Ammann and Bjoerndalen win second gold medals

Norway powered to the top of the medals table on Wednesday after biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won his second gold of the Salt Lake City Olympics and skier Kjetil Andre Aamodt a record sixth in his career.

Germany also won two golds while Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann, a baby-faced 20-year-old, followed his shock win on the normal hill with another nerveless performance on the high hill to become only the second jumper to win both individual golds.

But the controversy over the judging of the pairs final continued to overshadow the 17-day Games and Olympic officials were so concerned at the bad publicity that they told figure skating's ruling body to sort it out as quickly as possible.

Aamodt was favourite for the combined gold but the race developed into a thriller after an all-or-nothing charge by American Bode Miller in the slalom leg.

Miller was fifth after the downhill, 2.44 seconds behind Aamodt, but he cut the gap to just 0.28 at the end. The 30-year-old Norwegian won a gold 10 years ago in Albertville and now has more medals than any other Olympic skier.

"If you were judging certainly by ski racing and the number of medals, then you would have to say he's the best athlete in the world," Miller said of Aamodt.

Bjoerndalen's win in the 10 km biathlon was almost routine as he is the dominant figure in the discipline and won the sprint race in Nagano four years ago.

Perfect marksmanship on his 10 shots ensured the 28-year-old added to his gold in Monday's 20 km race.

In the women's 7.5 km sprint event, German Kati Wilhelm's decision to switch from cross-country skiing to biathlon paid off handsomely with gold on a good day for her country.

Double world champion Sylke Otto extended Germany's love affair with the women's single luge as she led team mates Barbara Niedernhuber and defending champion Silke Kraushaar to a sweep of the medals.

Norway now leads the medals table with five golds while Germany have the most medals of any colour - 12.

South Korea, always a force in short track speed skating, opened their medal account with gold - 15-year-old Ko Gi-Hyun - and silver - 17-year-old Choi Eun-Kyung - in the first women's 1,500 meters final at an Olympics.

AMMANN JUBILATION

Ammann sparked wild celebrations at home after he equalled the two-gold feat of Finn Matti Nykanen at the 1988 Calgary Games. "This is a crazy day, a crazy week," Ammann said. "I never thought I would win again."

Ammann was level with Sven Hannawald of Germany after the first round. Displaying complete mastery of technique and his nerves, Ammann produced a giant final jump of 133.0 meters.

Poland's Adam Malysz, the bronze medallist on Sunday behind Hannawald and Ammann, took the silver medal this time with Finn Matti Hautamaeki third.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge met his International Skating Union (ISU) counterpart Ottavio Cinquanta to express his concern that the judging controversy was overshadowing the medal exploits of other athletes.

The judges' decision to award the gold to Russian pair Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze ahead of Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier was widely condemned and the ISU announced its own inquiry 12 hours after Monday's final.

On Wednesday Cinquanta said referee Ron Pfenning had made "certain allegations" about the judging. Media reports have alleged bloc voting and trade-offs between the judges.

"While the IOC trusts the ISU will take all appropriate decisions, we would like to emphasize the high urgency of the matter and the need to take adequate action as quickly as possible," a letter from Rogge to Cinquanta said.