Austria

Austria revives memories with a coin honoring the Marshall Plan. The last of an eight-coin series, "Austria Through the Ages," the 20-euro silver piece marks postwar Austria's emergence from four-power governance from 1945 to 1955. The coin shows soldiers from the four nations riding in a jeep. Banners depicting agriculture and reconstruction hang below the letters ERP (for European Recovery Program) and "Marshall-Plan. " Austria's eagle is on the reverse, along with the 2003 date.

Petra Kronberger of Austria became a double gold medalist today by winning the slalom. First-run leader Julie Parisien of the United States faded badly in the afternoon and finished fourth. Annelise Coeberger gave New Zealand its first winter sports medal by rallying from eighth place to second, and Blanca Fernandez Ochoa of Spain was third. Kronberger completed two runs in 1 minute, 32.68 seconds, .42 faster than Coeberger and .67 ahead of Ochoa. Meanwhile, Evgeni Redkine of the Unified Team won the men's 20-kilometer biathlon race today.

Kurt Waldheim easily won a six-year term as Austria's president yesterday, as voters shrugged off months of allegations that the former secretary-general of the United Nations covered up his service in Adolf Hitler's army and approved or knew about Nazi atrocities. With all votes tabulated, Waldheim, the candidate of the conservative People's Party, had captured 53.9 percent of the 4.7 million ballots cast in a runoff election with Socialist Kurt Steyrer, according to the Interior Ministry.

Just about two years ago, Eliza Hastings picked up an oar for the first time. Later this month, the Agnes Irwin senior will be representing the United States at the Junior World Rowing Championships in Austria. The Berwyn resident was among 18 young women selected for the U.S. team that will be competing July 22-27 in Linz/Ottensheim. She's now training with the U.S. team at Princeton University. Hastings went through two weeks of selection camp in New London, Conn., to make the team.

Clara Husak, 90, a native of Austria who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1910, died Friday at her home in Rhawnhurst. Mrs. Husak was born Likeria Cherkas in Vikno, Austria. At age 10, she left Austria with two of her eight siblings and sailed to the United States, eventually arriving in the port of Philadelphia. The family settled in Brewerytown. It was there, in 1918, that she met and married Alexander Husak. The couple had four children. While raising the family, Mrs. Husak also worked at the former Lincoln Liberty Building at Broad and Chestnut Streets as a maintenance employee.

The euro, beginning as circulating coinage, is steadily gaining collectors' versions as members of the European Union expand their nationalistic identities in metal. Austria has just issued its first silver 20-euro coin celebrating the Renaissance. The coin is the fifth in a series that began in 2000 with schilling denominations. The next four coins in this "Austria through the ages" series will have euro valuations. All coins are struck in .900 fine silver. The new silver proof coin depicts Ferdinand I, the first of the Hapsburgs.

Now that Kurt Waldheim has been elected president of Austria, the international community must, sadly, heed the observation of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan that his election amounts to an act of symbolic amnesty for the Holocaust. The Austrian presidency is largely an honorary position. It is supposed to represent high moral ground, to be above politics, to be a voice of conscience that rises above ordinary political considerations. But the election of Mr. Waldheim as head of state means that the currency of this office has been debased - and, further, that it will remain so for the six years he is expected to occupy it. To their credit, some 46 percent of the electorate did not vote for him. Yes, Kurt Waldheim did win nearly 54 percent of the votes cast.

Ben Johnson of Canada yesterday ran his best time in a 100-meter race since returning to competition after the expiration last September of his two-year ban for steroid use. His time of 10.31 seconds placed him sixth at an international meet in Linz, Austria. American Dennis Mitchell won in 10.03 seconds, the victory following his triumph over Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis in Lille, France, on Monday. Jamaican Ray Stewart was second in 10.18. U.S. runners dominated the track events.

British historian David Irving was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday on charges that he denied the Holocaust, just hours after admitting he had been wrong to doubt the systematic murder of millions of Jews. To supporters, and even some critics, the other crime on trial was the oppression of free speech. "The way the law is written, I didn't have any other choice but to plead guilty," Irving said. He had faced as much as 10 years in prison. Irving, 67, heads to prison for statements he made during a lecture in Austria in 1989, when he said that the gas chambers of Auschwitz were a fairy tale.

