5 things to know about the Sochi Olympics

SOCHI, Russia (AP) - Fast five, Wednesday edition: Five things you’ll want to know about the 2014 Winter Olympics.

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LIGETY SPLIT: Ted Ligety won the giant slalom at the Sochi Games with a dominating performance Wednesday, becoming the first American man to win two Olympic gold medals in Alpine skiing. Ligety finished his two runs in 2 minutes, 45.29 seconds. His first gold came in combined at the 2006 Turin Games as a 21-year-old. The only other American to win two Olympic golds in Alpine skiing was Andrea Mead Lawrence, in the 1952 Oslo Games.

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BUBKA SPEAKS: Sergei Bubka, the pole vault great who heads the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, is urging both sides in Ukraine’s political crisis to lay down their weapons and halt the violence that is bringing the country to “the brink of catastrophe.” Bubka issued his call after clashes between riot police and anti-government protesters left at least 25 people dead and 240 injured in Kiev, the worst violence in the country’s post-Soviet history.

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WILD WIN: Vic Wild of Russia won Olympic gold in men’s snowboard parallel giant slalom. It’s Russia’s sixth gold medal of the Sochi Games.

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WOMEN’S HOCKEY CLASH: The women’s hockey game everyone has been waiting for has nearly arrived. Canada and the United States, the two teams that have dominated international play, will face off in the gold medal game on Thursday. It’s the fourth time in five Olympics the two teams will meet for the championship. Canada defenseman Jocelyne Larocque says it’s going to be “just another game.”

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MEDAL MOVERS: Norway won two gold medals and a silver on Tuesday to be the biggest medal mover of the day, jumping to second behind Germany in the overall medal standings through 67 of 98 events. All of Norway’s 18 medals in Sochi are in snow sports.

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