The results. (XVIth Olympic Winter Games)

BIATHLON

Saso Grajf from Slovenia in the
20 km.

Background Information

Biathlon, which became part of the winter
Olympic progrmme for the first time at
Squaw Valley in 1960, combines cross
country skiing and shooting. In Albertville,
there were womens competitions for the
first time. Six events were scheduled. for
men, tile 10 km and 20 km and the 4 x 7.5
km relay; for women, the 7.5 km, 1.5 km
and the 3 x 75 km relay.

The courses are less difficult than

cross-country trails, athletes carrying on
their backs a 22 long rifle weighing 4.5 kg.

The individual events are against the clock,
with starts every minute. The relay contes-

tants line up for the start, the one who

arrives first wins. The races are freestyle,

with the skating step widely, used.

The shooting range was near the stat

and finish area, giving spectators

good

overall Lien, of the competitive. Athletes
carry out several series of shots at the tar-

gets, each with five objectives, which are

50 m away and, for the first time at the
Games in Les Saisies, electronic. The
biathlete, who may shoot in standing or

prone position, has 5 cartridges for individ-

ual events and 8 in relay. Each objective
missed incurs a time penalty (one minute
for the 15 and 20 km events, and office
round the penalty, loop for the 7.5 and 10
km events and the relay).

164

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

MEN’S 10 KM

1 KIRCHNER, Mark GER

2 GROSS, Ricco GER
3 ELORANTA, Harri FIN
4 TCHEPIKOV, Serguei EUN
5 KIRIENKO, Valeri EUN
6 STEINIGEN, Jens CER
7 ZINCERLE, Andreas ITA

26’02”3
26’18”0
26’26”6
26’27”5
26’31”8
26’34”8
26’38”6

8 CYR, Steve CAN 26’46”4

MEN’S 4 X 7.5 KM

1 GER

2 EUN
3 SWE

4 ITA

5 NOR

6 FRA
7 TCH
8 FIN

1 h 24’43”5
1 h 25’06”3
1 h 25’38”2
1 h 26’18”1
1 h 26’32”4
1 h 27’13”3
1 h 27’15”7
1 h 27’39”5

1 GROSS

STEINIGEN
KIRCHNER
FISCHER

3 JOHANSSON

ANDERSSON
WIKSTEN

LOFGREN,

5 EINANC

LOBERG
FENNE
KVALFOSS

7 RYPL

KOS
HOLUBEC

MASARIK

2 MEDVEDZEV

POPOV
KIRIENKO

TCHEPIKOV

4 LEITGEB

PASSLER
CARRARA
ZINGERLE

6 BLOND

GERBIER

DUMONT
FLANDIN

8 HIETALAHTI

NIEMI
ELORANTA
KATAJA

MEN‘S 20 KM

1 REDKINE, Evgueni EUN

2 KIRCHNER, Mark CER
3 LOFGREN, Mikael SWE
4 POPOV, Alexander EUN
5 ELORANTA, Harri FIN
6 HIETALAHTI, Vesa FIN
7 PASSLER, Johann ITA
8 LOBERG, Frode NOR

57’34”4
57’40”8
57’59”4
58’02”9
58’15”7
58’24”6
58’25”9
58’32”4

WOMEN’S 7.5 KM

1 RESTZOVA, Anfissa EUN

2 MISERSKY, Antje GER
3 BELOVA, Elena EUN

4 ALEXIEVA, Nadezda BUL
5 ADAMICKOVA, Jirina TCH
6 SCHAAF, Petra GER
7 BRIAND, Anne FRA
8 BLAGOEVA, Silvana BUL

24’29”2
24’45”1
24’50”8

24’55”8
24’57”6
25’10”4
25’29”8
23’33”5

WOMEN’S 3 X 7.5 KM

1 FRA

2 GER
3 EUN
4 BUL
5 FIN
6 SWE
7 NOR
8 TCH

1 h 15’35”6
1 h 16’18”4
1 h 16’54”6
1 h 18’54”8
1 h 20’17”8
1 h 20’56”6
1 h 21’20”0
1 h 23’12”7

1 NIOGRET 2 DISL

CLAUDEL MISERSKY

BRIAND SCHAAF

3 BELOVA 4 BLAGOEVA

RESTZOVA ALEXIEVA

MELNIKOVA SCHKODREVA

5 LAMPINEN 6 EKLUND

SIKIO BJORKBOM
MARKKANEN STADIC

7 TROSTEN 8 SUVOVA

FOSSEN KULHAVA
KRISTIANSEN ADAMICKOVA

WOMEN’S 15 KM

1 MISERSKY, Antje GER 51’47”2

2 PECHERSKAIA, Svetlana EUN 51’58”5
3 BEDARD, Myriam CAN 52’15”0
4 CLAUDEL, Véronique FRA 52’21”2
5 ALEXIEVA, Nadezda BUL 52’30”2
6 BURLET, Delphine FRA 53’00”8
7 NIOGRET, Corinne FRA 53’06”6

8 SANTER, Nathalie ITA 53’10”3

Women competed in biathlon for

the first time at the Winter
Games.

165

BIATHLON

The women’s 7.5 km relay.

Mark Kirchner.

LES SAISIES

he biathlon competitions at Les Saisies

gave the Germans an opportunity to

keep the GDR flame alight. Their accurate
shooting with very few misses and an
impressive ski technique ensured them
excellent results, a n d t h e y s h a r e d t h e
honours with the Unified Team. For the first
time in its history, the relay competition
had, on the top step of the podium, the
German team of Kirchner and Gross, gold
and silver in the 10 km. They left second
place to the Olympic title holders, the
Unified Team led by Medveclzev, silver
medallist in the 10 km in Calgary. The
Swedes placed third, an encouraging result
after their seventh place in 1988. This team
included Lofgren, who took the bronze in
the 20 km behind Kirchner who, with three

faults,

left the gold to Redkine, junior world

champion in 1990.

The women were making their first

Olympic appearance at Les Saisies, with
teams drawn mainly from cross country.
Anfissa Restzova thus became the first
female Olympic biathlon champion, taking
the gold in the 7.5 km. After winning silver

in the 20 km and gold in the 4x5 km relay
in cross country in Calgary, she had given
up competing. As a young mother, she was
unable to regain her place in the cross
country team so turned to biathlon under

the guidance of her coach and husband. In
the relay, it was the French girls who pro-
vided the surprises. After a lively chase
with the Germans and Russians, they dis-

played a good-humoured verve which led
them to victory. With a careful aim they
avoided the penalty loops, and by not
missing a single target, Briand - “I wasn’t
allowed to make a mistake” - took the
lead. Nevertheless, Germany, thanks to
Miserski with the best individual time taking

166

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

her teammates from fourth to second
place, and the Unified Team, with Restzova
achieving the third best time, both led at

some point in this competition, where
shooting accuracy was the determining fac-
tor. Miserski was to confirm this by winning
the 15 km the following week, her rapid
skiing undoing the effect of a one-minute
penalty from a missed target. “I was happy
with the two silver medals, but this was the
reward for a good performance.” Pechersk-

aia, silver medallist with a missed target on
her second round, is far irom unknown,
having won the world cup last year after
being world champion in the discipline in

1990 when her surname was still Davidova.

For her part Bedard, who missed a target in
the second and third round of shooting,
was completely surprised to win the
bronze.

Anfissa Restzova, gold medallist
in the 7.5

km.

167

BOBSLEIGH

The

Austrian bob is first in the

four-man event.

Background Information

Bobsleigh has figured in the Olympic pro-

gramme since the Chamonix Olympic‘s, in

1924. Tapered, of streamlined shape, the

bobs are of two weights (including the
crew) and two lengths, according to the
race category; two man bob (”boblet”):
390 kg; four man bob: 630 kg. Maximum
width: 67 cm. Beneath the chassis, there
are two fixed runners at the back, while the
two pivoting ones in the front, steered by
the pilot using two handles. The brake is
shaped like a harrow: and is activated after
passing the finish line by the rearmost
crewman.

At the start, the bob is placed 15 m

back from the line. When the starter gives
the order, the crew has 60 seconds to
launch the bob and get inside very quickly

This push phase can be decisive for the

race. After 4 runs (2 a day), the four times
are added up for the final placing, for both
the two man and four man bob. In the nar-
row corridor of sheer ice 1.40 m wide, the
crews, who have to take part in all four
runs, reach top speeds of 130 km/h and
resist centrifugal force of 4 G.

TWO MAN BOB

1 WEDER. Gudav &;

ACKLIN, Donat SUI

LOCHNER, Rudolf

ZIMMERMANN, Markus GER

3 LANGEN, Christoph

EGER, Gunther GER

4 APPELT, lngo &.

SCHROLL, Thomas AUT

5 HUBER, Gunther

TICCI, Steiano ITA

6 TOUT, Mark

PAUL, Lenox GBR

7 SHIMER, Brian &;

WALKER, Herschel USA

8 RAINER, Gerhard

BACHLER, Thomas AUT

4’03”26

4’03”55

4’03”63

4’03”67

4’03”72

3’03”87

1’03”93

4’04”00

168

FOUR MAN BOB

1 AUT 3’53”90

2 GER 3’53”92
3 SUI 3’54”13
4 CAN 3’54”24
5 SUI 3’54”38
6 GER 3’54”42
7 GBR 3’54”89
8 FRA 3’54”91

1 APPELT

WINKLER

HAIDACHER

SCHROLL

2 HOPPE

MUSIOL

KUHN
HANNEMANN

3 WEDER

ACKLIN
SCHINDELHOLZ
MORELL

5 MEILI

GERBER

REICH
LOFFLER

7 TOUT

FARRELL

FIELD
PAUL

4 LORI

LEBLANC
LANGFORD

MAC EACHERN

6 CZUDAJ

BONK

JANC
SZELIG

8 FLACHER

DASSE

TRIBONDEAU

FOURMIGUE

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

LA PLAGNE

bob run at La Plagne favoured the most

skilful drivers, yet without forgetting the

decisive strength of the pushers who
launched the bobs along the record 22-metre
start track. These bobs, now ever lighter
thanks to their carbon fibre or Kevlar shells,

streamlined to ensure the best penetration
through the air, can reach up to 140 km/h. It
was Weder and Acklin, the two Swiss who
placed fourth in 1988, who came through on
the second day to win the two-man bob
event. In fifth place after the first two runs, they
finally overtook the British bob which had had
the best intermediate time. The Germans, the
current world champions who were fifth in

Calgary, took the silver with the smallest time
difference since 1968, followed by two of their
compatriots in third place. It was the Austria I
crew who won the four-man bob, driven by
the jeweller lngo Appelt with a lead of two-
hundredths of a second over Germany, the
smallest time difference ever recorded in an
Olympic four-man bob competition. After
winning in Calgary, Switzerland had to be
content this time with the bronze and a time

just 23 hundredths of a second slower.

