nstead, the years caught up with her. A hot favorite to at least medal in Sunday's race, the 41-year-old faded badly in the final two laps and missed out on a chance to medal at six games and push her tally into double figures.
After she was forced to skip the Vancouver Games because of a hotly contested doping suspension, she vowed revenge. Instead, she finished 1.79 seconds behind bronze medalist Olga Graf of Russia. "For me it is hard to be fourth. Now I hope for the race of my life in the 5,000," she said of the longest distance race where she has already won 3 golds, a silver and bronze over 22 years. She has said it will be her last Olympic race.
Gold would make her the oldest Winter Games champion in an individual event - Ole Einar Bjoerndalen holds that honor after winning the biathlon 10-kilometer sprint at age 40 on Saturday. It would also make her one of the most outstanding Olympians of all time.
