15 février 2006

Receives Valentine's Day gift after race
Reporter helps husband send flowers

PRAGELATO, ITALY—Sara Renner wore a big, shiny silver medal around her neck but there still seemed to be something missing.

The cross-country skier, who teamed with Beckie Scott to capture silver in the women's team sprint yesterday, received a telephone call from her ecstatic husband, alpine skier Thomas Grandi, while doing post-race interviews. Grandi is training in a small village four hours away for next week's giant slalom.

"He totally forgot about Valentine's Day," said Renner, flashing her megawatt smile. "We were just too focused on my racing. It's like a special exemption for the Olympics."

Well, it turned out Renner was in for a surprise.

Grandi had actually made Valentine's Day arrangements with the help of a female reporter from the Italian sports daily La Gazetto Dello Sport. She interviewed him by phone Monday and asked about his Valentine's plans for his wife. When he told her he was going to send flowers, she said she was near a flower shop and could make the arrangements.

"I'll pay her back when I see her," he said.

Renner's Olympic medal could force a change in the Renner/Grandi household. After Grandi won back-to-back World Cup races last season and she won a bronze at the world championships, she insisted their hardware not go on display in their Canmore, Alta., home.

"I just told the guys, whether Sara likes it or not, I'm going to build a trophy case," said Grandi.

Grandi, a winner of two World Cup medals this season, said his wife's success has pumped him up even more for his own races.

"Sara and I are a team," he said. "Our team just won a medal. If she does good, it takes lot of pressure off me. No matter what happens, the Olympics are successful from this point forward. I couldn't be happier. I feel like a little part of that medal is mine, too."

Renner expects her success to rub off on Grandi.

"We work well, like a tag team."

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