The Swiss bob takes the two-man

title.

169

The

Unified Team beat the

Canadians on the day of the
closing ceremony.

ICE HOCKEY

Background Information

Twelve teams took part in the Olympic

turnament, divided into two Pools of six
teams each, “A” and “B”. The preliminary

phase look the form of a simple round

robin in each pool, whereby each team
played five matches. The team placings in
each pool were obtained by addition of
points: 1 win: 2 points; 1 draw: 1 point, 1

defeat: 0 points.

Where two or more teams scored

equal numbers of points, the results of the
matches between the teams in question
were taken into account. for the final, if
the score was still drawn at the end of ten
minutes extra time, the match was decided
by a series of goal-shots.

The deciding matches:
All the deciding matches took the form of

eliminatory quarter- or semi-finals. Matches
between the successive losers allowed

placings to be calculated for all the teams.

The final took place on the last day of the

Games.

1 EUN

2 CAN
3 TCH
4 USA
5 SWE
6 GER

7 FIN
8 FRA

Quarter-finals : USA-FRA 4-1 ; EUN-FIN
6-1 ; TCH-SWE 3-1 ; CAN-GER 6-5.

Semi-finals : EUN-USA 5-2 ;
CAN-TCH 4-2.

Final : EUN-CAN 3-1

170

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

MÉRIBEL

t the almost intimate rink in Meribel,
where the spectators could certainly

not have been closer to the players, the ice
hockey tournament was to produce quite a
few surprises, starting with the new ranking
system, which added welcome suspense
and emotion as anything could happen.
But in the final, a match between the two

giants of the puck, Canada and the Unified
Team with seven Olympic titles each, it was
the better team which dominated in the
final period. With this third gold medal,
Victor Tikhonov, the delighted coach, has
equalled the record of Anatoli Tarasov, the
creator of Soviet hoc-key for which this was
perhaps the last-ever victory. The main sur-
prises of this tournament were the great
fright of the Canadians who beat the Ger-
mans only in a penalty shoot out; the win
by the Czechoslovak team over the world
champions from Sweden thanks to preci-
sion shooting; and the first ever quarter-
final appearance by the French team after
an action-filled match against Norway.
Franc-e went on to lose, alas with very bad

grace, to the Americans.

1 ANDRIEVSKI, Alexandre

BOURE, Pavel
BOUTSAYEV, Viatcheslav

GORDIOUK, Viktor
DAVYDOV, Yevgueni
JAMNOV, Alekseï
JITNIK, Alekseï

KAMENSKI, Valéri
KOVALENKO, Andreï
KOZLOV, Viatcheslav
KRAVTCHOUK, Igor
MALAKHOV, Vladimir
MARTYNIOUK, Sergueï
MARIINE, Alekseï
MIRONOV, Dmitri
POTAITCHOUK, Andreï
PROKHOROV, Vitali
SEMAK, Alexandre
SMIRNOV, Alexandre
TITOV, Guerman
TREFILOV, Andreï
TIOURIKOV, Vladimir

OUVAYEV, Viatcheslav

FILIMONOV, Dmitri

CHTALENKOV, Mikhail
YOUCHKEVITCH, Dmitri

Canada versus Czechoslovakia.

2 ARCHIBALD, Dave

BROST, Todd
BURKE, Sean
DAHL, Kevin
DYKHUIS, Karl

GILES, Curt

HANNAN, Dave
HYNES, Gordon

JOSEPH, Fabian
JUNEAU, Joe
KIDD, Trevor
KONTOS, Chris
LEBEAU, Patrick
LINDBERG, Chris
LINDROS, Eric
MANDERVILLE, Kent
PLAVSIC, Adrien
RATUSHNY, Dan
ROY, Stéphane

SAINT-LAURENT, Sam
SCHLEGEL, Brad
SCHREIBER, Wally
SMITH, Randy
TIPPETT, David
TUTT, Brian
WOOLEY, Jason

3 AUGUSTA, Patrick

BRIZA, Petr
DRAGAN, Jaromir

GUDAS, Leo

HORAVA, Miloslav,
HRBEK, Petr
JANECKY, Otakar
JELINEK, Tomas
KADLEC, Drahomir
KASTAK, Kamil
LANG, Robert
LIBA, Igor
LUBINA, Ladislav
PROCHAZKA, Frantisek
ROSOL, Petr
SHENLIK, Richard
SVEHLA, Robert
SCERBAN, Bedrich

SLEGR, Jiri
SVOBODA, Oldrich
TOUPAL Radek
VESELOGSKY, Petr
ZEMLICKA, Richard

171

LUGE

Kohoutek (TCH).

1 HACKL, Georg CER

2 PROCK, Markus AUT
3 SCHMIDT, Markus AUT
4 HUBER, Norbert ITA
5 MULLER, Jens GER
6 MANZENREITER, Robert AUT
7 HASELRIEDER, Oswald ITA
8 FRIEDL, Rene CER

MEN’S DOUBLE

1 KRAUSSE, Steian &

BEHRENDT, Jan GER

2 MANKEL, Yves &

RUDOLPH, Thomas GER

3 RAFFL, Hansjorg &

HUBER, Norbert ITA

4 APOSTOL, loan &

CEPOI, Liviu ROM

5 BRUGGER, Kurt &

HUBER, Willi ITA

6 KOHALA, Hans &

LINDQUIST, Carl-Johan SWE

7 GLEIRSCHER, Gerhard &

SCHMIDT, Markus AUT

8 DEMTSCHENKO, Albert &

SELENSKI, Alexei EUN

Background Information

Practised as a sport since 1935, luge has
been an Olympic event since the Innsbruck
Games in 1964. The modern racing luge

weighs 22 kg for the one-seater and 25 kg
for the two-seater. They measure from 1.28
m - 1.35 m in length, 45 cm in width and

15 cm in height.

George Hackl after winning his

gold.

In La Plagne, during the Games,

competitions were he/d on the bob run,
but the lugers’ starts were given lower
down than the bobsleighers’. In accord-
ance with the rules, the course includes a
minimum number of difficulties such as a
left-hand bend, a right-hand bend, a hair-
pin, an “S”, a straight stretch, etc. The
men’s, and women’s singles event is

decided over 4 runs, two a day. The win-
ner has the best total time over the 4 runs.
In the doubles event (men only), ranking is
determined by adding up the times of 2
runs contested the same day.

3’02”363
3’02”669
3’02”942
3’02”973
3’03”197
3’03”267
3’03”276

3’03”543

1’32”053

1’32”239

1’32”298

1’32”649

1’32”810

1’33”134

1’33”257

1’33”299

172

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

WOMEN’S SINGLE

1 NEUNER, Doris AUT 3’06”696

2 NEUNER, Angelika AUT 3’06”769
3 ERDMANN, Susi CER 3’07”115
4 WEISSENSTEINER, Gerda ITA 3’07”673
5 MYLER, Cammy USA 3’07”973
6 KOHLISCH, Gabnele GER 3’071”980
7 TAGWERKER, Andrea AUT 3’08”018
8 JAKOUCHENKO, Nataliia EUN 3’08”383

IN LA PLAGNE

ugers are athletes who combine ingenu-
ity with adroitness in order to put

together and then steer the strange little
contraption on which, with head horizon-
tal, they race nimbly and aerodynamically
at over 120 km/h. In this small fraternity,
everyone was waiting for Georg Hackl, a
child of the luge from Berchtesgaden who
took up the sport at the age of ten. Hackl
took the silver in 1988 and has won the
world championships twice subsequently.

He earned the title which had eluded him -

“the pinnacle of my career” - with the
three fastest runs, despite the fresh snow
on the second day. Markus Prock, undeco-
rated in 1988 but winner of the world cup
last season, finally beat his compatriot Mar-
kus Schmidt, while the champion in Cal-

gary, Jens Mutter, had to be content with
fifth place. The German lugers repeated
their performance, with a superb double in
the two-man competition. Krausse and

Behrendt, who won the silver for the GDR
in Calgary, produced the best time for both
runs ahead of their compatriots from Win-
terberg, leaving third place for the Italians,

Doris Neuner on her way to

the winners of the current world cup sea-

victory. Below, German win in
the men’s double.

son.

After the Goitschel sisters in Grenoble,

the two Neuner sisters won a medal in the
same event, taking gold and silver, Aus-
tria’s first medals in the discipline. Another
great double which left the reigning world
champion in third place.

173

FIGURE SKATING

The performance is judged with two

marks : one for “technical merit” another
for “artistic impression” which can be the
crucial factor in placing the contestants.

Although movements resulting in a fall are

not counted, the final mark is nevertheless
affected.

For both programmes, the jury is com-

posed of 9 judges of different nationalities,
accompanied by a referee and an assistant

judge. They use the following marking

scale: 0 = not skated, 7 = very poor, 2 =
poor, 3 = mediocre, 4 = good, 5 = very

good 6 = perfect and faultless.

The judges use decimals. Each contes-

tant gets a place attributed by each judge.

Since “compulsory figures” were with-

drawn in 1990, the final ranking is deter-
mined according to placing in the original

programme (coefficient 0.5) and the free
programme (coefficient 1), converted into
points. The winner is the one with the
smallest total.

