the bronze.

    Four gold medals are up for grabs on Monday. Enditem