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Space shuttle Endeavour took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8 for the International Space Station, and returned Sunday evening. (Terry Renna/Associated Press)

The space shuttle Endeavour, carrying six astronauts, touched down in Florida on Sunday evening despite some earlier weather concerns.

NASA said the shuttle landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center at 10:20 p.m. ET.

Earlier in the day, the agency had said rain and cloudy conditions there and at its backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California might force it to postpone the landing. But the weather improved at the Kennedy Space Center as the day proceeded, making it acceptable for the landing, NASA said.

Astronauts George Zamka and Terry Virts were at Endeavour’s controls as the shuttle made its glide to the Kennedy runway, the agency said.

The astronauts wrapped up a two-week mission that started Feb. 8 to deliver equipment and install a seven-window observation deck at the International Space Station, bringing the 11-year-ancient orbiting outpost to 98 per cent of completion.

There are four remaining shuttle flights to the space station scheduled, to stock the space station with more supplies, spare parts and experiments.

This was Endeavour’s 10th trip to the space station.

Germany’s Andre Lange, right, and Kevin Kuske won Olympic gold in the two-man bobsleigh competition at the Whistler Sliding Centre on Sunday. (Michael Sohn/Associated Press)

Germany’s Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske became the most successful athletes in Olympic bobsleigh history Sunday night.

The duo won their fourth Olympic gold medal after posting a combined time of three minutes 26.65 seconds in four runs at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Lange was the Olympic champion in the two-man in 2002, and continued his gold streak in the two-man and four-man events in 2006. The six-foot-five-inch, 255-pound Kuske, was the brakeman for each of those teams.

On Sunday, Germany’s Thomas Florschuetz and Richard Adjei won the silver medal with a cumulative time of 3:26.87.

Russia’s Alexsandr Zubkov and Alexey Voevoda claimed the bronze in 3:27.51.

Lueders misses podium

Sitting sixth after three runs, Canada’s Pierre Lueders, making his fifth and likely final Olympic appearance, had an outside chance of reaching the podium.

The veteran pilot and his brakeman, Jesse Lumsden of the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, finished strong with a final run of 51.94 seconds.

Lueders and Lumsden’s combined time of 3:27.87 place them in fifth place, just three-10ths of a second off the bronze-medal mark set by the Russians.

It was a respectable end for Lueders, the most celebrated bobsleigh athlete in Canada. The Edmonton native was a silver medallist in 2006 and the Olympic champion in 1998.

Rush finishes strong

Canada’s Lyndon Rush raced remarkably well in his third and fourth runs after a devastating crash on Saturday place him and brakeman Lascelles Brown out of podium contention.

The duo tipped coming out of Turn 13 and overturned during their second run.

Rush, whose steering mistake on Turn 11 triggered the crash, said he let down his brakeman.

“[Brown] pushed like a champion,” said Rush. “He deserves better than that. I really let him down.”

Three other sleds — from Liechtenstein, Fantastic Britain and Australia — tipped over on Saturday.

Brown received ice burns on his shoulders in Saturday’s crash. He did not race on Sunday, making sure he was ready for the four-man event, which starts on Friday.

Rush finished his third and fourth runs with David Bisset, a member of the four-man team, as his brakeman. The duo raced well, posting a combined time of 3:30.46 to end in 15th place.

Ottawa’s Kristina Groves is Canada’s first multiple medallist at the Vancouver Games. (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Canadian speedskater Kristina Groves won her second medal of the Vancouver Games on Sunday, a silver in the women’s 1,500 metres.

Ireen Wust of the Netherlands took gold in a time of one minute 56.89 seconds at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic won bronze, her second medal of the Olympics after winning the 3,000.

Groves, of Ottawa, Ont., became Canada’s first multiple medallist of these Games and now has four career Olympic medals. She won bronze last week in the 3,000 to add to her collection of two silver from the Torino Games.

The 33-year-ancient Groves skated in the next-to-last pairing and was ahead of Wust’s times in the first two splits but couldn’t hang on in the final quarter of the race. Her time was 1:57.14.

“That was a small disappointing for sure,” said Groves. “I just had maybe too much excitement. But Ireen skated incredible, I’m really pleased for her. She’s a fantastic competitor.”

Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont., also had a chance to reach the podium for a second time in the Games.

Nesbitt, too, seemed to be flirting with the gold over the first half of the final pairing with Jennifer Rodriguez of the United States, but faded down the stretch to land in sixth.

Groves and Nesbitt had split evenly four of the five World Cup races in the 1,500 this season, with Wust winning the other contest.

“I didn’t reckon it was a terrible race, I thought it was a pretty excellent race really,” said Groves. “I reckon I skated way better than I did in my 1,000 technically, I just reckon the 1,000 took a lot more out of me than I realized. I didn’t realize how much stress and pressure I had on myself until afterwards.”

Canada now has four gold, four silver and one bronze at the Vancouver Olympics.

Six-time Olympic medallist Cindy Klassen of Winnipeg came in 21st.

It was a very disappointing day for Brittany Schussler. The Winnipeg native is fifth in the World Cup 1,500 standings this season, but came in 35th.

Wust had to wait for three pairings to see if her time would hold up. Just 23, she now has three medals, having won gold in the 3,000 and bronze in the 1,500 in Torino.

Dutch skater Annette Gerritsen, the silver medallist in the 1,000, took over the lead in the eighth pairing with a Richmond oval record of 1:58.46.

Nao Kodaira of Japan and Margot Boer of the Netherlands then took their turns with the best time before Wust lowered the standard.

Boer was fourth, one spot ahead of Kodaira, with Gerritsen in seventh.

The 30-year-ancient Klassen won gold at the Torino Games in the 1,500 and holds the world record at the distance, a 1:51.79 time set on the quick Salt Lake City track in 2005.

Anni Friesinger-Postma set the Olympic record on the same Utah track in 2002, winning gold in 1:54.02. The four-time Olympic medallist finished ninth on Sunday in Richmond.

The final individual race for women is the 5,000, to take place on Wednesday. Groves and veteran Clara Hughes of Glen Sutton, Que., are Canada’s most likely hopes.

Canada is well poised in the team pursuit, to take place on Saturday and Sunday. Groves, Nesbitt and Schussler set a world record of 2:55.79 in Calgary in December.

With files from The Canadian Press