Kristi Yamaguchi.

Viktor Petrenko.

Background Information

The competition takes place in two stages.

First, there is the original programme,
executed for 2 minutes 40 seconds maxi-
mum to music selected by the contes-
tanyt(s). The first stage must include 8 ele-
ments of free skating (a jump combination
of 2 jumps, 3 spins, 2 step sequences). 2
marks are given; one for the “required ele-
ments” and one for “presentation”. The
first mark takes precedence in case of a tie.

The other stage is the free programme,

which is longer, lasting 4 minutes 30 sec-
onds maximum for men and pairs, 4
minutes for women. It brings in technical

ability, artistic flair, the synchronization of
movements to music, the originality of the
music chosen, the quality of execution.

174

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

MEN’S

1 PETRENKO, Viktor EUN 1.5
2 WYLIE, Paul USA 3.5
3 BARNA, Petr TCH 4.0

4 BOWMAN, Christopher USA 7.5

5 OURMANOV, Alexei EUN 7.5
6 BROWNING, Kurt CAN 8.0
7 STOJKO, Elvis CAN 10.0

8 ZAGORODNIUK, Viatcheslav EUN 13.0

WOMEN’S

1 YAMAGUCHI, Kristi USA

2 ITO, Midori JPN
3 KERRIGAN, Nancy USA
4 HARDING, Tonya USA
5 BONALY, Surya FRA
6 CHEN, Lu CHN
7 SATO, Yuka JPN
8 PRESTON, Karen CAN

PAIRS

1 MICHKOUTENIOK, Natalia &

DMITRIEV, Artour EUN

2 BETCHKE, Elena &

PETROV, Denis EUN

3 BRASSEUR, lsabelle &

EISLER, Lloyd CAN

4 KOVARIKOVA, Radka &

NOVOTNY, Rene TCH

5 CHICHKOVA, Evguenia &

NAOUMOV, Vadim EUN

6 KUCHIKI, Natasha &

SAND, Todd USA

7 SCHWARZ, Peggy &

KONIG, Alexander GER

8 WOTZEL, Mandy &

RAUSCHENBACH, Axel GER

1.5

4.0
4.0
7.0
7.5

10.5
10.5
14.0

1.5

3.0

4.5

6.0

7.5

9.0

11.0

13.0

Natalia Michkouteniok and Artour
Dmitriev.

ICE DANCE
Background Information
Ice dancing became an Olympic event in

1976. The emphasis is less on athletics and

more on poetry than in figure skating pairs,
with different rules, in which jumps, spins
and lifts do not figure in the choreography.
Compulsory dances are still part of the
competition. They are defined as follows:

“A composition involving the skating of

prescribed patterns to music, the rhythm
and tempo of which are defined”.

These compulsory pieces, taken from

or specified in the programme, must be

performed within a given time : 1 minute,

for example, for an American or European
waltz, or 4 complete sequences for a fox-
trot, rocker fox-trot, quick-step or rumba.
etc. Marks allocated represent 20 % of the
final score.

175

FIGURE SKATING

Marina Klimova and Sergei

Ponomarenko.

The second part of the programme is

creative dance. The pairs can choose the
composition and originality of the perform-

ance, to music whose rhythm and tempo
have been prescribed by the ISU (Interna-

tional Skating Union) committee. The jury

gives marks for the composition and the
presentation, which represent 30 % of the

final score.

As for the free dance, the last part

allows 4 minutes for inspired couples to

express all their talent, grace and artistic
emotions. They will be judged on technical
merit (difficulty, originality, variety, precision

and assurance) and artistic impression
(musical selection, composition, use of the
rink, ease, assurance, speed...). This counts
for 50 % of the final score. The scale of
marks lies between 0 and 6. The jury is
composed of 9 judges of different national-

ities, a referee and an assistant judge. In
case of a tie, the marks for artistic impres-

sion determine the winners.

DANCE

1 KLIMOVA, M &

PONOMARENKO, S EUN

1 DUCHESNAY-DEAN &

DUCHESNAY, P FRA

3 USOVA, M &

ZHULIN, A EUN

4 CRITSCHUK,

PLATOV, E EUN

5 CALEGARI, S &

CAMERLENGO, P ITA

6 RAHKAMO, S &

KOKKO, P FIN

7 ENGI, K &

TOTH, A HUN

8 YVON, D &

PALLUEL, F FRA

ALBERTVILLE

2.0

4.4

5.6

8.0

10.0

12.4

13.6

16.6

ictor Petrenko (EUN), bronze medallist
in Calgary and runner-up in in the 1991

and 1990 World Championships, finally
found himself on the top step of the Olym-
pic podium in Albertville. The silver went
to Paul Wylie (USA) and the bronze to Petr

Barna (TCH), in a succession of falls from

the favourites, three-times world champion

Kurt Browning (CAN) and Christopher Bow-
man (USA).

World champion Kristi Yamaguchi

(USA) won the women’s figure skating with
a first place in both the original and free
programmes, the first time since Dorothy

Hamill in 1976 that an American woman
had won gold in figure skating. Midori Ito

(JPN) soared back with her triple axel in the
free skate to the medals, a silver, after an
expensive fall in the triple lutz had left her
fourth in the original programme. Nancy

Kerrigan (USA), won the bronze, and
another American, Tonya Harding was
placed fourth, ahead of European Cham-
pion Surya Bonaly (FRA), who went from

third place to fifth overall after her quadru-
ple toe loop, executed imperfectly, was fol-
lowed by several falls on an evening when
even the champion’s hand grazed the ice.

176

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

With nine 5.9s for artistic impression in

their free skate, reigning world champions
Natalia Michkouteniok and Artour Dmitriev
of the Unified Team continued the former

USSR’s unbroken line of victories in the ice

skating pairs since 1956. Their team-mates

Elena Betchke and Denis Petrov took the

silver after lsabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eis-
ler (CAN) fell, literally, from second place in
the original programme.

Bronze, Silver, Gold... Husband and

wife team Marina Klimova and Serguei
Ponomarenko (EUN) got onto the Olympic
podium with a bronze in 1984 - Olympic
ice dance came in in 1976 - and they have
been climbing up it ever since. The
competition was billed in advance by jour-
nalists as a contrast in style between the
more classical Russian couple and the
innovative brother and sister team Paul

Duchesnay and lsabelle Duchesnay-Dean

(FRA), who, crowned world champions in

1991, had come a long way since their Tar-

zan and Jane routine in the Games in Cal-
gary, with the help of their choreographer,
former Olympic champion Christopher

Dean.

However, with Klimova and Ponomar- Midori Ito.

enko under a new coach, Tatiana Taras-
sova, the contrast in style was finally less
marked that of their music: Bach for the

Russians in the final freestyle versus Bern-

stein for the French. Klimova and Ponomar-
enko’s gold was clear after the couple,
recent European Champions, followed up
their first placing in the blues and paso
doble of the compulsory programme,
which the ice dance is the only ice event to
retain, and in the polka original, with
another first in the freestyle, five of the nine
judges voting theirs the best performance
as against four for Duchesnay-Duchesnay-

Dean, the brother and sister coming sec-
ond in this, their specialty, and second
overall. In third place, floating to Vivaldi’s
‘Four Seasons’, Maia Usova and Alexander

Zhulin from Moscow.

lsabelle Duchesnay-Dean and
Paul Duchesnay.

177

SPEED SKATING

Barl Veldkamp.

Background Information

There are 10 events on the programme:

500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and

10 000 m for men; 500 m, 1000 m, 1500

m, 3000 m and 5000 m for women.

According to Olympic regulations they

must be scheduled in a particular order.
Races always oppose two athletes of differ-
ent nationalities, who have to run in one of
the two 4 m wide lanes, anti-clockwise. At
the approach of the bends - of which the
inner curve measures 26 m, the outer 30 m
- the two skaters engaged in the two 700 m
straight stretches have to change lanes over
a marked stretch 70 m long, to cancel out
this difference. If they fail to do this, they

are disqualified. To avoid getting in each
other’s way during the cross-over, the one
on the outer track has priority. It is also
against the rules to cross the snow lines,
the painted line or the one marked with
mobile bollards.

The inside (white armband) or the out-

side (red armband) position at the start is

the luck of the draw. A first draw takes

place between three groups representing

three levels of ability. In the second draw,
the first of the two to be drawn takes the
inside track. If the pairs competing are
determined from the results obtained over
the preceding distance, the best of the two
takes the inside track.

