European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 1, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 22the stars and stripes wednesday thursday january 1/2, 1992winter olympics . Speed skater finding straight path to Albertville by Randy Harvey the los Angeles times Milwaukee a Mary Docter was 30 before she found the right word to describe herself. It was not any of those proud Chest swelling words that come with being a three time olympian words such As a athlete Quot a hero Quot or a role it was a up until last fall 1990, i was buying marijuana by the half ounce and smoking that morning noon or night until it was All gone Quot she said last week at a press conference at the Wisconsin olympic ice rink after she had earned a berth in a third event on her fourth olympic Speed skating team. A i was smoking before class after class before i studied after i studied before i trained after i trained. It was a serious addiction. It was something i needed and i thought i enjoyed it. A drinking was a weekend thing. I went out on Friday nights and drank until i got plastered. I d drive drunk. I was preoccupied. I would be sitting there studying thinking about going out and having a drink. That was my Reward my emotional until last weekend at the . Olympic Speed skating trials interviews with Docter were considered an amusing diversion for the press and perhaps even for her. In 1988, Docter made her third olympic team at the trials Here with Only minimal training and joked about it. A i was going out every night drinking lots of Beer and smoking Quot she said at the time. A my mom and dad were going nuts thinking i was a she said the Winter olympics at Calgary Alberta would be her vacation. A i m going to meet a lot of Beautiful men Quot she said. But Here during an hour Long press conference which was interrupted several times As she broke into tears while discussing her dependence on alcohol marijuana and cocaine and her ongoing recovery she told of her Calgary experience. A my coaches thought i was skating Well Quot she said. A but the minute 1 got to Calgary i hit the town. The first night we got there i went up to this Guy who i knew just by looking at him was using drugs. Within a half hour we were at his apartment getting stoned. I went out with him three nights that week. A on race Day i was so tired. I was so unprepared when i got to the line for those she finished 19th in the 3,0 x meters 11th in the 5, my and again was the life of a press conference when she said Quot you be been saying in be been drinking that in be been taking drugs that in a promiscuous that i m a pause for effect. A i m not a she was. But she had yet to figure it out. A it was a joking matter Quot she said sunday. A it was a joke to me too. I was proud i could party and still be an athlete. I think now about what a dumb. 1 was. I should have been she began the Long Road to getting straight in the fall of 1990, when she confessed to a classmate at the University of Wisconsin her concerns that she enjoyed partying too much to pursue a career As a physician s assistant. The classmate recommended a Counselor whom Docter eventually visited. A she asked me a series of questions and i answered a yes yes yes a a Docter said. A she said a you re an i said a. You a and left her doctor decided later to enter the Counselor a outpatient program and stayed straight for four months. A i was in denial the whole four months a she said. A i Felt satisfied because i knew i was doing the right thing. At the same time 1 wanted to drink normally and use marijuana every once in a while. I was fighting it. They told me i was an addict but i did no to want to admit that. That a the first step in the 12-step program to admit you re powerless to your addiction. A i tried to quit. I tried to quit every time i ran out of a bag of marijuana. I said a i wont buy another that a after Docter relapsed a second time the classmate fearing her Friend would earn a degree within a semester and begin working with patients before confronting her problems informed University officials. When Docter failed a urine screen in March they insisted she enter a rehabilitation Center. She chose the Hazelden foundation at Minneapolis. A it was like a vacation getting to know Mary a she said. She recognizes that she relied on drugs and alcohol to escape her sense of Lack of fulfilment As a skater. Although she has been one of the worlds Best since 1979, she has never won an olympic medal. Her Best finishes were sixths in the 3,000 in 1980 and 1984. On april 18, Hazelden sent Docter to its Halfway House the Fellowship club for three months. A i was kind of nervous because i wanted to work out Quot she said. "1 said 1 want to work out because in a trying to make the olympic team. They said a forget about the olympics. Your no. I goal should be to recover a a a she took jobs As a maid in Homes during the