He cost US the medals - PDF Archies of NY Daily News

He cost U.S. the medals
By
kilometer race; he did not even finish. At least he
had an excellent reason fo r not finishing:
MIKE LUPICA
AKE PLACID - On the ice a! the Olympic
Fieldhouse Linda Fratianne was executing
my favorite move in all of figure skating, the
Triple Salchow Double Loop. Since figure skating
is my passion. I could see right away that this was
not a Triple Lutz, a Triple Toe Loop, or a Triple
Axel, which only Communists try. But on this day.
Fratianne's Salchow held me riveted.
It was not just the d ifficu lty of the manuever.
which involves a skater rotating, in the air.
two-and-a half times. It was not just that Fratianne needed to pile up some points in the women's ’
short program as she chased Annet Poetzsch, the
East German. 1 had a much bigger rooting interest.
1 did not want her to fall.
L
IF LINDA FRATIANNE fell. I was pretty sure
it was going to be my fault.
Those who have been following the X III Winter
Olympics closely are aware that American athletes
have not been so successful at these Games The
Republic of Heiden has picked up four gold
medals, and goes for a fifth today in the 10.000meter race. The L'.S. women picked up a few
medals in speed skating, and Phil Mahre won a
silver in the men's slalom yesterday. The U.S.
hockey team, and Fratianne, are both still alive.
But mostly, the Americans, playing with the famed
home country
advantage, have been a
disappointment.
With the slalom still to come, the women skiers
have been shut out. A ll of the Nordic skiers
finished somewhere near Montreal Beth Heiden
was able to produce only one bronze medal for the
Republic of Heiden. in four races. Going into
today's events, the U.S. ranks third in the gold
medal parade, and has managed to win six more
medals than Liechtenstein, a country the size of
the dance floor at Studio 54. Apart from Eric the
Heiden, the U.S. team has run about as well as the
Lake Placid-Saranac Lake-Marcy bus run.
Many athletes have looked into their souls,
searched their fighting spirit, and discovered that
this is the fault of the media. Coaches have made
the same discovery' John Bower, coach of the U.S.
Nordic team, and B ill Koch, one of his cross­
country skiers, were the first to notice
Koch, out of Brattleboro, Vt., won a silver
medal at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics in the
30-kilometer race. Because of that finish, there
were high hopes for Koch in Lake Placid. How­
ever, Koch did not win any medals in the 30-
"ONE OF THE REASONS I dropped out," he
said, “ was because I didn't want to see the press at
that time."
Bower would later say this: “ One of the
problems we’re facing in the American press is
that they're only concerned with 1-2-3. They don't
understand our problems." We did understand that
not finishing hurts your medal chances. And we
had claimed our first victim, B ill Koch.
Beth Heiden was next. Beth, 1979 world speed­
skating champion and runnerup this year, was
considered the best multiple-medal hope among
the U.S. women In the months leading up to the
Olympics. Beth had become quite famous in the
United States Stories were written about Eric and
Beth in national magazines; Eric and Beth were
interviewed on television; Eric and Beth discussed
their medal chances. One must assume that all this
was done with Eric and Beth's permission, in
concert with the wishes of their diligent flack,
A rthur Kaminsky.
Beth then came to Lake Placid and finished
seventh in the 1.500 meters, seventh in the 500
meters, fifth in the 1,000 meters and third in the
3.000 meters, for which she won her bronze medal.
Even before Beth Heiden came into the press
conference after her bronze. I had the same funny
feeling in my stomach I always get when I’ve
messed up someone's Olympics.
" I like to skate fo r myself, and this year I feel
like Tm skating for the press." Beth said. “ And the
hell with you guys."
B ILL KOCH. THE U.S. Nordic team. Beth
Heiden I felt like I was shooting in the biathlon
now. They were dropping like flies.
On Thursday, I took out the U.S. women’s
Alpine team. The best any of the Americans have
done going into Saturday's slalom is a fourth by
Heidi Preuss in the downhill. Cindy Nelson,
considered to be the best hope fo r a big show,
finished seventh in the downhill and 13th in the
giant slalom. She was asked when the U.S. skiers
would "get it together." I kind of knew what was
coming.