178

MEN’S 500 M

1 MEY, Uwe-Jens CER

2 KUROIWA, Toshiyuki JPN
3 INOUE, junichi JPN
4 JANSEN, Dan USA
5 VAN VELDE, Gerard NED
5 MIYABE, Y JPN
7 GOLOUBEV, Alexandre EUN
8 JELEZOVSKI, lgor EUN

MEN’S 1000 M

1 ZINKE, Olaf GER
2 KIM, Yoon-Man KOR
3 MIYABE, Yasunori JPN

4 VAN VELDE, Gerard NED
5 ADEBERC, Peter GER
6 JELEZOVSKI, lgor EUN
7 THIBAULT, Guy CAN
8 GOULIAEV, Nikolai EUN

MEN’S 1500 M

1 KOSS, Johann NOR 1’54”81

2 SONDRAL, Adne NOR 1’54”85
3 VISSER, Leo NED 1’54”90
4 RITSMA, R NED 1’55”70
5 VELDKAMP, Bart NED 1’56”33
6 ZINKE. Olaf GER
7 ZANDSTRA, F NED

1’56”74
1’56”96

8 KARLSTAD, Geir NOR 1’56”98

MEN’S 5000 M

1 KARLSTAD, Geir NOR

2 ZANDSTRA, Falco NED
3 VISSER, Leo NED
4 DITTRICH, Frank GER
5 VELDKAMP, Bart NED
6 FLAIM, Eric USA
7 KOSS, Johann NOR
8 SANAROV, Eugene EUN

MEN’S 10.000 M

1 VELDKAMP, Bart NED

2 KOSS, Johann NOR
3 KARLSTAD, Geir NOR
4 VUNDERINK, Robert NED
5 SATO, Kazuhiro JPN
6 HADSCHIEFF, Michael AUT
7 BENGTSSON, Per SWE
8 JOHANSEN, Steinar NOR

00’37”14
00’37”18
00’37”26
00’37”46
00’37”49
00’37”49
00’37”51
00’37”57

1’14”85 1 BLAIR, Bonnie USA 01’21”90
1’14”86 2 YE, Qiaobo CHN 01’21”92
1’14”92 3 GARBRECHT, Monique GER 01’22”10
1’14”93 4 AAFTINK, Christine NED 01’22”60
1’15”04 5 HASHIMOTO, Seiko JPN 01’22”63
1’15”05 6 DASCALU, Mihaela ROM 01’22”85
1’15”36 7 TIOUCHNIAKOVA, Elena EUN 01’22”97
1’15”46 8 LUDING, Christa GER 01’23”06

06’59”97
07’02”28
07’04”96
07’06”33
07’08”00
07’11”15
07’11”32
07’11”38

14’12”12
14’14”58
14’18”13
14’22”92
14’28”30
14’28”80
14’35’58
14’36”09

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

WOMEN’S 500 M

1 BLAIR, Bonnie USA

2 YE, Qiaobo CHN
3 LUDING, Christa GER
4 GARBRECHT, Monique GER
5 AAFTINK, C NED
6 AUCH, S CAN
7 SHIMAZAKI, K JPN
8 HAUCK, A GER

00’40”33
00’40”51
00’40”57
00’40”63
00’40”66
00’40”83
00’40”98
00’41”10

WOMEN’S 1000 M

WOMEN’S 1500 M

1 BOERNER, Jacqueline GER 02’05”87

2 NIEMANN, Gunda GER 02’05”92
3 HASHIMOTO, Seiko JPN 02’06”88
4 POLOZKOVA, Natalia EUN 02’07”12
5 GARBRECHT, Monique GER 02’07”24
6 BAJANOVA, Svetlana EUN 02’07”81

Gunda Niemann.

7 HUNYADY, Emese AUT 02’08”29

8 WARNICKE, Heike GER 02’08”52

WOMEN’S 3000 M

1 NIEMANN, Gunda GER

2 WARNICKE, Heike GER
3 HUNYADY, Emese AUT
4 ZIJLSTRA, Carla NED
5 BOIKO, Svetlana EUN
6 VAN GENNIP, Y NED
7 BAJANOVA, Svetlana EUN
8 BOERNER, Jacqueline GER

WOMEN’S 5000 M

1 NIEMANN, Gunda GER 7’31”57

2 WARNICKE, Heike GER 7’37”59
3 PECHSTEIN, Claudia GER 7’39”80
4 ZIJLSTRA, Carla NED 7’41”10
5 PROKACHEVA, Liudmila EUN 7’41”65
6 BOIKO, Svetlana EUN 7’44”19
7 BAJANOVA, Svetlana EUN 7’45”55
8 VAN SCHIE, Lia NED 7’46”94

04’19”90
04’22”88
04’24”64
04’27”18
04’28”00

04’28”10
04’28”19
04’28”52

179

SPEED SKATING

Johann-Olav Koss.

Olaf Zinke.

ALBERTVILLE

fter the storm of records at Calgary in

1988, whose indoor ice rink is now

well-established on the world circuit, there
were none in Albertville on an outdoor ice
track built to last the Games only and
whose ice was particularly exposed to tem-

perature fluctuations and warm spring-like
afternoons. If records seem now restricted

to indoor tracks, the lack of them did not
adversely affect the atmosphere, with Ger-
man, American, Dutch and Japanese spec-
tators turning out in force to wave a sea of
flags to cheer along their skaters.

Bart Veldkamp’s win in the 10,000m

gave the Dutch their first speedskating gold
since Piet Kleine won the event in 1976.
World record holder Johann-Olav Koss was
three seconds behind for the silver, his
team-mate Geir Karlstad picking up the
bronze, but the Norwegian pair dominated
the other distance events: a gold for Koss

in the 1,500m and one for Karlstad in the
5,000m.

180

Jens-Uwe Mey, the men’s 500m cham-

pion in Calgary, who has won 31 out of 42
races over the distance in the last four
years, did not let another Olympic gold
escape him. Toshiyuki Kuroiwa of Japan
took the silver. A hundredth of a second
netted another German, Olaf Zinke (GER)

the 1000m gold, with Yoon Man Kim of

Korea in hot pursuit for the silver.

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

mate Jacqueline Borner and the American
in 21st place. The bronze went to Seiko
Hashimoto of Japan.

Gunda Niemann (GER) won two golds,

the 3,000m and then the 5,000m, in which
the silver and bronze were picked up by
her compatriots Heike Warnicke and Clau-
dia Pechstein for a convincing demonstra-
tion that the former GDR skaters remain
strong in the German team. Another
double gold medallist was Bonnie Blair
(USA), who retained her 1988 Olympic
500m title and also took the 1,000m. Ye
Quiabo (CHN), was just 0.018 seconds
behind her in the 500m after being
impeded at a cross-over, to become the
first Chinese athlete to ever win a medal at

the Winter Games. She took another silver
0.02 seconds behind Blair in the 1,000m.

Both Niemann and Blair tried for the

1,500m crown, but Niemann finished five

hundredths of a second behind her team-

Gunda Niemann.

Bonnie Blair, another double
champion, skates in the sunset.

181

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING

Ki-Hoon Kim, winning gold in the
relay.

Cathy Turner.

182

Background Information

The events were held in

traditional skat-

ing rink on a 111.12 m circuit; the straights
are very short, only 28.85 m. At the

Games, men compete in the 1000 m and
the 5000 m relay and women in the 500 m

and the 3000 m relay. The modus operandi

consists of heats leading to direct elimina-
tion up to the final. After its success in Cal-

gary, short track made its official Olympic

début in Albertville. Depending on the dis-
tance or the heats, 6 or 4 competitors start
in

line. Only the placing counts. Twenty-

minute rest breaks are allowed between
races. The two first-placed athletes in each
heat go through to the next round until
final line-up is reached. In the relays,
several teams of four skaters take part in
each race, and each one has at least one
skater in action for one or more laps: they
can relay one another in the straights.

By the end of the race, 27 or 45 laps

have been completed.

MEN’S 1000 M

1 KIM, Ki-Hoon KOR WR

2 BLACKBURN, Frederic CAN
3 LEE, Joon-Ho KOR
4 MCMILLEN, Mike NZL
5 O’REILLY, Willy GBR
6 BLANCHART, Geert BEL
7 LACKIE, Mark CAN

8 DAIGNAULT, Michel CAN

MEN’S 5 KM RELAY

1 KOR

2 CAN
3 JPN
4 NZL

WOMEN’S 3 KM RELAY

1 CAN

2 USA
3 EUN
4 JPN

WOMEN’S 500 M

1 TURNER, Cathy USA

2 LI, Yan CHN
3 HWANG, Ok Sil PRK
4 VELZEBOER, Monique NED
5 PYLAEVA, Marina EUN
6 LAMBERT, Nathalie CAN
7 VLASOVA, loulia EUN
8 WANG, Xiulan CHN

1’30”76
1’31”11
1’31”16
1’31”32
1’36”24
1’36”28
1’36”28
1‘37”10

7’14”02
7’14”06
7’18”18
7’18”91

4’36”62
4’37”85

4’42”69
4’44”50

47”04
47”08
47”23
47”28
48”42
48”50
48”70

1’34”12

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

ALBERTVILLE

” ake a look at this!” said a TV sports

commentator introducing short track

speed skating. This young sport, whose first
official competition was less than twenty
years ago, has come a long way. A demon-
stration sport in Calgary, it was a full medal
sport in Albertville and it proved itself terrif-

ically exciting. With the advantage of being
held in a normal size rink, unlike speed
skating, on a 111m track instead of a 400m
one, short track is held in a series of knock-
out heats of four or six competitors, the
first two across the line qualifying for the
next round. Easier said than done when
skaters turn round the tight bends, where
they touch the ice with their hand to steady
themselves, at speeds of up to 50km/hr.

Thrills - and spills, In the 1,000m semi-

final Joon-Ho Lee of Korea set a world
record of 1’31”27, whilst the 1991 world
champion Wilf O’Reilly, winner of both the

500 and 1000m demonstration events in

Calgary, fell in the sixth lap. Ki-Hoon Kim

bettered his team-mate’s new world record
in the final of 1’30”76 to take the gold.

The men’s 5,000m relay was a photo Ki Hoon Kim.

finish between the Korean and Canadian
skaters for the gold, with Ki-Hoon Kim
throwing himself at the finishing line a
whisker ahead of Michel Daignault. The

British team, which had won gold and sil-
ver at last year’s World Championships,
could only finish third in their semi-final
heat.

The American Cathy Turner, a promis-

ing speed skater in the 70’s who retired in
1981 to make a comeback in short track

Sylvie Daigle.

after watching the sport at the Games in

1988 on TV, just avoided falling in the

women’s 500m to win by 0.04 seconds
over Li Yan of China. World Champion
Sylvie Daigle of Canada had been elimi-

nated after a tumble in her quarter final.
Turner already had a silver in the women’s
3,000m relay, which was won by the Cana-
dians. The strong Chinese team had been
eliminated in the heats after an unconsol-
able Yangmei Zehng fell just fifteen metres

from the finish.

183

The

men’s downhill medalists.

Next page :
Downhill champion :
Patrick Ortlieb, bib No. 1.

The Italians Polig et Martin after
their wins in the combined.

ALPINE SKIING

Background information

DOWNHILL

The course is marked out by red direction

gates. 1 m x 0.70 m, leaving a passage of

at least 8 m width. Training sessions are
scheduled for the 3 days preceding the
competition to enable contestants to famil-
iarize themselves with the course.

