European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday february 12, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 29 Winter olympics norwegians sweep Koch 42nd 1992 Winter Olp medals through monday s events g s b t Austria 2 2 3 7 Germany 2 1 1 4 Norway 1 1 1 3 unified team 1 0 1 2 Finland 0 1 1 2 United states 1 0 0 1 France 0 1 0 1 China 0 1 0 1 a Gold a Silver a Bronze to total a does not induce demonstration sports by Mike Kupper los Angeles times Les daisies France a two one time forces in big time Cross country ski racing made comebacks Here monday in the Winter olympics a Norway and Bill Koch. A Norway a was considerably More successful. The norwegians led by vegard Ulvang swept the medals in a show of strength reminiscent of Days Long gone by. Norway once dominated the sport but in recent decades has yielded its position of Power to the skiers of the former soviet Union and Finland. Four years ago at Calgary norwegian men won Only two Cross country medals neither of them  but monday was Norge Day. With hundreds of his countrymen cheering him on waving flags and singing. Ulvang skied the fastest 30 Kilometres in olympic history 1 hour 22 minutes 27.8 seconds and gave Norway its first Cross country Gold medal in 16 years. Teammates Bjorn Dahlie and Terje Langli finished second and third respectively. A i had a perfect race. Everything went really Well a said Ulvang who a time was nearly two minutes faster than that skied by soviet Alexei Roku Roro the Winner at Calgary. Koch 36, the 1976 Silver medal Winner of the 30k but skiing his first International race since he launched his comeback last april finished 42nd. He had been hoping for better but has been saving right along that he intends to be a medal contender again in 1904. At Lillehammer. Norway. So. He Wasny to disappointed. A a in a in the Middle of the pack right now and 1 think that s not half bad for a Little less than a year of training a he said. A i know the hard work s ahead and i always figured it was. In be got two More years and 1 think All things considered this was just about As Good As i could have hoped for. A Well i could have hoped for better but its really not bad. I m pretty pleased just to be Here at the olympics and to be Able to have  Koch found the course difficult. A a its very demanding in that we have to climb out of the stadium Here eight times and those eight Hills Are the real Crux because they re All after a Long downhill and your heart rates not quite adjusted Quot he said. Quot it Wasny to until 1 stopped for six years that i realized what a privilege it really was to be in this game Quot he added. The highest finishing american was Luke Bodin Steiner of West Bend wis., 27th among 82 skiers with 1 28 45.7. John Callahan of Park City Utah was 49th, and Pete Vordenberg of Boulder colo., 51st. Leading the unified team of former soviets was Vladimir Smirnov Silver medallist at Calgary who was ninth. And the first finn to finish Olarri Kirves Niemi was 10th. Roku Roro the Calgary Winner was 21st . Luge team left Only with moral victories la Plagne France apr there were moral victories monday a but still no olympic medals a for the . Menus singles luge team. Medal hopeful Duncan Kennedy coming off a second place finish on the world cup circuit scored the highest olympic finish Ever for an american male Slider with his 10th place. And Wendel Suckow matched the previous Best . Finish 12th place. But unless someone comes up a Winner in the women a singles or menus doubles Competition the american luge teams unfulfilled medal Chase will continue at the 1994 games in Lillehammer Norway. The . Has never won a medal in luge an olympic sport since 1964. A obviously in a disappointed but what can you do you can twin them All i guess Quot said Kennedy of Lake Placid . Kennedy who had a 14th place at the 1988 games said he expected a medal in Albertville a two Day Competition. But he wound up 1.489 seconds behind Gold medallist Georg Hackl of Germany whose combined time for four trips Down the 1,250-meter run was 3 minutes 2.363 seconds. Hackl the 1988 olympic Silver medallist finished 0.306 seconds ahead of Markus Prock of Austria and 0.579 ahead of another austrian Markus Schmidt. A a there a so Many variables in this sport. It could be anything or a combination of a lot of things. It could have been All me a Kennedy said. A obviously my runs weren to the Best. I did have some fast runs so i know i can do it. But you know i just did no to slide that Well 1  Kennedy began the Day in 10th place and he stayed there. On a track slowed by heavy Early morning Snow he had the eighth fastest time in the third run 46.258 seconds and the 12th fastest in the fourth 46.192. The 24-year-old said he Felt some pressure which a was justifiable considering my placing in the world Georg Hackl of Germany gives the thumbs up after winning the Gold medal in the men s single luge Competition. Cup. I think a top placing would have been deserved. I done to think i was expecting too much at  two years ago he quit the luge team in mid season but he missed the action and came Back. Right now however his plans include a snowboarding right away. When i get Home after the games in a just going to go Back to Santa Cruz Calif and Start All Over  Suckow of Marquette mich., was 12th with a time of 3 04.195. He fired off the seventh fastest time of the fourth run 46.067. Robert Pipkins 18, of Staten Island ., had a horrible first run on sunday but moved up from 26th to 21st, at 3 06.899. Hackl said Kennedy was quicker than at lie Calgary James but a the had difficulties with this  i Lack did not. A the conditions were absolutely perfect in this Competition Quot said Hackl a German army sergeant. He had the fastest times in three of the four runs including a course record 45.190 on  leads Kitt trails in delayed downhill by the los Angeles times Val do Sere France a olympic organizers scheduled Only half an event for the Alpine men skiers monday and they almost did no to get that much on the Board. A fairly steady overnight snowfall layered the Belle Varde downhill course with Loose powder that had to be packed before the two Day combined event could get under Way. The scheduled Start at 12 15 . Local time was delayed until 2 30. Then after american . Kitt skiing 12th, had posted the third fastest time to that Point on the slightly shortened track there was a half hour delay while officials deliberated about calling the whole thing off because of fading visibility and deteriorating Snow  combination the race was resumed though and when the smoke had cleared a Jan Einar Thorsen of Norway held the Lead with a clocking of 1 44.97. A Kitt timed in 1 46.29, found himself in l the place with teammate Kyle Rasmussen of Angels Camp calif., 11th, just 0.01 of a second behind. A Paul Accola of Switzerland the world cup Overall Leader this season who had failed to finish the regular downhill sunday held perhaps the Best position of All fifth after posting a 1 45.73. A Germany Smarkus Wasmeier who had missed a Bronze medal by 0.15 sunday stayed within striking distance of Accola by placing seventh in 1 45.91. A Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg made it farther along the course than he had sunday but still failed to finish falling just As he came out of the narrow Rocky Section about three quarters of the Way Down. Some observers said he was holding his left shoulder when he got up but the four Lime world cup Overall Champion skied Down the Mountain under his own Power and there was no report of his visiting a doctor. A Guenther Mader of Austria Bronze medallist in the regular downhill and like Girardelli a versatile competitor skied off the course while entering the same Rock bordered passage and also did not finish. Except for Girardelli and Mader this same Crew with supporting cast were compete Here tuesday in a slalom and medals will be awarded on tie basis of the racers combined performance for the two Days of action