WinterSports2002.com - Olympic highlights

WinterSports2002.com, Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Olympic highlights

1. HEY, SAILER: At the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Games, Austria's Anton "Toni" Sailer became the first Olympian to claim alpine's triple crown by winning the giant slalom, slalom and downhill events at the same Winter Games. Sailer's gold in the downhill was anticipated — he was the favorite and held the course record. However, he faced the race with some anxious moments, having broken a binding strap just minutes before the start. An Italian team trainer offered his, and Sailer skied on to history.

2. THE KILLYMPICS: France's Jean-Claude Killy duplicated Sailer's three-gold achievement — and he did it in front of the home-nation crowd at the 1968 Grenoble Games. But Killy's "triple crown" didn't come without controversy. After winning the downhill and giant slalom, Killy appeared to have the slalom won after medal-contender Karl Schranz of Austria stopped abruptly during the second of his two runs on the fog-shrouded course, claiming a "mysterious man in black" had crossed in front of him. Schranz was given a re-run and appeared to have won the slalom gold. However, judges later ruled that Schranz had missed gates on his initial second run and gave the gold back to Killy.

3. LA BOMBA IGNITES: Italy's Alberto Tomba burst onto the Olympic alpine scene in double-gold fashion, sweeping the top spots in the men's slalom and giant slalom events at the 1988 Calgary Games. He nearly duplicated the same feat four years later, taking the giant slalom gold and finishing with the second-place silver in the slalom at the 1992 Albertville Games. And at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, the international media darling — who focused as much on wine, women and song as he did on skiing — could manage only the slalom silver again. Trying to become the first alpine skier to medal in four Winter Olympics, Tomba injured his back on a sluggish giant slalom run at the 1998 Nagano Games and withdrew from the subsequent slalom event.

4. CLOSE BUT NO CROWN: Two women have come tantalizingly close to matching Sailer and Killy's three-gold alpine sweep: At the 1976 Innsbruck Games, Rosi Mittermaier of Germany won the downhill and slalom and was .13 seconds from claiming the top spot in the giant slalom. Four years later, Hanni Wenzel of tiny Liechtenstein won the slalom and giant slalom but managed only the silver in the women's downhill at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

5. MIGHTY MAIER: Known as "The Herminator" for wreaking havoc among World Cup competition prior to the 1998 Nagano Games, Hermann Maier suffered a horrific crash in the men's downhill, with his sideways soaring off the course and crashing through two fences providing one of the most memorable Olympic video footages in recent memory. Miraculously, the 25-year-old bricklayer and multi-medal favorite walked away from the spill; even more miraculously, he ended up winning the men's Super G only three days later and added a giant slalom after that.

6. THREE TIMES GOLDEN: With wins in the slalom and giant slalom at the 1988 Calgary Games and the slalom at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, Switzerland's Vreni Schneider was the first female alpine skier to collect three gold medals and the first to tally five overall medals.

7. THREE'S COMPANY: By the end of the 1998 Nagano Games, two more Olympians — Germany's Katja Seizinger and Italy's Deborah Compagnoni — had joined Schneider to form a three-gold threesome. Seizinger became the first skier to successfully defend a Olympic downhill crown and added the '98 alpine combined gold medal to her '94 and '98 downhill gold. Following her golden performances in the Super G at the 1992 Albertville Games and in the '94 giant slalom, Compagnoni finished first in the '98 giant slalom to become the first alpine skier to strike gold in three different Olympics.

8. HIGH-FLYING FRANZ: Who can forget the death-defying antics of Austria's Franz Klammer, who scorched the downhill run during the 1976 Innsbruck Games? With reckless abandon over the jumps and around the turns, Klammer wowed the home-country crowd and international television audience in edging defending Olympic champion Bernhard Russi of Switzerland. Klammer's high-octane cruise down the final 1,000 meters resulted in his turning a mid-run deficit of .2 seconds into a winning margin of .3 seconds — making up a staggering half-second different on the runner-up Russi.

9. COMMERCIAL-FREE? Avery Brundage, the aged president of the International Olympic Committee, was as much a factor in alpine skiing during the late 1960s and early 1970s as any participant. Leading a self-proclaimed charge to purge the sport of commericalism, the threatened suspension of skiers because of their financial ties to product testing and endorsements. At the 1968 Grenoble Games, Brundage demanded that ski equipment be free of trade names and trademarks; eventually, it was agreed that skis would be taken away from winners before being hoisted overhead to display to the crowd and the photographers. And at the 1972 Sapporo Games, Brundage used Austria's Karl Schranz — a dominating World Cup skier who had been a critic of the IOC president's tactics — as an example to others. Brundage disqualified the Austrian — who was at the end of his quest for the elusive Olympic gold — as a professional athlete who was unfit for Olympic inclusion.

10. ALL IN THE FAMILY: American twins Phil and Steve Mahre concluded their competitive careers with a 1-2 finish in the men's slalom at the 1984 Sarajevo Games. Phil's outstanding second run allowed him to overtake first-run leader Steve. But capturing the sibling storyline were French sisters Christine and Marielle Goitschel, who combined for two golds and two silvers at the 1964 Innsbruck Games. Christine edged Marielle for the gold in the slalom, while Marielle returned the favor and upstaged her older sister for the win in the giant slalom. Marielle then pulled a prank in her postrace comments, announcing a fictitious engagement to an up-and-coming French skier by the name of Jean-Claude Killy.