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BERLIN, March 26 (Reuters) - The fate of a doping-tainted U.S. Olympic relay gold medal is expected to be sealed next month at an International Olympic Committee meeting in Dubai, the IOC said on Friday.

The women’s 4x400 metres relay team could be stripped of their Athens 2004 Olympics gold medal after relay alternate Crystal Cox was handed a four-year ban earlier this year for using banned substances between 2001 and 2004.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - The stakes for Sunday's Olympic men's ice hockey match between the United States and Canada have suddenly been raised.

With the gold medal and national pride already on the line, President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have added to the friendly border rivalry by betting on the result.

The pair have wagered a case of beer on the outcome with the leader on the winning side buying the loser a little something to drown their sorrows, according to Harper's office.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Slovakian ice hockey player Lubomir Visnovsky tested positive for the banned drug pseudoephedrine at the Vancouver Olympics and received a reprimand, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday.

Visnovsky is the first athlete to test positive for drugs since the February 12-28 Games started.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - At the end of their six-year race for Olympic glory, the organizers of the Vancouver Games could be forgiven for looking a little smug.

The VANOC organizing committee, headed by an Irishman who once captained Gaelic football teams, overcame world recession, bankrupt sponsors and fears that spectators would stay away in droves to deliver a Games that they say came in on time and on budget, and with every ticket sold.

"We have not changed our projections. We expect to finish the games with a balanced budget," VANOC head John Furlong said as the Games wrapped up.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Canada bagged another two gold medals on the penultimate day of the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Saturday to ensure they will finish at the top of the medal standings.

It will be the first time Canada has ever topped the medal standings at either the Winter or Summer Olympics following a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes.

Just a week ago, Canada were languishing on four golds amid public demands for a full-scale investigation into their failure to win more, but have piled up another eight golds in the past six days to soar past their rivals.

WHISTLER (Reuters) - Austria looked to reigning champion Benjamin Raich on Saturday to grab a medal in the final slalom and stave off their worst Olympic performance for 74 years in men's Alpine skiing.

Raich was third after a first run in atrocious conditions, 0.54 seconds behind Italian leader Giuliano Razzoli, with several leading contenders skiing out in the darkening gloom and sleet.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Clumsiness, bad luck and Apolo Anton Ohno scuppered South Korea's usual short track domination at the Vancouver Olympics, allowing China to take their place and dream of a 2014 clean sweep.

When Lee Ho-suk knocked over his team mate Sung Si-bak metres before the finish line in the final of the 1,500 meters two weeks ago to cost them both a medal, it was just the start of the mishaps for the discipline's most decorated country. The misery continued when the women's relay team were disqualified for impeding. They were already waving flags and on a victory lap when the result flashed up that the gold was China's instead.

WHISTLER (Reuters) - The United States swept almost half of the Olympic medals in the Nordic combined event, a breakthrough that officials and athletes said was crucial to boosting the popularity of what is a niche sport.

Nordic combined -- which involves a single ski jump in the morning and a 10 km cross country race in the afternoon -- is most common in Europe but lags behind cross-country, biathlon, and ski jumping.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Any city that puts red woolen Olympic mittens on statues of local heroes is likely to be a loving one.

Vancouver did not deceive on that front, giving athletes and visitors to the Winter Games a welcome as warm as a striped Hudson's Bay blanket on a snowy night.

The people were unfailingly polite, and yet funny and laid back -- whether they were bus drivers, a homeless man in the park or acclaimed Canadian actor Donald Sutherland.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - The Swedish women, led by veteran Anette Norberg, blocked out a high-decibel crowd cheering for Canada to knock over the home team in a tense match and defend their Olympic curling gold medal.

Norberg suffered some rare miscues early on but fought back to beat Cheryl Bernard's Canadians 7-6 in the extra end.