Latvian Finishes 70th: Gets Medal

"Well, it wasn't a real medal," modestly noted Latvian cross-country skier Anete Brice who finished 70th in the women's 10-kilometer freestyle. "It was the cardboard medal which comes on a bottle of Zelonaya Marka vodka which President Zatlers had just finished. He took it off the bottleneck and hung it around a button on my coat."
Brice's 70th-place finish is the highest finish ever recorded for Latvia, three places better than its 1988 finish in Seoul, Korea. "What this shows," said Latvia's ski coach Maris Lazo, "is that our 'Just Show Up' program is producing results. Latvia's flag will proudly fly today." As Latvia's President Zatlers awarded Brice the Zelonaya Marka medal his wife produced a small Latvian flag from her pocket and hummed the anthem. Brice is a native of Cesis, Latvia, and was awarded a seven-year-old Citroen by the Latvian parliament only moments after her victory. According to Latvian custom the automobile's windows will be smoked and after-market alloy wheels installed.