In accordance with international stand-

ards, the race must last more than 1 minute
40 seconds. The start will be given every 2
minutes. The world’s 15 best downhill ski-
ers draw lots and start first; the rest start in
order of FIS ranking. A fall does not result
in disqualification, only a loss of time, pro-

vided that the contestant gets back onto
the course. Missed gates are penalized.
The clock is the only judge: the best time
wins !

The downhill of La Face run was

COMBINED

Alpine Combined includes downhill and
slalom. The competition takes 2 days, start-

ing with the combined downhill, slightly
different from the “big” downhill. At Val
d’lsère, for example, the start was almost

150 m lower down, But the race is run in

the same way on a course indicated by red

gates 1 m x 0.75 m, leaving a passage at

least 8 m wide. The starting procedure is
the same as for the downhill, with starts
every one and a half minutes. The world’s
best 15 downhill skiers are drawn by lot
and start first: the ones who come next
start according to FIS ranking. Next comes
the Slalom, 2 runs staked out with closely-
situated gates (55-75 maximum), enforcing
tight bends. These gates leave a passage of
5 m and are spaced at a minimum of 75
cm distance. A run inspection is scheduled
before each run (the two courses are differ-
ent). The slalom starting order is deter-
mined by the world ranking: the best 15
are drawn by lot and the from 16th on,

they are ranked according to FIS points.

The placing in the first run determines the

starting order for the second, with the first

15 starting in reverse order of the first run’s

results, and the rest in the same order as
they finished in the first run. “Straddling” or
missing a gate results in disqualification, but
not falling, provided that the skier gets back
on to the course. The times clocked up are
converted into race points (or penalties cal-
culated by arithmetic), and added up to

obtain the final ranking of the alpine com-
bined.

GIANT SLALOM

The course of the giant slalom is marked

out by alternate red or blue gates, topped
with 0.75 m wide x 0.50 m high streamers.

The number of gates used is 12-15 % of

the vertical drop in metres (36-35 gates for
300 m). They must leave a passage of 4 - 8
m maximum, and be spaced at least 10 m

apart.

The event consists of two timed runs

on the same day, on 2 different courses.

The contestants may inspect each course

before the competition but must not try to

go through the gates or do bends parallel

to the gates to imitate the course - under
threat of disqualification. The start is given
every one and a half minutes. The start sys-
tem is the same as for the combined
slalom. “Straddling” or missing a gate
results in disqualification, but not falling, if
the skier gets back on to the course. Vic-
tory goes to the best time when the two
runs are added together.

SLALOM

Slalom skiers must complete the 2 runs
staked out with closely-placed gates (55-75
gates maximum) enforcing tight bends.

These gates leave a passage of 4-5 m and

are spaced at a minimum of 75 cm apart.
A run inspection is scheduled before each
run (the two courses are different). The

winner has the best time after adding the 2

runs together.

184

ALPINE SKIING

MEN’S SUPER G

The Super G (or Super Giant Slalom) is the

most recent Alpine skiing event to appear,
a World Cup event for the first time in 1985
and integrated into the Olympic pro-
gramme since 1988 in Calgary. Half-way
between the downhill and the giant slalom,

the Super

has become the preferred

event of polyvalent skiers, on a slope with

slightly less vertical drop than the Downhill

(240 m less on La Face). Unlike the down-
hill, there is no training before the event:
the contestants must memorize the course
and contours, and evaluate the speeds
reached in different passages during an
inspection scheduled 2 hours before the
start. The gates used are those of the giant
slalom (the banners measure 0.75 m in

width x 0.50 m in height), red alternating
with blue, of a number equal to (but not

greater than) 10 % of the vertical drop in

metres (eg 500 m = 50 gates). There is
only one run. The start is the same as for
the downhill.

Marc Girardelli.

186

MEN’S DOWNHILL

1. ORTLIEB, Patrick AUT 1’50”37

2. PICCARD, Franck FRA 1’50”42
3. MADER, Guenther AUT 1’50”47
4. WASMEIER, Markus GER 1’50”62
5. THORSEN, Jan Einar NOR 1‘50”79
6. HEINZER, Franz SUI 1’51”39
7. TAUSCHER, Hansjoerg CER 1’51”49
8. ARNESEN, Lasse NOR 1’51”63

MEN’S COMBINED

1 POLIG, Josef ITA

2 MARTIN, Gianfranco ITA
3 LOCHER, Steve SUI
4 CRETIER, Jean-Luc FRA
5 WASMEIER, Markus GER
6 GHEDINA, Kristian ITA
7 FURUSETH, Ole Christian NOR
8 GIGANDET, Xavier SUI

14’58
14’90
18’16
18’97

32’77
38’96
40’47
41’21

MEN’S GIANT SLALOM

1 TOMBA, Alberto ITA 2’06”98

2 GIRARDELLI, Marc LUX 2’07”30
3 AAMODT, Kjetil Andre NOR 2’07”82
4 ACCOLA, Paul SUI 2’08”02
5 FURUSETH, Ole Christian NOR 2’08”16
6 MADER, Guenther AUT 2’08”80
7 SALZGEBER, Rainer AUT 2’08”83
8 NYBERG, Fredrik SWE 2’09”00

MEN’S SLALOM

1 JAGGE, Finn Christian NOR 1’44”39

2 TOMBA, Alberto ITA 1’44”67
3 TRITSCHER, Michael AUT 1’44”85
4 STAUB, Patrick SUI 1’45”44
5 FOGDOE, Tomas SWE 1’45”48
6 ACCOLA, Paul SUI 1’45”62
7 VON GRUENIGEN, Michael SUI 1’46”42
8 NILSSON, Jonas SWE 1’46’57

MEN’S SUPER C

1 AAMODT, Kjetil Andre NOR 1’13”04

2 GIRARDELLI, Marc LUX 1’13”77
3 THORSEN, Jan Einar NOR 1’13”83
4 FURUSETH, Ole Christian NOR 1’13”87
5 POLIG, Josef ITA 1’13”88
6 HANGL, Marco SUI 1’13”90
7 MADER, Guenther AUT 1’14”08
8 STIANSEN, Tom NOR 1’14”51

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

WOMEN’S DOWNHILL

Background Information

The course is marked out by red direction

gales. 1 m X 0.70 m, leaving a passage of

at least 8 m width. The race must last more

than 7 minute 40 seconds. The Roc de Fer
downhill run was also designed by Bernh-

ard Russi, Olympic Downhill champion at
Sapporo in 1972. For the rest of the rules,
see under men’s downhill.

1 LEE-GARTNER, Kerrin CAN 1’52”55

2 LINDH, Hilary USA 1’52”61
3 WALLINCER, Veronika AUT 1’52”64
4 SEIZINGER, Katja GER 1’52”67
5 KRONBERCER, Petra AUT 1’52”73
6 GUTENSOHN, Katrin GER 1’53”71
7 SADLEDER, Barbara AUT 1’53”81
8 GLADISHIVA, Svetlana EUN 1’53”85

WOMEN’S COMBINED

1 KRONBERGER, Petra AUT

2 WACHTER, Anita AUT
3 MASNADA, Florence FRA
4 BOURNISSEN, Chantal SUI
5 BERGE, Anne NOR
6 MCKENDRY, Michelle CAN
7 BOKAL, Natasa SLO
8 MEDZIHRADSKA, Lucia TCH

2’55

19’39

21’38
24’98
35’28
39’02
42’60
47’43

WOMEN’S GIANT SLALOM

1 WIBERG, Pernilla SWE 2’12”74

2 ROFFE, Diann USA 2’13”71
2 WACHTER, Anita AUT 2’13”71
4 MAIER, Ulrike AUT 2’13”77
5 PARISIEN, Julie M J USA 2’14”10
6 MERLE, Carole FRA 2’14”24
7 TWARDOKENS, Eva USA 2’14”47
8 SEIZINGER, Katja GER 2’14”96

WOMEN’S SUPER C

1 COMPAGNONI, Deborah ITA

2 MERLE, Carole FRA
3 SEIZINGER, Katja GER
4 KRONBERGER, Petra AUT
5 MAIER, Ulrike AUT
6 LEE-GARTNER, Kerrin CAN
7 GERG, Michaela GER

8 TWARDOKENS, Eva USA

1’21”22
1’22”63
1’23”19
1’23”20
1’23”35
1’23”76
1’23”77

1’24”19

WOMEN’S SLALOM

Petra Kronberger.

1 KRONBERGER, Petra AUT 1’32”68

2 COBERGER, Annelise NZL 1’33”10
3 FERNANDEZ OCHOA, Blanca ESP 1’33”35
4 PARISIEN, Julie M J USA 1’33”40
5 BUDER, Karin AUT 1’33”68
6 CHAUVET, Patricia FRA 1’33”72
7 SCHNEIDER, Vreni SUI 1’33”96
8 BERGE, Anne NOR 1’34”22

Kerrin Lee-Gartner.

187

ALPINE SKIING

Alberto Tomba after his run.

VAL-D’ISÉRE

LES MENUIRES
MÉRIBEL

Kjetil Aamodt in action.

he Bellevarde course for the men’s
downhill was designed by Bernhard

Russi, like the Roc de Fer (Iron Rock)
downhill course for the women in Meribel,
to give spectators the most complete view
possible of a run breathtaking in its variety.

It might have produced different reactions
in the skiers - too technical, too slow for

some, the future of the event for others -
but all 30,000 people watching were
treated to a enthralling, complex competi-
tion high in excitement and drama. All the
favourites were to be disappointed, chasing
an unbeatable 1’50”37 set by the very first

man out of the gate, one who had never
won an international title: Patrick Ortlieb
(AUS), who had to wait for fifty-five other
competitors before knowing he had the
gold. Five hundredths of a second behind
him for the silver, in a remarkable return to

form in his home region of Savoy, came
Franck Piccard (FRA), bronze medallist in
the event in Calgary.

