European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 13, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary air Force there s this thing called courage in sports it s Dairy Strawberry dusting himself off from a Nolan Ryan Broshack and Swani Ninga Home run. Or Joe Montana releasing the Ball moments before Jim Bun cracks him. Or Michael Jordan sinking inc tying free throw into the Teeth of a Boston Garden mob with no time left. Courage. Coming through at the toughest times it s Lough enough in inc sports Arena. Then there s the Arena of death where you either come through or die. An air Force skier named Deborah Namdar showed that kind of courage she survived an attack by three German shepherds Las september near her Rhein main base and for the past two weeks she has already returned to winning medals in military ski ing. ,. Wednesday during the . Forces european Al Pine ski championship in Garmisch Namdar nearly made it All the Way Back to the Mountain top. She was breezing to a Superior time in the slalom. A Gold medal time. Yet within a second of the finish line she missed a Gale. Goodbye Gold. In was hard watching Namdar s dazed look. All those weeks of therapy after that dog mauling. All that sweat trying to be a Champion again. Hurt by a simple mental mistake missing a slalom rate. Chris Powell the Brilliant coach from Sembach who pushed his air Force team to the Alpine title Over the army was t about to push Namdar for answers. She was tired explained Powell. She s not skiing As aggressively this year. She s not As Sharp yes Namdar was tired. That happens when part of your Arm and leg Are trying to grow Back after dog champing. I feel real  said Namdar after her near championship slalom run. But every Day i m tired. No More  Namdar a 30-year-old nurse at the Rhein main Ducky Fox clinic walked into her Nightmare last sept. 21. It was a sunday morn ing. She was heading for the Woods to jog near her Home in mock Feldun a town right by Rywin main. You would think nothing could be safer suddenly the dogs attacked. When i first saw them there were two dogs nun Ning up. I stopped Namdar recalls. But they kept com ing so 1 yelled. Then a third dog came. They just jumped on me and knocked me Down. I was kicking and Yelling and moving and scream ing. A German Man came on his Balcony and yelled at the dogs. Then a German woman got on her Balcony and yelled at them. Eventually the dogs owner s Girlfriend ran Down the Street and yelled at the dogs. Two broke off and ran toward her. She yelled again and the third one ran  Namdar survived that Arena of death on guts and strength. While one dog went for her head she managed to throw him off. I was thinking am i Gonna survive How Long will this go on will anybody help rect " when help arrived Namdar rejected pain killers and insisted or. Going to Wiesbaden s air Force hos Pital. The German ambulance obliged. It was amazing that Namdar had the courage to argue anything after her Battle. The dogs had chomped off two thirds of her left bicep and a chunk of her right calf. They had also bruised her left Tri Cep. The Wiesbaden doctor in the surgery room was so stunned by Namdar s condition that she thought god am i Gonna have an Arm left he would t let me look at it Namdar was fortunate to Suiter no nerve damage. Courage she never lost reeling Lull much the says with a Grin. Sometimes i wish Iliad it Hurt so  after surgery closed her wounds Namdar dived into therapy. She wanted Back on the Rhein main ski team of which she was n member two previous seasons. That was one of the things that kept me  she says. By thanksgiving just Over two months after her mauling Namdar returned to the slopes. Sure her Arm and calf Hurt after the Swiss trip. But after that trip i knew i could do  she says. Courage. Life is rough for Deborah Namdar. Her left Arm might never regain All of its strength. She sees n social Helper weekly to try to conquer her fear of dogs. Ill be walking Down a Street and fear that it can happen again she says. She my jog because of inc same fright. It got to bad during a recent trip to Austria that she froze watching a German Shepherd playing in the Snow. She had to be carried to a car. She s also upset that Only one of her attack dogs was put to sleep. The other two arc still in a Nir Ign boyhood House. Through in All. This chicagoan manages to Volks March. And ski. A year after dominating the Safe Alpine events Namdar bounced Back to win two silvers and a Bronze in last week s Safe races this week at the . Forces meet she won a Silver in the giant slalom. She missed inc Gold by a Little More than 2 seconds to which she responded. Two seconds that s a lot. I want to win Namdar mostly wants to be her old self. One Day i la jog again she says. Now that the ski season is Over that s my next  it la take courage. That s something Namdar has a lock on. Soviet pair keeps world skate title figure skaters Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina Gor Dreu display their winning style. App Nom Cincinnati a Ekaterina Gor decay and Sergei Grinkov of the soviet Union successfully defended their title in the world figure skating championships wednesday night while the american pair of Jill Watson and Peter of Pegall captured the Bronze. It was the Best showing by an Ameri can pair in a world championship in five years. Kitty and Peter Carruthers who won a Silver medal in the 1984 olympics look a Bronze in 1982. The medal capped a climb Back from bitter disappointment for Watson of Bloomington. Ind., and Oppegard. Knoxville Tenn. They were the w5 . Champions but skated poorly and lost that Crown the net year to Gillian Wachsman and Todd Waggoner. But Watson Oppegard took Back the National Crown last month with a sensational free skating performance. And they were nearly As Good wednesday be fore an enthusiastic crowd that included several sections of nag waving fans Oppegard who is More than a foot taller than Watson Bent Over and hugged his partner on the ice after their routine. Their Bronze medal guarantees that the . Will have three pairs in the 1988 olympics second place went 10 two Lime world champs Elena Valova and org Vasilico of the soviet Union. Wachsman und Waggoner dropped from fifth to seventh As she fell once and hit the sideboards twice. Earlier Kira Ivanova of the soviet Union won the women s compulsory is while defending Champion debt Thomas was a close second. Another american. Caryn Kadavy. Finished fourth in the compulsory is. Worth to percent of the total score. Kata Rina Witt of East Germany the favorite to recapture the world tide she lost to Thomas last year was fifth. Thomas led on the first two figures an inside counter and a Forward paragraph Brocket. But she badly botched the Back paragraph Loop finishing ninth on that figure to fall behind Ivanova. Who was second and fifth on the other figures it started out Well Thomas 19, of san Jose. Calif., said i m really glad i did As Well on inc first and second. If i had to it could have been a problem. The third figure was bad t let nerves take  still Thomas was Happy with her standing. She has been skating with tendinitis an ailment that May have Cost her the . Crown which Jill Trenary took away last month. Ivanovo who did not meet with the press none of inc soviet singles skat ers have been allowed to attend news conferences is not considered As Good a free skater As Thomas. Kadavy. Win or Elizabeth Manly a Canadian Whu is sixth. Neither is Claudia Luis incr of West Germany who was third in the compulsory is Trenary of Minnetonka. Minn., had considerable problems with the 1 Iris and third figure and we 1 Ith. Jill missed the Center of the first Fig ure Carlo Fassi to coaches Trenary and Kadavy. Said. Hut so did Ivanova. They marked us Down for it and they did t Mark her