Ski officials finally gave the green light for the opening alpine races  of the Winter Olympics  as Germany's Felix Loch won an emotion-charged final of the disaster-hit luge.

Adverse weather has hampered the staging of the men's opening downhill, and the training for the women's super-combined, but after meetings the International Ski Federation (ISF) said it was "very optimistic" both events could be held on Monday.

"If the weather forecast for Monday is correct we will have minus five (Celsius) in the finish area and minus seven to eight at the start," said men's race director Guenter Hujara.

"If this is true then we will have perfect race conditions."

It was shot in the arm for organisers who have been struggling to get the Games on track after the horrific death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and persistent weather woes.

The men's luge finals went ahead but with the circuit shortened and modified, as the men raced lower down from the women's start for safety reasons. Loch led a German 1-2 with compatriot David Moeller finishing second and Italy's Armin Zoeggler third.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Apolo Anton Ohno glided around the ice with a U.S. flag tucked under an arm, flashing a handful of fingers plus one. That makes six, as in matching Bonnie Blair as the most decorated Winter Olympian from the United States.

This one was a silver in the 1,500 meters, and it typified the wild world of short-track speedskating. Ohno was fourth going into the last turn when two of the three Koreans in front of him wiped out, giving him a clear stretch to the finish line behind Lee Jung-su of South Korea.

It also paved the way to bronze for J.R. Celski, just five months after the blade of his right skate sliced his left thigh to the bone during a crash at the U.S. short track championships.

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RICHMOND, British Columbia – It took Sven Kramer barely six minutes to shake off four years of Olympic frustration. The Dutch speedskater claimed the only major trophy that had eluded him — Olympic gold — with a games record in the 5,000 meters.

The 23-year-old pre-race favorite won in 6 minutes, 14.60, shaving six hundredths of a second off Jochem Uytdehaage's Olympic record set at altitude in Salt Lake City in 2002.

"I was dying in the end, so I think it was one of my hardest, and even my best race ever," Kramer said.

Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea, who only entered the race because he failed to make the South Korean short track team, was second in 6:16.95. Ivan Skobrev of Russia was third in 6:18.05.

Only two years after switching from short track, Lee was the shock of the day with his silver.

"This is a dream and a surprise," he said.

After winning world and European titles, Kramer finally got the gold he had been waiting for since he finished with silver and bronze in Turin four years ago. There to see it were Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Crown Prince Willem Alexander.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Boxed out by the South Koreans, with all hope of a medal appearing lost, Apolo Anton Ohno could only count on the freakishness of short track to pull it out.

When two skaters ahead of him went sliding into the padding, Ohno stuck his skate across the line and Olympic medal No. 6 was his.

The American who made the soul patch fashionable — even the women were wearin' em — pulled out a silver in the 1,500-meter final when two South Koreans took each other out on the final turn, allowing Ohno to tie Bonnie Blair for most medals won by a U.S. Winter Olympian.

Korea still got the gold, which went to Lee Jung-su, out front and out of the trouble that gobbled up his teammates. But Ohno had no complaints about being the runner-up, especially when he was fourth with just a few meters to go. It didn't hurt to see 19-year-old American teammate J.R. Celski right behind, taking bronze in his first major event since a gruesome crash at the U.S. trials.

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 A snowboarder soared through the Olympic rings and skiers schussed down mountains in the unlikely confines of a stadium as Canada whipped up a wintry wilderness for Friday's opening of the 2010 Winter Games.

Vancouver staged the first indoor opening ceremony in the 86-year history of the Winter Games, an ironic choice for a nation with more outdoors than almost any other place as the world's second largest country.

On the big white canvas of BC Place, Canada painted starry skies, polar bears, blue ice and indigenous icons, with the participation of 60,000 "pixels" (spectators and athletes) to welcome the world to its cold yet coveted paradise. In what appeared to be the sole glitch of the night, only three of the four giant icicles supporting an Olympic cauldron emerged from the floor.