The combined also had its share of

surprises: a fall by Marc Girardelli in the
downhill, in the slalom a missed gate near

the finish for Hubert Strolz, who won the
gold in Calgary, and a bad misjudgement
by Paul Accola, leaving the way clear for
the Italians Josef Polig and Gianfranco Mar-
tin to take the gold and silver respectively,
and for Steve Lecher, who picked up the

bronze, one of the few medals gleaned by
the Swiss team.

Kjetil Aamodt and Jan Einar Thorsen

showed that the Norwegians were not just
out to take their traditional haul of Nordic

medals, with their gold and bronze in the
Super G. The silver went to Marc Girardelli
of Luxembourg, who finally managed to
break his Olympic jinx. Franck Piccard, the
defending champion, managed only twenty
seconds of the course, to the disappoint-
ment of the masses of Savoyard spectators
waiting for him below. The irrepressible
Alberto Tomba, for whom thousands of

Italians came to cheer, went down in his-

tory as the first person to retain an Olympic
Alpine title, by winning the giant slalom a
margin of 0.32 seconds ahead of Cirardelli,
who picked up a second silver, with

188

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

Aamodt taking the bronze. Tomba made a
heroic effort to save his other Olympic title
in the slalom in Les Menuires, after a slow
first run nearly a second behind Finn Chris-
tian Jagge of Norway. With a blistering,
phenomenal second run of 51”66 “Tomba
la bomba” nearly did it, but the Norwe-
gian, losing his lead all the way down the
course, managed to save 28 hundredths of
a second of it for the gold.

Petra Kronberger won the women’s

combined thanks to a particularly strong
downhill, with her team-mate and defend-
ing Olympic- champion Anita Wachter
unable to close the gap even with her first
place in both slalom runs. Florence Mas-
nada took the bronze. A top all-round skier
for the past three years from December

1990 to January 1991, she won an unprece-

dented five women’s Alpine disciplines in
the World Cup -, Kronberger also won the
women’s slalom. Annelise Coberger

live at 3am - in New Zealand. Blanca Fer-
nandez Ochoa of Spain, who finished fifth
in the slalom in Calgary, followed her fam-
ily’s lead - her brother Francisco won gold
in the event in Sapporo - becoming, with
her bronze, the first Spanish woman skier
to win an Olympic medal.

With many of the skiers more at home

with hard, icy conditions, the women’s
downhill event was dominated in snowy
conditions by two North Americans, Kerrin

Lee-Gartner of Calgary, who competed in

her home city in 1988 as an unknown, and

Pernilla Wiberg, the first Swedish

Hilary Lindh, silver and gold medallists.

woman to win a medal in Alpine

They allowed the Europeans to claim just

Skiing.

the bronze, which went to Veronika Wal-
linger of Austria. Deborah Compagnoni of
Italy, who trains with Tomba, stormed to
gold in the super giant 1”41 ahead of
Carole Merle, only the second time an Ital-
ian woman has won Olympic gold in
Alpine skiing. She also hoped to win the
giant slalom, but fell, along with Petra Kron-
berger, who had come sixth in the event in
Calgary. The event was won by Pernilla

Wiberg, the first-ever medal for the Swedes

in women’s Alpine skiing, more than a sec-
ond ahead of Diann Roffe (USA).

Annelise Coberger, who brought

New Zealand its first Winter
Games medal.

stormed from eighth place to the silver with
the fastest second run to win the first
medal ever at the Winter Games for a skier
from the Southern hemisphere, televised

189

FREESTYLE SKIING

World

champions Edgar

Grospiron and...

MEN’S MOGHULS

1 CROSPIRON, Edgar FRA 25.81

2 ALLAMAND, Olivier FRA 24.87
3 CARMICHAEL, Nelson USA 24.82
4 BERTHON, Eric FRA 24.79
5 SMART, John CAN 24.15
6 PAAJARVI, Jorgen SWE 24.14
7 BRASSARD, Jean-Luc CAN 23.71
8 PERSSON, Leif SWE 22.99

WOMEN’S MOGHULS

Donna Weinbrecht won the first
Olympic medals in moghuls.

1 WEINBRECHT, Donna USA 23.69

2 KOJEVNIKOVA, Elizaveta EUN 23.50
3 HATTESTAD, Stine NOR 23.04

4 MITTERMAYER, Tatjana GER 22.33

5 STEIN, Birgit GER 21.44

6 MCINTYRE, Liz USA 21.24

7 MARCIANDI, Silvia ITA 19.66

8 MONOD, Raphaelle FRA 15.57

TIGNES

orld champions Edgar Grospiron of

France and the American Donna

Weinbrecht won the moghuls, taking the
first Olympic medals in freestyle skiing. The
atmosphere, in a morning of driving snow,
was one of carnaval, the loud music
accompanying the skiers down the bumps
on the 250 metre track unable to drown
out the cheers of the 10,000 spectators,

many French, with whom the sport is defi-
nitely young, wildly popular and very “in” -
Grospiron himself took up freestyle at 12
because he was bored with traditional ski-
ing... Another Frenchman, Oliver Allaman,

won the silver and Nelson Carmichael
(USA) the bronze. Elizaveta Kojevnikova of
the Unified Team took the silver in the
women’s moghuls with the fastest run,

39.47 seconds and the Norwegian Stine
Hattestad the bronze.

190

NORDIC SKIING

Background Information
In accordance with international regul-
ations, cross-country events must take

place on a course including one third of

uphill climb with 9-18 % incline, one third
of downhill and one third of flat or undulat-
ing ground.

Until 1985, only the classic technique

was practised in competitions. However,
the faster skating step (an average of 25
km/h; i.e. a time gain of 5-10 %) has pro-

gressively been adopted by the majority of

skiers. This new: so-called “free”, tech-
nique, which includes all the movements of
cross-country skiing, has now been offi-
cially recognized for competitions. Two

events are now contested in the classic tech-
nique (70 km and 30 km for men, 5 and 15 for
women), two others in the free (15 km pursuit
and 50 km for men, 10km pursuit and 30km
for women).

The principle of the individual races, 10,

30, and 50 km for men, 5km, 15km and 30km
for women, is “against the clock”. The start is

given every 30 seconds. The pursuit race is

contested in 2 races over 2 days. The 1st race
(5 or 10 km) is against the clock in classic tech-
nique: the skier with the best time takes 1st

position in the 2nd race (10km or 15 km), con-

tested in free with a handicap corresponding
to the time difference in the 1st race, etc. The
winner is the one with the best time !

The women’s 4 x 5 km in the

splendid setting of Les Saisies.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

191

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

Vegard Wang and Harri

Kirvesniemi (FIN), left.

Björn Daehlie.

MEN’S 10 KM

1 ULVANG, Vegard NOR

2 ALBARELLO, Marco ITA
3 MAJBACK, Christer SWE
4 DAEHLIE, Björn NOR
5 JONSSON, Niklas SWE
6 KIRVESNIEMI, Harri FIN
7 VANZETTA, Giorgio ITA
8 STADLOBER, Alois AUT

MEN’S PURSUIT

1 DAEHLIE, Björn NOR
2 ULVANG, Vegard NOR
3 VANZETTA, Giorgio ITA

4 ALBARELLO, Marco ITA
5 MOGREN, Torgny SWE
6 MAJBACK, Christer SWE
7 FAUNER, Silvio ITA
8 SMIRNOV, Wladimir EUN

MEN’S 30 KM

1 ULVANG, Vegard NOR

2 DAEHLIE, Bjarn NOR
3 LANGLI, Terje NOR
4 ALBARELLO, Marco ITA
5 JEVNE, Erling NOR
6 MAJBACK, Christer SWE
7 JONSSON, Niklas SWE
8 PONSILUOMA, Jyrki SWE

MEN’S RELAY 4 X 10 KM

1 NOR

2 ITA
3 FIN
4 SWE
5 EUN
6 GER
7 TCH
8 FRA

1 LANGLI

ULVANC
SKJELDAL
DAEHLIE

3 KUUSISTO

KIRVESNIEMI
RASANEN
ISOMETSA

5 KIRILLOV

SMIRNOV
BOTVINOV
PROKUROROV

7 NYC

BUCHTA
BENC
KORUNKA

27’36”0
27’55”2

MEN’S 50 KM

27’56”4
28’01”6
28’03”1
28’23”3
28’26”9
28’27”5

1 h 05’37”9
1 h 06’31”3
1 h 06’32”2
1 h 06’33”3
1 h 06’37”4
1 h 07’17”0
1 h 07’34”9
1 h 07’35”8

1 h 22’27’8
1 h 23’14”0
1 h 23’42”5
1 h 23’55”7
1 h 24’07”7
1 h 24’12”1
1 h 25’17”6
1 h 25’24”4

1 h 39’26”0
1 h 40’52”7
1 h 41’22”9
1 h 41’23”1
1 h 43’03”6
1 h 43’41”7
1 h 44’20”0
1 h 44’51”1

2 PULIE

ALBARELLO
VANZETTA

FAUNER

4 OTTOSSON

MAJBACK

FORSBERC

MOGREN

6 BAUROTH

BEHLE
REIN

MUHLEGG

8 REMY

SANCHEZ
AZAMBRE

BALLAND

1 DAEHLIE, Björn NOR 2 h 03’41”5
2 DE ZOLT, Maurilio ITA 2 h 04’39”1
3 VANZETTA, Giorgio ITA 2 h 06’42”1

4 PROKUROROV, Alexej EUN 2 h 07’06”1
5 BALLAND, Herve FRA 2 h 07’17”7
6 NYC, Radim TCH 2 h 07’41”5
7 MUHLEGG, Johann GER 2 h 07’45”2
8 BENC, Pavel TCH 2 h 08’13”6

XVIth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

WOMEN’S 5 KM

1 LUKKARINEN, Marjut FIN 14’13”8
2 EGOROVA, Lyubov EUN 14’14”7
3 VALBE, Elena EUN 14’22”7

4 BELMONDO, Stefania ITA 14’26”2
5 NYBRATEN, lnger Helene NOR 14’33”3
6 DANILOVA, Olga EUN 14’37”2
7 LASUTINA, Larisa EUN 14’41”7
8 PEDERSEN, Solveig NOR 14’42”1

