February 25, 2002

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column praises play in Olympic hockey tournament, saying great players raise each others' games to new level; particular note is made of gold medal game between United States and Canada, won by Canada, 5-2; photo (M)

United States wins unprecedented 34 medals at Winter Olympic Games, more medals than in last three games combined; Americans finish only one short of 35 medals won by top nation, Germany, which dominates biathlon, luge and bobsled events; American athletes grab medals throughout 16 days of events, buoyed by hometown crowd and familiarity of venues, by doing well relatively new extreme-sports and by benefiting from financial support of United States Olympic Committee; home advantage has helped raise medal count of many host nations in past olympics; chart (M)

Canada wins gold medal in hockey tournament, its first gold in 50 years, defeating United States, 5-2; US takes silver medal and Russia wins bronze; photo (M)

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg's proposal to end 5-cent redemption program for returned bottles and cans would inadvertently destroy livelihood of many poor and homeless people who spend their days collecting and redeeming cans and bottles, making $15 to $30 a night; under Bloomberg's plan, buyers would still pay extra nickel but city would keep deposit for itself, using redemption money to rebuild recycling program that mayor says has become economically untenable in tough times; big redemption centers and supermarket redemption machines would be eliminated; world of so-called redeemers was never deliberately created; New York State's 20-year-old bottle-deposit law was environmental legislation that only spilled over accidentally into odd economic niche; it created market for something that poor could easily and legally obtain, and that New York City in particular creates in vast abundance; mayor's proposal illuminates how intensely complicated and intertwined happenstance convergence of waste disposal, recycling and poverty have become; photos (M)

Medical team in Boston corrects deadly heart defect in fetus for first time in United States; surgeons at Brigham and Women's Hospital's Children's Hospital open fetus's pinched aortic valve during 23d week of pregnancy, preventing devastating disorder, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which left ventricle stops growing and becomes scarred and useless; untreated, condition is fatal soon after birth; traditional treatment has involved three heart operations, with 30 percent death rate and with many survivors ultimately needing heart transplants; estimated 600 to 1,400 children a year are born in US with this syndrome; diagram showing procedure (M)