“ You people have to give us a chance," snapped
Cindy Nelson. "Why can’t you give us a chance?"
I want you to know, I don't feel good about
what I've done to our Olympic hopes. I can't help
myself. And today, you have to know I’m going
after the big one. I am going after Eric Heiden. If
he loses in the 10,000 meters, doesn’t get that fifth
gold, just remember who gets the credit.
OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
D A I L Y N E W S . S A T U R D A Y . F E B R U A R Y 23. 1980
Retailers in the Olympic Village
were warned Friday to watch out
for counterfeit $20 bills which
have turned up during the Games.
A local bank turned over 14
bogus S20s to Secret Service
agents after checking receipts
from businessmen. The
counterfeit money, similar to bills
first circulated in Canada in 1977,
are of fairly good quality but
interior texture and weak coloring,
according to state police
investigator William Freeman.
Freeman said the bills were
printed by offset and bore the
same serial number as lakes
circulated previously in
Missouri and Washington state.
White House lunch
The U.S. Winter Olympic team
and staff will join President
Carter Monday for a luncheon at
the While House. “We will be
going, all of us,’ said USOC
spokesman Mike Moran.
SCHEDULE
Day 12
TV-Channel 7
12:30-3:30
*-11 p.m.
11:30-11:45 p.m.
6:30 «.m.—Nordic Skiing at Ml. Van
Hoevenberg. Men's 50 kilometer Cross
Country The favorite in this race is
Sven-Ake Lundback ot Sweden, al­
though ha should get strong competi­
tion from Norway's Oddvir Brea and
Nikolai Zlmatov ot the USSR. Tim
Celdwell and Stan Dunklee will try to
break through tor the U.S.
0:30 •,m.—Bobsled at Ml. Van Hoeven­
berg: Four-Man. First and Second
Runs The East Germans are lavored
in this event because ot their sophisti­
cated sleds and the expenence ot
such drivers as Mtlnhaid Nehmer,
Bernhard Lehmann and Horn'
Schoneau Watch out lor the Swiss
squad, led by Erich Schaerer, and
the West Germans, driven by Stefan
Gaitrelter The top Americans In­
clude Jett Gadley, Jett Jordan,
former Olympic hurdling gold
medalist Willie Davenport, Bob Hic­
9:30 i.m.—Speed Skating at the Olympic
Oval Men's 10.000 Meters This may
well mark the tilth gold medal lor
superskatar Eric Heiden, who will be
accompanied in the American medal
harvest by Or. Mike Woods, Dan
Immerfall and Paler Mueller Their
chief rivals will be Kay Stene|emmet
and Jin-Egll StorhoK of Norway and
several Soviet skaters.
10:00 a.m. — Alpine Skiing al Whitctace
Mountain: Women's Slalom Watch tor
the Italian duo ot Maria Rota Quarto
and Claudia Gtordanl, Hannl Wenzel
of Liechtenstein, Austrians Regina
Sackl and Laa Solkrwr and France's
Pertlne Paton Abbl Flatter is an
Amencari dark horso.
12:M p.m.—Nordic Skiing al Intervale 90
Meter Special Jumping. Once again
the favorites in this event are Panttl
Kokkonen ot Finland, Jochen Dannenberg of East Germany and Alexei
Berovltln of the Soviet Union. Ameri­
cans Jim Denney and Walter Malmquiet and East Germany's Harold
Dutchak rank just behind
7:30 p.m.—Figure Skating at the Olympic
Fieldhouse: Women's Free Skating
The culmination ot one ot the best
events lor the U.S. Keep yout eyes on
Linda Fratianne and Ltoe-Marto Al­
len. Other contenders include East
Germany's Annet Poetzeoh, Switzer­
land s Denise Btollmen. Degmar Lurz
ot West Germany and Japan's Eml
Watanebe
key, Bill Renton, Brant Ruahlaw, 7:30 p.m.—Awards Ceremony at Mirror
Wade Whitney, and Blit Napier.