WOMEN’S 15 KM

1 EGOROVA, Lyubov EUN 42’20”8

2 LUKKARINEN, Marjut FIN 43’29”9
3 VALBE, Elena EUN 43’42”3
4 SMETANINA, Raisa EUN 44’01”5
5 BELMONDO, Stefania ITA 44’02”4
6 KIRVESNIEMI, Marja-Liisa FIN 44’02”7
7 NYBRATEN, lnger Helene NOR 44’18”6
8 DYBENDAHL, Trude NOR 44’31”5

WOMEN’S PURSUIT

1 ECOROVA, Lyubov EUN 40’07”7

2 BELMONDO, Stefania ITA 40’31”8
3 VALBE, Elena EUN 40’51”7
4 LUKKARINEN, Marjut FIN 41’05”1
5 NILSEN, Elin NOR 41’26”9
6 WESTIN, Marie-Helene SWE 41’28”2
7 NYBRATEN, lnger Helene NOR 41’35”1
8 LASUTINA, Larisa EUN 41’48”8

WOMEN’S 30 KM

1 BELMONDO, Stefania ITA 1 h 22’30”1

2 EGOROVA, Lyubov EUN 1 h 22’52”0
3 VALBE, Elena EUN 1 h 24’13”9
4 NILSEN, Elin NOR 1 h 26’25”1
5 LASUTINA, Larisa EUN 1 h 26’31”8
6 DI CENTA, Manuela ITA 1 h 27’04”4
7 WESTIN, Marie-Helene SWE 1 h 27’16”2
8 OPITZ, Simone GER 1 h 27’17”4

WOMEN’S RELAY 4 X 5 KM

1 EUN
2 NOR
3 ITA

4 FIN
5 FRA
6 TCH
7 SWE
8 GER

0 h 59’34”8
0 h 59’56”4

1 h 00’25”9
1 h 00’52”9
1 h 01’30”7
1 h 01’37”4
1 h 01’54”5
1 h 02’22”6

1 VALBE 2 PEDERSEN

SMETANINA NYBRATEN

LASUTINA DYBENDAHL
EGOROVA NILSEN

3 VANZETTA

DI CENTA
PARUZZI
BELMONDO

4 KIRVESNIEMI

MAATTA
SAVOLAINEN

LUKKARINEN

5 STANISIERE

GIRY ROUSSET
VILLENEUVE

MANCINI

6 BALAZOVA

NEUMANOVA

HAVRANCIKOVA

ZELINGEROVA

7 GORLIN

WALLIN
SATERKVIST
WESTIN

8 WEZEL

HESS

OPITZ

KUMMEL

The women’s 15 km podium.

193

NORDIC SKIING

LES SAISIES

f the cross country skiing competitions in

Les Saisies were anything to go by, the

Norwegians - and the Italians too - know
how to put as much effort into supporting
as winning, with a fairground atmosphere
of flags, banners, horns, cowbells and rat-

tles and a noisy, good-natured sporting
spirit prevailing under a bright blue sky. The
venue at Les Saisies is billed as a cross
country skier’s paradise and the surround-

ings are indeed wonderful, but for the ski-
ers the altitude requires some getting used
to and, while the runs are excellent, they
have plenty of climbs and descents. The
Norwegians managed to overcome these
difficulties in order to win the Olympic

titles so longed for during the past sixteen
years. For the 30 km competition, Vegard

Ulvang, bronze medallist in 1988, accom-
panied by Daehlie and Langli covered the
podiums with blue and red, and the delight
of their supporters was understandable. In

the 10 km, Ulvang repeated his exploit in
spite of a broken ski stick. Other errors

resulted in a fail by the favourite Langli who
lost his place to Albarello who had none-

theless also fallen. In the 15 km pursuit,

Marjut Lukkarinen and, right,
Stefania Belmondo.

making its first appearance at the Games,
Norway was again at the forefront, with a
confrontation between Daehlie and
Ulvang. The former triumphed; the latter

was not pleased. The bronze medal was
contested by two Italians, Vanzetta and
Albarello, who are strong in the pursuit,
The Italians also got themselves talked
about in the 50 km, the final cross country
competition where everyone was looking
out for De Zolt. At 42, “the Cricket” was
still in with a chance after being world
champion in 1987, silver medallist in Cal-
gary and third in the world championships

in 1991. But legends give way to other
legends. It was the Norwegian Daehlie

who went on to win, another potential
hero for Lillehammer.

The 15 km which opened the women’s

cross country competitions had more than
one surprise in store. The gold went to Lyu-
bov Egorova, an outsider at the start, with
the silver going to the previously unknown
Marjut Lukkarinen, leaving the bronze for
the favourite Elena Valbe. The 5 km was
little different, with the Finn beating

Egorova. This was the first medal of the

Games for Finland, but the third in this
event since Sarajevo. The 10 km offered
the chance for Egorova to continue her
harvest of medals, with Valbe again taking
the bronze and the skating step specialist
Stefania Belmondo clinching the silver.
There were a few minor changes in the
relay, but this was above all the grand finale
for “Mamie Raïssa” Smetnanina who, by
winning her tenth medal (the fourth gold
since 1976), became the oldest medallist in
history - at the age of 40! But in second
place, on particularly hard snow, were the
Norwegians including Nybraten from the

winning team in Sarajevo. In Lillehammer
we shall no doubt hear more of Mancini,
who brought the French team up to fifth

place. The Italians, with Belmondo, were
third. She, with her invincible skating step,
cheered on by an excited crowd, went on

to win the 30 km ahead of the two undeth-

ronable skiers from the Unified Team.

194

NORDIC COMBINED

Background Information
Skijumping and cross-countryskiing, an event
for good all-round skiers. Excellence is
required in both to have a chance of winning.

The competitions take place over 2 days. First

day : the jump from the normal hill of 90 m.

This length, called critical point K, represents

the limit beyond which it would be dangerous
to land. As with the ski jumping event, it is a
question of jumping a long way and being ele-

gant in flight. The style is marked out of 20 by 5

judges who take into consideration in-run,

take-oft flight and landing... The highest and
lowest marks are cancelled and the remaining
3 added up. Maximum score 60 points. As for
the length of the jump, it is visually measured,
to the nearest 50 cm. by measurers placed

along the landing area, and marked to: 60

points for the longest jump in each round and

1.6 points subtracted per metre short of it (e.g.

of longest jump : 88 m = 60 points, a jump of
8.5 m = 55.2 points). The best 2 jumps of the
executed count. The result in points is con-
verted into time penalties which determine

the starting order for the cross-country race
whit-h takes place on the second day. This is
called the Gundersen method, after the man
who invented it. The jumper placed 1st starts
first, and the others follow at intervals calcu-
lated according to the number of points
obtained for the junp (e.g. : 9 points behind=

1 minute's penalty). The race is a pursuit. The

final time determines the placing. The first to
finish is the winner.

Podium of the individual
combined.

Two combined events are contested:

individual, on K 90 and 75 km of cross-coun-
try; team : the total of the positions obtained
for the jump (on K 90) by 3 competitors of the

same nationality determines the starting order
and the spacing out of the team for the 3 x 70

km cross-country relay. The gold goes to the

A crowded podium: the

first team to finish.

medal-winning teams in the
Nordic combined.

195

NORDIC COMBINED

INDIVIDUAL

Jump

15 km

1 GUY, Fabrice FRA 222’1 44’28”l

2 GUILLAUME, Sylvain FRA 208’1 45’16”5
3 SULZENBACHER, Klaus AUT 221’6 45’34”4
4 LUNDBERG, Fred NOR 211’9 45’54”8
5 OFNER, Klaus AUT 228’5 45’57”9
6 LEVANDI, Allar EST 206’4 46’02”2
7 OGIWARA, Kenji JPN 215’3 46’25”s
8 USTUPSKI, Stanislaw POL 202’6 46’56”2

Guillaume catching up
Sulzenbacher.

TEAM

1 JPN

2 NOR
3 AUT
4 FRA
5 GER
6 TCH
7 FIN
8 USA

1 MIKATA

KONO

OCIWARA

Jump

3x10 km

645.1  1 h 23’36”5
569.9  1 h 18’46”9
615.6  1 h 22’49”6

578.4  1 h 20’19”0
609.7  1 h 25’24”9
546.7  1 h 24’29”2
561.2  1 h 25’44”3
591.3  1 h 28’15”8

2 APELAND

LUNDBERG
ELDEN

3 OFNER 4 REPELLIN

KREINER GUILLAUME

SULZENBACHER GUY

5 POHL

DEIMEL
DUFTER

7 SAAPUNKI

MANTILA
SUMMANEN

6 KOVARIK

KUCERA
MAKA

8 HOLLAND

TETREAULT

H ECKMAN

COURCHEVEL

French double in the Nordic combined
in Courchevel succeeded in revealing

a number of things to the French, not least
of which was the discipline itself, on the
programme since Chamonix in 1924, ath-
letes determined to win and a crowd of
lively supporters from the Jura mountains
prepared to travel and give their champions
some Italian-style encouragement. France
has still not quite got over it : Fabrice Guy
won the gold, and Sylvain Guillaume took
the silver.

In the jumping, Guy had gone ahead

(87.50 to 85.50) and, well supported by a
closely-knit team, could be fairly sure of
victory the following day ahead of the Aus-
trians and Japanese. In the end it was Guil-
laume who created the surprise on the
superb course laid out not far from the ski

jump at Courchevel. Coming up relentlessly

irom way behind in 13th place, he finally
stole second place from the Austrian Sul-
zenberger who was thereby pushed into
third. With the rest of his team, Sulzen-
berger was to maintain this ranking in the
relay, a beautifully balanced event of high
calibre. But for the French, who had lost
their concentration, their good fortune did
not continue. This team competition went
to the best jumpers, the Japanese, who
thus succeeded in winning their first gold
medal since Sapporo. Thanks to their
results in the jumping, they had an advan-
tage of more than two minutes in the relay,

which they made good use of by letting

Mikita, their weakest skier, compete first.
After a tremendous comeback, the Norwe-
gians slipped back to 1’26”4. And the final
race, which was neck-and-neck up to the
finishing line, saw the Norwegian Elden
narrowly beaten by Ogiwara, to the delight
of the many Japanese who had made the
trip.

