European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 2, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 22 b the stars and stripes sunday february 2, 1992u.s. Has Strong olympic team ready for Winter s medal Hunt by Bill Glauber the Baltimore Sun miracles to debacles. The United states hockey team beats the soviet Union in Lake Placid in 1980, and then spends the next two olympic Winter games slip sliding to the Bottom of the pack. Eric Heiden wins five Gold medals in Speed skating in 1980. Eight years later in Calgary Alberta the entire . Olympic team wins six medals and Only two Are Gold. Bilt Johnson comes careening Down a Mountain in Sarajevo Yugoslavia in 1984 to emerge As the olympic downhill Champion. Four years later the United states not Only does no twin an Alpine skiing medal it has trouble finding competitors who can finish a race. The Winter olympics usually bring out the Best and worst in american sports. A country accustomed to producing world class athletes for games on grass astroturf and Hardwood has rarely dominated a sporting event Laid out on ice and Snow. Yet when the 1992 games begin saturday in Albertville France the United states May be poised to produce performances that fit somewhere in the Middle of a Miracle and a debacle. Two factors May work to the advantage of the United states a history and Talent. The demise of the Eastern bloc has wreaked havoc with the sports programs of the traditional Winter olympic Powers the soviet Union and Germany. Although the United states will never be considered a Winter superpower the country has assembled an unusually Strong contingent of skaters and skiers. The team target is to exceed the . Record of 12 medals won at Lake Placid in 1932 and 1980. A i know my Job is to be a cheerleader a said Harvey Schiller executive director of the United states olympic committee. A but 1 believe we have an outstanding Opportunity to have the Best Winter olympics we be Ever Here is a sport by sport rundown of the . Medal prospects Alpine skiing . Kitt has drawn the bulk of the pre olympic attention. When he shot Down a Mountain in Val do Sere to win the first downhill of the world cup season he gained instant olympic medal credibility. Unfortunately for Kitt the new olympic course in Val do Sere is More technically demanding than the layout he won on in december. The . Women will make their medal bids in the slalom giant slalom and super giant slalom. The names to remember Are Diann Roffe Eva Tward Okens and Julie Parisien. Roffe and Tward Okens each have top four finishes on the world cup this season. Last March Parisien earned the first world cup Victory for the United states in four years. But last month she had a collision with a recreational skier had four Teeth knocked out and broke a wrist. Still she expects to race and win at the Cross country skiing and Rifle shooting have never been . Strengths. Josh Thompson who was expected to win a medal in 1988, fell to pressure real and self induced. He choked. Now 30, and married he has a new broader Outlook and could contend in the menus 20-Kilometer event. Residents of Albertville France i Joy the Calm before the Winter olympics storm. Women will compete in the olympic biathlon for the first time. Unfortunately for the United states its top performer Anna Konnerup failed to qualify for the team. Joan get show emerged As the trials also known As the olympic Law team the . Bobs edders spent More time in court than on the track before the games. The team was selected in july but a new set of trials was ordered by a soc arbitrator after a complaint was filed by Edwin Moses and Willie Gault. Despite the chaos and a new selection process the United states May have its est Chance for a medal since picking up a four Man Bronze at the 1956 games in Cortina Italy. The reason is one Man Herschel Walker. The running Back for the Minnesota Vikings is a better Pusher than football player and hell be the brakeman for the top two and four Man sleds. The teams top Drivers Brian Shimer two Man and Randy will four Man. Figure skating a . Strength in any olympics this years team could come away with As Many As five medals. Kristi Yamaguchi Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan will try to duplicate the 1-2-3 medal sweep they recorded at the 1991 world championships in Munich Germany. The Only skater capable of breaking through against the americans is 1989 world Champion Midori Ito of Japan. Yamaguchi was nearly flawless in winning her first National title last month in Orlando Fla. But Harding sustained a Tendon injury in her right foot and was unable to land her signature jump the triple Axel. Kerrigan also removed three triple jumps from her Long program at the nationals. Todd Eldredge the 1991 . Menus Champion and Bronze medallist at the world championships missed the nationals with a Back injury but was Given an olympic berth based on past performances. In his place at the nationals Christopher Bowman won a second title but gave a lifeless conservative performance. Paul Wylie returns to the olympics for a second and final time. In pairs the United states has two teams capable of contending for the Bronze medal. National champions Calla Urbanski and Rocky Marval who train in Newark del., have an exhilarating Long program but if they Are unable to land Side by Side double axes in the original program Thuv a a be skating for fifth. Reigning world Bronze med artists Natasha Kuchki and Todd Sand will try to rebound from a disastrous third place showing at the nationals. The top . Ice dance team april Sargent Thomas and Russ Witherby is aiming for a top-10 this is not a team of fresh faced kids out to create a Miracle. Team Usa is filled with old pros career minor leagues and a smattering of College stars led by defens Eman Scott Lachance. Dave Peterson is Back after guiding the americans to a seventh place finish in Calgary in 1988. The United states com filed a 17-31-8 pre olympic a ecord and Eterson was still juggling his lineup last week in Europe. Nil Veteran Moe Man tha was brought in to solidify a weak defense. Still the schedule and format should be Friendly to the United states. Placed in a Pool with Sweden Finland Italy Germany and Poland the americans need Only finish in the top four to qualify for the quarterfinals. A give us a Chance a Peterson said. A we play hard. We might Surprise the United states has never won an olympic medal in this sledding sport. Now the country has two medal contenders Duncan Kennedy second in the menus world cup and Cammy Myler. Veteran Bonny Warner returns to her third skiing this is a new medal sport with skiers tackling a course of Snow bumps while trying to impress judges with their artistic flair. It May sound strange but the results could yield a Bounty of american medals. The Best racer in the world is Donna Weinbrecht of new Milford . Dennis Carmichael leads the american men. A we could be the Story of the games a Weinbrecht events the United states is strictly going for top-15 performances in these events which comprise ski jumping Cross country skiing and nordic combined. The top americans Are the Holland Brothers. Joe Holland is a four time . Champion in the nordic combined. Jim Holland is a ski jumper with one runner up finish on the world cup circuit. Bill Koch returns in Cross country 16 years after winning a Silver medal at the 1976 Innsbruck games. But the country Stop competitor is Nancy fiddler a 35-year-old skier who is Strong in the classical skating forty two of the 122 Winter medals won by the United states have come in this sport. The teams 1988 Calgary experience a Dan Jansen a Falls three medals won a was an aberration. Short track events have been added but the United states Isnit expected to take any medals. Instead look to the familiar faces for medal performances. Bonnie Blair the reigning 500-meter Champion will try to add a Gold medal in the 1,000, Eric Flaim the Silver medallist in the menus 1,000 in 1988, is a top contender in the 1,500. Jansen figures to win two medals a in the 500 and 1,000. Others to watch include Nick Thometz still trying to overcome a blood disorder and Mary Docter a four time olympian who has overcome drug problems