Lake.
Medal standings
Nation
Soviet Union
E. Germany
United States
Austria
Sweden
Norway
Liechtenstein
Netherlands
Switzerland
Britain
Finland
Italy
Canada
W. Germany
Hungary
Japan
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
France
ties— M.Stastny. Cze, 9 01. MacLean.
Can, 11:28.
Gold Silver Bronze Total
9
7
4
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
i
8
Il l1
l
t
HOCKEY
A
UnttedStatei
W I T PteGF GA
10 0 24 3
0 0 1 13
0 0 1 13
0 1 0 0 3
3
3
4
FRIDAY S RESULTS
United States 4, Soviet Union 3
Czechoslovakia 6. Canada 1. consolation
Shot* on goal-Czechoslovakia 14-4-9—
27 Canada 9-7-5—21 GoaltoeCzechostovakia,
Dupuis.
Kralik:
Canada.
Finland 3, Sweden 3
Finland
t t 1-3
Swedan
0 1 2—3
Flrat Period—1, Finland. Lelnonen (Porvari, Kiimalalnen), 3:00. Penalties—
None.
S«cond Period—2, Finland, Porvari
1 (Eloranta), 7:06. 3, Sweden. Weinstock. 10:25. Penalties—Susi. Fin. 2
39; Porvari, Fin. 9:28; Lundquist, Swe.
14:13.
Jonsson.
Swe.
18:25.
Kiimalalnen, Fin, 18:25; Soederstoem.
Swe. 19:46.
Third Period—4, Sweden, Jonsson (Aahlberg. Holmgren), 5:24. 5, Sweden.
Waltin (Notberg). 6:14. 6, Finland.
Lelnonen (Porvari), 7:59.
Short on goal—Finland 11-7-7—25. Swe­
den 9-12-9-30. GoMie*—Finland.
Kiveia. Sweden, Undbergh,
SLALOM
game
Finland 3. Sweden 3
Tal Babllonia and Randy
Gardner were named (or
Bogus bills
TODAY’S
Sweden
Finland
SovielUnion
IO C: No
consolation
unofficial consolation medals in
the XIII Olympic Winter Games
Friday, and the International
Olympic Committee promptly read
the Riot Act A clothing firm
included the unlucky American
figure skaters in a list of eight
athletes to receive its consolation
medals. But an IOC spokesman
said; “We have already told them
several days ago they must stop
doing this. Nobody outside the
IOC has any authority to award
medals in the Olympic Games.
We are surprised to hear they are
still talking about it.”
o l y m p ic m m b a w
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Finland vt. United States, 11 a.m.
Soviet Union vs. Sweden, 2:30 p.m,
NOTE: Points were awarded to each team
based on performance against each
other in the round-robin playoff (Soviet
Union beat Finland 4-2 and United
Stales and Sweden lied 2-2)
USA 4, USSR 3
Men's final (2 runs)
1, Ingemar Sienmark, Sweden, 1 44 26
(53.89. 50.37).
2, Phil Mahra, White Pee*. Wash.,
1:44.78(53.31,51.48).
United States
2 0 2-4 3, Jaques Luethy, Switzerland, 14506
(53 70-51.36).
Soviet Union
2 f o—3
Flrat Period-1, Sovlei Union. Krutov, 4, Hans Enn, Austria. 1 45 12 (53 70.
51.42),
(Kasatonov). 9:12. 2. United Slates,
Schneider (Pavelich), 14:03. 3, Soviet 5, Chnstian Neureuther. West Germany,
1:45.14 (54.37-50.77).
Union, Makarov (A.Golikov), 17:34. 4.
United States. Johnson (Christian, 6, Peter Popangelov, Bulgaria, 1 4540
Eric Heiden, who chases a record-shattering fifth gold medal
today in the 10,000-meter speed skating race, even leads
during workout as he preps with teammate Mike Woods and
Janan's Masahiko Yamamoto.