196

SKI JUMPING

Background Information
In both Worl d and Olympic competitions,
ski jumping takes place on two types of

jumping hills : the 90 m and the large
jumping hill of 120 m, these lengths repre-

senting the critical point (K) marking the
end of the landing area, beyond which it

would be dangerous to extend the jump.
There is an in-run, a landing area and a
deceleration zone. The ski jumpers aim is

to jump a long way and to be elegant in
flight. Style is marked out of 20 by 5

judges, who take in account in-run, take

off; flight and landing.

Two types of event are scheduled : the

individual jump on K 90 and K 120 includ-

Toni Nieminen, the new Finnish

ing a test jump (non-compulsory), and 2

star.

competition jumps whose total counts to-
wards placing: and the team jump (3 jum-

pers), on K 120, including 2 series of

jumps, the best 3 of which are counted

and added up for final placing based on
the 2 series.

The maximum score is 60 points. As

for the length of the jump, it is visually
measured to the nearest 50 cm, measurers
being placed along the landing area, and
also marked 60 points if the K point is
reached. For the normal hill, for each metre
less, 1.6 points are deducted. For the large
hill, 1.4 points are deducted.

197

SKI JUMP

TEAM K120

1 FIN

2 A U T
3 TCH
4 JPN
5 C E R
6 SLO
7 NOR
8 SUI

PARMA

5 HUNGER

THOMA

DUFFNER

WEISSFLOG

7 OLIJNYK

Ernst Vettori.

INDIVIDUALS K90

1 NIKKOLA 2 KUl-TlN

LAITINEN VETTORI
LAAKKONEN HOLLWARTH
NIEMINEN FELDER

3 GODER

JEZ

SAKALA

JOHANSEN

OTTESEN

BREDESEN

Length Points

COURCHEVEL

Points

644.4
642.9
620.1
571.0
544.6

543.3
538.0
537.9

4 KAMIHARAKO

HARADA
KASAI

SUDA

6 KOPAC

ZUPAN

PETEK

COSTISA

8 GAHLER

TRUNZ

FREIHOLZ

ZUEND

1 VETTORI, Ernst AUT 088.0 222’8
2 HOLLWARTH, Martin AUT 090.5 218’1
3 NIEMINEN, Toni FIN 088.0 217’0

4 KUTTIN, Heinz AUT 086.0 214’4
5 LAITINEN, Mika FIN 085.5 213’6
6 FELDER, Andreas AUT 087.0 213’5
7 HUNGER, Heiko GER 087.0 211’6
8 MOLLARD, Didier FRA 085.0 209’7

INDIVIDUALS K120

Length Points

1 NIEMINEN, Toni FIN 123.0 239’5

2 HOLLWARTH, Martin AUT 120.5 227’3
3 KUTTIN, Heinz AUT 117.5 214’8
4 HARADA, Masahiko JPN 116.0 211’3
5 PARMA, Jiri TCH 111.5 198’0
6 DELAUP, Steeve FRA 106.0 185’6
7 LUNARDI, Ivan ITA 110.5 185’2
8 PETEK, Franci SLO 107.0 177’1

this first day of the Games, the wind

was blowing in Austria’s direction.

Ernst Vettori, with 14 world cup victories

already to his credit, won his first Olympic
victory on the K90 jump, leaving the silver
to his compatriot Hollwarth. The Finn, who
had dominated the whole of the world cup
season had to be content with the bronze,

but still beat the age record. At just over 16,
he became the youngest medallist ever in

the Winter Games. That was before he
jumped 123 metres in the K120 to become
the youngest ever gold medallist, helping

his team to leave the Austrians far behind.
Then the same thing happened in the indi-
vidual event. Jumping changes, and the
fashion now is the new V-style. For the
young Finn it must all have seemed like a
dream, and he was unquestionably the
bird-man of the Games - a habit now for
the Finns, and the Austrians cannot stop it.

198

DEMONSTRATION

SPORTS

FREESTYLE SKIING

MEN’S AERIALS

1 LAROCHE, Philippe CAN 237’47

2 FONTAINE, Nicolas CAN 228’88
3 MEDA, Didier FRA 219’44
4 BACQUIN, Jean-Marc FRA 206’71
5 FEDDERSEN, Kris USA 201’74
6 BONATTI, Hugo AUT 198’15
7 WORTHINGTON, Trace USA 192’16
8 STOEGNER, Alexander AUT 187’67

Colette Brand, left, in mid aerial

demonstration.

MEN’S BALLET

WOMEN’S AERIALS

1 BRAND, Colette SUI
2 LINDGREN, Marie SWE
3 SIMCHEN, Elfie GER

4 CURRY, Jilly GBR
5 TCHERIAZOVA, Lina EUN
6 LID, Hilde NOR
7 MARSHALL, Kristie AUS
8 SCHMID, Maja SUI

157’51
155’10
153’94
151’13
150’01
144’65
139’55
129’47

1 BECKER, Fabrice FRA

2 KRISTIANSEN, Rune NOR
3 SPINA, Lane USA
4 PEIRCE, Richard CAN
5 BAUMGARTNER, Heini SUI
6 WEISS, Armin GER
7 FRANCO, Roberto ITA
8 WINTERSTEEN, Jeffrey USA

WOMEN’S BALLET

1 KISSLING, Conny SUI

2 FECHOZ, Cathy FRA
3 PETZOLD, Sharon USA
4 SNELL, Julia GBR
5 JOHANSSON, Annika SWE
6 BREEN, Ellen USA
7 SCHMID, Maja SUI
8 GUTIERREZ, Raquel ESP

28’15
28’00
27’40
27’30
25’85
25’65
25’50
24’80

25’30
25’20
24’10
22’85
22’80
22’30
21’60
21’50

199

DEMONSTRATION SPORTS

TIGNES

FREESTYLE SKIING

nly six years after the first freestyle

world championships in Tignes, ballet

and aerials were back there for their sec-
ond Olympic demonstration appearance,
along with the third discipline, moghuls,
which was given full Olympic sport status
for 1992. A cross between gymnastics,
trampolining and skateboarding, the men’s
aerials were dominated by the Canadians,

Philippe Laroche, the world champion, and
Nicholas Fontaine, who gave spectacular
performances. Didier Méda of France,

second in Calgary, still jumped for joy on
taking third place. Colette Brand won the
women’s with style. Ski ballet might seem

like figure skating on skis and snow but you
have to be a perfect acrobat. The Ameri-
can Lane Spina, who was runner-up in Cal-

gary came third ahead of Rune Kristiansen,
who put the emphasis on technical pro-
wess in the air. Both left the top honour to
the Frenchman Fabrice Becker, who won
on points for composition and style with a
well-choreographed dance-like tango. A
fine exploit in the women’s competition
with Conny Kissing taking the 103rd win in

her career, ahead of Cathy Fechoz, from

Courchevel.

SPEED SKIING

MEN

1 PRUFER, Michael FRA WR 229’299

2 GOITSCHEL, Philippe FRA 228’717
3 HAMILTON, Jeffrey USA 226’700
4 SISTACH, Laurent FRA 225’000
5 BASILE, Claude FRA 223’464
6 KAKES, Petr TCH 223’325
7 MORGAN, James USA 222’910
8 WEBER, Franz AUT 222’222

WOMEN

1 MULARI, Tarja FIN WR 219’245

2 PETTERSEN, Liss NOR 212’892

3 KOLAROVA, Renata SUI 210’526

4 MORIN, Anna SWE 209’790
5 DIMINO-SIMONS, Melissa USA 203’620

SPEED SKIING IN LES ARCS

n their skin-tight ski suits, aerodynamic
helmets and calf-mounted ailerons, the

speed skiers beat some breathtaking speed
records in spite of the very cold snow on
the run specially built for them at Les Arcs,
which has become one of the centres of
this demonstration event. Michel Prufer, a
31 -year old doctor from Savoy, smashed his
own world record, set in 1988, by 5.558
km/h. Philippe Goitschel, a nephew of the
French skiing champion, placed second
with 228.717 km/h ahead of the American
Hamilton Jeffrey with 226.700 km/h. A

record was also broken in the women’s
competition by Finland’s Tarja Mulari at
219.245 km/h (beating the previous
214.723). For these performances, shorter
competitors have an advantage, but they
are still possible only after careful prepara-

tion. The rest is down to concentration and
determination. One sad memory from this

competition, however, is the accidental
death on a nearby training run of the 27-
year old Swiss skier Nicholas Bochatay.

XVlth WINTER GAMES - RESULTS

The Japanese

team against the

British.

CURLING IN PRALOGNAN

n the superb rink at Pralognan, despite

the presence of Canadian and Swiss sup-

porters who did their best to inject some
atmosphere, the curling tournament did
not attract a full crowd of spectators, and

the journalists showed little interest in this
demonstration sport which is nevertheless

practised in 25 countries. Down on the ice,
the atmosphere was one of self-control and

good form. The Swiss team, playing against
the Norwegians, won the men’s tourna-

ment, revenge for the opposite result in

Calgary, but for third and fourth places the
Canadians and Americans placed exactly
as they had in 1988. For the women, on

the other hand, it was the Norwegians who

beat the Germans, leaving third place for

the Canadians, the winners in Calgary, who
finally triumphed over the Danes.

MEN WOMEN

1 SUI

2 NOR
3 USA

4 CAN
5 GBR
6 FRA
7 AUS
8 SWE

1 GER

2 NOR
3 CAN
4 DEN
5 SWE
6 GBR
7 FRA
8 JPN

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