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British Columbia – The Olympic cauldron has been lit to open the XXI Winter Games. One of the cauldron lights didn't work, however, so only three of the final torchbearers actually lit the flame. The final torchbearers were hockey great Wayne Gretzky, NBA All-Star Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene and speedskater Catriona LeMay Doan, who was stuck posing and holding her torch.

Gretzky is en route to light a second Olympic cauldron in Vancouver's downtown waterfront area. The Olympic sports competitions begin Saturday and run through Feb. 28. The ceremony was marked by tributes to 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili of the republic of Georgia, who died after going off the track and hitting a steel pylon during a luge training run.

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British Columbia – Olympic officials have decided to make some changes to the track at the Whistler Sliding Center following the death of a 21-year-old luger in a horrific training crash Friday morning.

Officials from the International Luge Federation and the Vancouver 2010 organizing committee say their investigation found "no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track." They said the track would reopen Saturday morning with changes "to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again."

The wall will be raised at the exit of Curve 16, the last on the course and where Nodar Kumaritashvili of the republic of Georgia lost control, went airborne and slammed into a steel pole, and other unspecified changes will be made to the ice.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. WHISTLER, British Columbia (AP) — It took only three seconds. Sliding faster than ever in his life, 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili had one turn left in his final Olympic training run. Flirting with 90 mph on a $100 million track pushing speed to the outer limits, the luger from the republic of Georgia tilted his head slightly forward as his sled climbed the high-banked wall. His last move.

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British Columbia – The show went on — with grief and a closing glitch. The Olympics' opening ceremonies unfolded in a mostly jubilant atmosphere, with an upbeat crowd filling BC Place Stadium only hours after a luger from the country of Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a horrific training-run crash at Whistler.

After several somber pauses during the show to pay respects to him, the much-awaited surprise ending went awry. One huge piece of the set failed to rise from the stadium floor, and left one of the four final torchbearers, speedskater Catriona LeMay Doan, unable to use her torch.

The ceremonies were dedicated to Kumaritashvili, and a moment of silence was observed in his memory. The seven remaining members of the Georgian team, who decided to stay and compete, wore black armbands as they marched behind a black-trimmed flag. Most of the crowd rose to give respectful applause.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge and the top Vancouver organizer, John Furlong, urged the athletes to compete in Kumaritashvili's honor.

"May you carry his Olympic dream on your shoulders and compete with his spirit in your heart," Furlong said.

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Vancouver 2010 Olympics Schedule: 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremony at Vancouver is scheduled from 12 to 28 February. This mega event will be officially inaugurated by Michaelle Jean (Governor General).The event will happen in Vancouver, Canada and British Columbia. The inaugurating ceremony of the 2010 Olympics would serve as an excellent platform for exposing to the worldwide audience the true Canada.

With regard to expenditure this event is the second most luxurious event in the history of Olympics. The Canadian artistes will make the event more bright, colorful and vibrant through their cultural diversities and linguistic duality. “To Inspire the World” is the theme of this mega event.

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Thousands of spectators will gather in downtown Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony Friday, as anticipation builds to see which athletes will take home Olympic gold. But many viewers at home may be almost as excited to see which stars will perform at the Winter Olympics' grand kick-off.

Thanks to a few spies at the event's dress rehearsal, and a commercial for the Vancouver games that aired during an episode of Saturday Night Live, the names of likely opening ceremony performers have been leaked, reports People.  Canadians Nelly Furtado, Sarah McLachlan and Bryan Adams are all likely bets for Friday's performance, although program details for the opening ceremonies have yet to be disclosed by Vancouver Olympic organizers. According to a Toronto Sun report, the above-named singers were spotted arriving at the dress rehearsal this week.  People.com predicts that rockers Rush and jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky, also Canadians, are sure bets as well. There is no yet word on whether other Canadian A-listers, like Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion, will perform at any time during the games.

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