With Jennifer Capriati kicked off the team, the United States suffered an embarrassing first-round defeat to Austria yesterday in the Federation Cup in Charlotte, N.C. The Americans, winners of a record 17 titles, were eliminated when Barbara Schwartz upset Fed Cup rookie Meghann Shaughnessy, the fill-in at No. 1 singles after Capriati's ouster by captain Billie Jean King for breaking a team rule prohibiting her from practicing on her own. ...

LINDSEY VONN topped the Alpine World Cup prize money list after capturing 12 events to win her fourth women's overall title. The American earned $608,000, finishing ahead of Marcel Hirscher , of Austria. The men's overall champion won nine times to receive $509,000. The International Ski Federation published the money list yesterday, a day after the season ended at Schladming, Austria. FIS requires minimum prize money of $110,000 per race. Soccer *  A friend of Fabrice Muamba told the Associated Press that the Bolton midfielder has started speaking again, 2 days after his cardiac arrest during a match.

L INDSEY VONN won a downhill by nearly a second yesterday in Schladming, Austria, for her 12th victory of the season, the second-highest total in World Cup history. It also was the American's 17th top-three finish in a race this season, one short of the World Cup record. Vonn, who clinched her fourth overall title last week and her fifth consecutive downhill title last month, finished the race in 1 minute, 46.56 seconds. That was 0.92 ahead of Marion Rolland , of France. "This definitely is my best season ever.

Venus Williams returned from a five-month layoff, and Serena Williams and Christina McHale won singles matches Sunday in Worcester, Mass., sending the U.S. team past Belarus, 5-0, in the first round of the Fed Cup. By blanking Belarus in World Group II, the Americans head to a playoff in April in hopes of playing their way back into the top tier of the Fed Cup after getting bounced last year. Tomas Berdych won his seventh career title, beating defending champion Gael Monfils , 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in the Open Sud de France final in Montpellier.

A career milestone and a rare family reunion. All of which left Lindsey Vonn in tears, and it made for a perfect day in Garmisch-Parten-Kirchen, Germany. Vonn captured her 50th World Cup victory Saturday, winning the downhill on the demanding Kandahar course with temperatures plunging to minus 13. "Fifty World Cup wins is a huge mark for me in my career and more than I even thought possible. I just wanted the 50th win," Vonn said. Few skiers reach the 50-win landmark.

HOLY GHOST PREP sophomore defenseman Kevin Kerr will arrive in Innsbruck, Austria, today to represent the United States in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games. Kerr, a Bensalem native, is one of 17 players representing 11 states. He is the only skater from Pennsylvania. The Innsbruck games, which will host 1,059 athletes from 60 countries, are for youth athletes from ages 14-18 to compete in the same seven sports that will be represented in Sochi, Russia, at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Big East will announce the additions of Boise State and San Diego State as football-only members and Houston, Central Florida, and SMU for all sports, the Star-Ledger of New Jersey reported Tuesday. The five schools will join in 2013. Temple still is considered a football-only backup possibility if Navy or Air Force or both decide not to join the league for football. But nobody is suggesting that is likely right now. Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, and TCU all have left the conference in recent months.

VIENNA, Austria - Lederhosen-clad Tyrolean guardsmen hoisted Otto von Habsburg's coffin onto their shoulders Saturday, carrying the oldest son of Austria's last emperor to rest in a pomp-filled ceremony evocative of the country's past grandeur as a ruler of much of Europe. Austria shed its imperial past after it lost World War I. But for six hours, the pageantry, color, and ceremony accompanying the Habsburg burial turned downtown Vienna into the imperial city that was once the hub of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

What a U.S. dollar buys (in commercial trades; consumer rates may be lower) Country   June 30   Year ago    Australia (dollar)    0.95   1.19    Austria (euro)    0.70   0.80    Belgium (euro)    0.70   0.80    Britain (pound)    0.61   0.66    Canada (dollar)    0.98   1.06    Denmark (krone)    5.25   5.97    France (euro)    0.70   0.80    Germany (euro)