Day and returned to the Halfway House each night when she Mary Docter at Sarajevo olympics in �?T84. Now admits past drug abuse would regularly attend group therapy sessions and meetings of alcoholics Anonymous and narcotics Anonymous. �?o1 was getting to know a lot of people who were All recovering Quot she said. Quot we did a lot of things together and we did them straight. I had never done anything straight. It was when she left the Fellowship club july 15, she went to Minneapolis to live with one of her coaches. Since then she has been to training Camps at Calgary Colorado Springs colo., and Butte mont., and when she arrived Here she said she has not been in better condition since 1980. . Coach Peter Mueller said he believes she will be a medal contender in february at Albertville in two of her three events. It would be Nice to win a medal she said. But her new goal in life is to remain sober. A a in a pretty confident about my sobriety but i done to want to get too confident because that a when i la crash Quot she s 10-year dream nears fulfilment by Salvatore Zanca Albertville France a what san olympics without talk of Cost overruns and protests Well if its the Winter olympics you can also worry about no Snow. This time in looks like the Snow wont be a problem. And with a Mere five weeks until the feb. 8 Start of the Winter games organizers Are sounding like they have everything else under control too. The controversial Over budgeted bobsled run is ready. The promised new highways financed by tolls Are open. At Val do Sere and Meribel Sites of the Alpine skiing events Early season snowfall provides a Good base. And Jean Claude Killy can to think of much of anything beyond feb. 23, the last Day of the 1992 olympics. For Killy the last Day of the olympics will Mark the end of a dream that started More than 10 years ago when he and Michel Barnier the Deputy of the Savoy Region decided to launch a bid Tor the 1992 Winter olympics. In 1986, the International olympic committee gave the Winter games to Albertville. Killy quit As co president of the organizing committee at one Point after local officials protested changes in some of the venues. But he came Back. The initial budget of $360 million has been increased by about 33 percent. The locals arc still quibbling Over the environmental damage to the area. But let the games begin. A i have been to seven games so far and it never turns out the Way you thought it would a Killy told a group of american reporters. Quot but i think we did Well in getting a $243 million contract with lbs for . Television with that Comfort it seems he will be Able to survive to the end. Quot the More the games approach the More i am sorry thinking that everything is about to end a Killy said. There is speculation that after the olympics Killy May get involved with France s bid for the 1998 world cup in soccer seek a Seal on the International olympic committee or go Intis politics. But first there Are the games. W Killy expressed his concern about two things weather and Money. Fie knows both of them up close and personal. Snow came Early to Val do Sere and the new downhill run had a layer of Snow a foot deep. But it also had a Cloud cover that reminded people of the pre olympic races last february. Exactly one year before the olympic downhill a set of world cup races were cancelled because of poor weather conditions. When the fog comes a a it a like trying to see through a milk bottle a Andy Mill said. Mill is a two time . Olympic downhill racer who is doing the skiing analysis Tor lbs. He is also the husband of Tennis legend Chris Evert. Weather forced postponements of the last two olympic downhills at Calgary and Sarajevo. The luge and bobsled runs Are finally in place at almost triple the budgeted Cost. Extra safety precautions were needed because of concerns that the ammonia used to Cool the track could be released and damage the fans and environment. Everything is of now according to Andre Martzolf the site director of la Plagne where the events Are being held. However the two houses nearest the track and ammonia Plant Are up for Sale. And a test event last february was barred to spectators. There have been other glitches elsewhere. At Meribel the women a downhill course had to be changed the Day of a world cup race when the skiers were going too fast for the track. At Cour Chevel the ski jump went Over budget when the supports were not secure because of too much moisture in the ground. The Speed skating Oval at Albertville is subject to wind and warm weather which caused difficulties in a world cup race last Winter. Some top racers refused to compete under such soggy conditions. About the Only site that received unrestricted Praise was the figure skating rink at Albertville. At a pre olympic Competition this month most of the top competitors gave High Marks to the lighting ice surface and the building s design