Lugers recovering
On the crystal ball
Two Olympic lugers remained
in good condition Friday at
area hospitals Reto Fill! of
Switzerland was recovering at
Saranac Lake General Hospital
from a broken leg he suffered in a
training accident Feb. 11. And
Jim Moseey of Rochester was
recuperating at Placid Memorial
Hospital after breaking his left
wrist in a warmup for the luge
doubles event last Tuesday.
Four years ago, John Curry—
the first Briton to win an
Olympic gold in men's figure
skating—predicted that Robin
Cousins wou'd succeed him as
Olympic champion. Few believed
him. After all, how could a country
that had produced a grand total
of four gold medals in 72 years o!
the Winter Olympics produce two
consecutive champions? And two
Ice skating champions, at that,
when there were less than a
half-dozen full-sized skating rinks
in all of England? Bui, in spite of
all the handicaps—and largely
because of coach Carlo Fasti—
Curry turned out to be right, as
Cousins defeated East
Germany's Jan Hoffmann and
America's Charlie Tlcknar for
the gold medal.
Close enough
Phil Mahre't sister says she's
thrilled for her brother's silvermedal finish in the men's slalom.
“It's not what he wanted, but it's
pretty close," K*tho« Forman
said at the family's White Pass.
Wash, home after hearing the
news
Silk),
19 59
USSR, 3:25.
Penalty—Mikhailov.
Second Period—5. Soviet Union, Maltsev
(54.64-50.56).
7, Anton Sleinet, Austria, 1 45.41 (54 5650.85).
8, Gustavo Thoeni, Italy. 1.45.99 (54.7951.20).
(Krutov), 2:1 B Penalties—Harrington,
USA, 58, Craig, USA, 9:50; Lebedev,
USSR, 17:08; Morrow, USA. 17:08.
Fell on first run
Third Period-6, United States, Johnson Sieve Mahre, White Pass, Wash., Pete
(Silk), 8:39. 7, United States, Eruzione
Patterson, Sun Valley, Idaho, Bill
(Pavelich, Harrington), 1000 Penal­
Taylor, Orcharo Park, N.Y.
ty— Krutov, Soviet Union, 16:47,
Short on goel—United States 8-2-6—16
Soviet Union 18-12-9—39. Goeltot—
United States, Craig Soviet Union,
Tretiak, Myshkin,
BIATHLON
Czechs 6, Canada 1
Czechoslovakia
5 0 t —6
Canada
0 1 0—1 —
Flrat Period—1. Czechoslovakia. Frycer
Men’s 30-km relay
(Novy, Pouzar), 1:38. 2, Czechos- 1 Soviet Union (Vlad'mir Alikin, Alexander
lovakia. A.Stastny, 2:14. 3, Czechos­
lovakia, M.Stastny (Bubla. A.Stastny),
7:16. 4, Czechoslovakia. A.Stastny
(M.Stastny, P.Stastny), (2:47. 5,
Czechoslovaakia. M.Stastny (A.Stastny, P.Stastny). 13:19. Penalties—DAIvise, Can, 5:00; Novak, Cze, 7:54
Primeau. Can, 18:58: Pouzar, Cze,
18:58
Second Period—6, Canada. Devaney
(Grant. Hindmarch), 8:01, Penalties—
Kadlec, Cze, 15:04.
Third
Period—7,
Czechoslovakia,
M.Stastny (P.Stastny). 17:18. Penal-
Tikhonov. Vladimir Bamaschov. Anatok
Aljabiev). 1 hour, 34 minutes, 3.27
seconds-0 missed targets.
2. East Germany, 1:34:56.99-3.
3. West Germany, 1:37:30.26-2
4. Norway. 1:38:11.76-3.
5. France. 1 38:2336-1
6 Austria, 1:38 32.02-4.
7 Finland, 1:38:50.84-6.
|, Untied Start* (Martin Hagen, Jackson
Hot*, Wyo, Lyle Nelson, Olympic
Valrty, Calif., Donald Nlartan, South
Strafford, Vt, Rater Hoag, Mlnnaaoolla), 1:39:24.299.,