European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 10, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Awe Strain run Ortlieb tames downhill America s Kitt takes 9th the stars and stripes february 10,1992 b Page 28 by John Nelson Val d Sere France a Patrick Ortlieb would like to gather his Gold and scram. A i Hope this is the last downhill we Ever run on this course a he said. Ortlieb you see is a downhill re a Down Hiller. A la face de Bellegarde a the new course where sundays olympic race was run is not a downhill re a downhill. A i have not changed my mind a he said. A this is not a skiing first Down this Steep twisting course Ortlieb was simply the Man who made the fewest mistakes on a track riddled with places to make them. Many of the worlds Best skiers did. Making one Early and never recovering More games news on Page 21 was . Kitt americans Best Hope for a downhill medal in years. A Day after predicting a top five finish he came in ninth. La face designed by former Swiss olympic downhill Champion Bernhard Russi was roundly criticized by racers As being too full of giant slalom Type turns and lacking the one thing that makes downhill the Glamour event of Alpine skiing a Flat out gut busting Speed. A this is not a downhill a echoed world Champion Down Hiller Franz Heinzer of Switzerland. A a it a not even a Ortlieb a time of 1 minute 50.37 seconds was .05 better than Franck Piccard of France whose wild ride Down the Mountain brought him a Silver medal and the Hometown crowd to its feet in applause. In the finish area he blew kisses to the crowd and was hugged by countryman Luc Al hand. A a in a truly Happy with the Silver medal because at Calgary i got a Gold and a Bronze a said Piccard who won the super a and was third in the downhill for Frances Only olympic medals four years ago. A i really want to thank the Public for giving me the strength to Guenther Mader another austrian took the Bronze medal in 1 50.47. The 1-3 finish by Ortlieb and Mader is sure to set off a Celebration by the austrian men who Hadnot won this season on the world cup tour. A the Swiss were the favourites so there was no pressure on us a Ortlieb said. A we did no to have anything to Markus Wasmeier of Germany who had two of the three fastest training times was fourth in 1 50.62. A fourth Means nothing in the olympics a Wasmeier said. Kitt the 23-year-old from Rochester n.y., who won a world cup downhill last december made a time consuming mistake on the first jump and never recovered. He finished in 1 51.98 for ninth after predicting the Day before that he inside sports Blackhawk spoil debut of new blues a Page 22 Ceballos Hodges win Aba contests a Page 25 Duke Oklahoma state Triumph a Page 26 courier takes Over no. 1 ranking a Page 27 Austria a Patrick Ortlieb skiing first goes airborne during his mistake free run in sundays Golden downhill at Val do Sere France. Could easily finish in the top five. A i was kind of ragged. I was scrambling a Little but that show this course goes a Kitt said. A a in be got More goals and its two years until the next olympics. In be got some work to do Between now and then. This was a course that required the accuracy of a Diamond Cutter rather than the Speed or daring of a True Down Hiller. Yet when the True Down Hiller Ortlieb Cut his Diamond it was nearly perfect. As his skis chattered across the rutted icy Snow he used his downhill re a strength to stay on course. He was perfect Down the edelweiss Wall and flawless through Partridge turn which empties out onto a bump called a Bosse a he got a Little Low in the big Tower turn 2, but recovered quickly for his plunging descent Over the a grand Mur or big Wall. He flew Over Buzzard bump then through perhaps the most impressive part of the course a narrow Chute Cut through Rock called a passage de his ride got a Little ragged through Eagle turn but he caught is line again through a series of a curves before flying Over the final bump a Bosse a Cathcard and onto the Steep approach to the finish. He broke Over the Crest of the Hill and onto a 63-degree incline that launches the racers into a 150-foot flight to the final approach to the finish line. In his fourth year on the tour the 24-year-old Ortlieb has never won a world cup race. He came close this year finishing second in the downhill at Garmisch Par ten Kirchen Germany on Jan. 11, starting with no. 1 on his bib. This time no. 1 on the bib turned into no. 1 on the Mountain and he avoided yet another of his frequent second place goes 1-2 in jump Cour Chevel France up austrian ski jumpers Ersnt Vettori arts Martin Holzwarth finished 1-2 in the 90 meter Normal Hill ski jumping Competition sunday at the 16th Winter olympics. Ernst Vettori 27 and a 10-year Veteran of the austrian team edged pre Competition favorite Martin Holzwarth 17, who is the youngest member of the team. Toni Nieminen the 16-year-old finn who came into the olympics with three world cup victories overcame mediocre practices to win the Bronze medal. A a it a crazy that i did it a said Vettori. A after the jump i knew i had the Kennedy slides out of Contention la Plagne France a on a Day of records it was a Day of reckoning for Duncan Kennedy. Kennedy a chances of becoming the United states first olympic luge medallist virtually disappeared when be had a rough second run and dropped to 10th place on sunday. Georg Hackl seeking to keep the Gold medal in German hands set a course record of 45.190 seconds on his first run Down the 1,250-meter course and took the Lead with a combined time of 1 min Ute 30.541 seconds. Markus Schmidt of Austria was second at 1 30.659, followed by teammate and 1991-92 world cup Champion Markus Prock at 1 30.686. Kennedy was sixth after his first run of 45.553 seconds. But he skidded coming out of curves 5 and 13 on his second run finishing in 45.849 seconds for a combined time of 1 31.402. If Kennedy maintains or improves his position during the final two runs on monday it will be the Best olympic finish for an american male. The previous Best finish was 12th. Wendel Suckow of Marquette mich., was 13th with a time of 1 31?712. Robert Pipkins 18, of Staten Island n.y., had a disastrous first run of 47.996 seconds hitting the Wall four times after starting crooked. He rebounded with a second run of 45.878 seconds and was in 26th place with a time of 1 33.874. The old course record was 45.735, by Robert Manze Reiter of Austria last december. Manze Reiter was eighth at 1 31.123
