European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 26 b the stars and stripes tuesday february 18, 1992winter olympics v Means Victory for jump Star. By Jim l1tke Cour Chevel France apr Toni Nieminen launches himself in Pursuit of the Angels at 60 Mph skis splayed and left hand waving a first fluttering then splayed flapping chafes against the flights Frontier mapping and flailing until finally Alt 127 pounds of him fes a a then he lands the olympics newest and youngest King of the Hill and says without guile "1 am the Luckiest Guy in the Lucky maybe. The Harbinger of things to come certainly. For the past five years a debate Over technique has raged in towns with names like Lahti Finland and Assam Austria and even Norwich Vermont where they turn out world class ski jumpers in much the same Way that san Pedro de maoris turns out major league shortstops to v or not to v. But thanks to Nieminen it May be Over. Granted gentle persuasion May not work with every Man reckless enough to enter space on thin slats of fibreglass at speeds the rest of us enter expressways in cars. And the most obstinate jumpers will still be Able to choose Between the a a classic style of keeping the skis directly beneath them and parallel during the Short flight or playing the boards at a 45-degree Angle to form the but the results leave Little room for argument. Jumpers using the v won All of the first six placings on both the 90 and 120-meter Hills in these games. A probably this Means the end of the classic style a Nieminen the teen age finnish sensation announced sunday after winning an olympic Gold in the targe Hilt event to go with the Bronze he won a week earlier on the Normal Hill. A the jumpers who Haven to changed yet will have to a Nieminen added. A and within the next with the Mist gathering lazily at the top of the injun and austrian Martin Hoellwarth clinging stubbornly to the Lead Nieminen approached the ramp sunday for his second jump with his stomach churning. Talk about needing a Home run by the time he settled into the Gale Nieminen knew that he needed to finnish teen Ager Toni Nieminen soars to his second Gold and third medal Overall in sundays 120-meter ski jumping. Jump at least 114 meters a roughly 374 feet or the distance a baseball travels to Clear the Wall in the Power alleys at most ballparks a if he was going to win. And talk about pressure Finland is a nation of just 5 million people and Nieminen knew that at least 2 million of them were watching him live on to at that moment Back Home. A i Felt the pressure after Martins Good jump but i had to forget it a he said a to concentrate on my own so he did. Nieminen adjusted his goggles tightened his crash helmet zoomed Down the ramp in a tuck and exploded. In the Bat of an eyelash the tips of his skis Only inches apart when he left the ramp swung Well wide of either shoulder. Stretched to his full 5 feet 7 inches Nieminen leaned Low Over the boards and offered himself to the wind like a Sheet of paper with the letter v writ Large across its Page. When Jan Bok Loev of Sweden unveiled the v in 1987, fans were amused purists blanched and More than a few of his competitors laughed it off As some kind of publicity stunt. After All in a sport where tech Nique had t changed since its inception it was easy to look at Bok Loev a then 24 a As too old and the v As nothing More than a desperate attempt to stretch out a career. But not everyone saw it that Way. Some saw Promise in the v and they saw that jumpers like Nieminen still Young enough to be genuinely fearless were in the pipeline. Ultimately wind Tunnel testing gave the technique much needed credibility by proving that it gave a jumper 28 percent More lift than the classic style largely because it offered More surface area to the wind. Nieminen is aloft for something Tike four seconds when All this waving ceases and in the Bat of yet another eyelash he draws the skis Back into the parallel position grudgingly preparing to land. Above the boards his left knee flexes to absorb the Impact and both arms shoot skyward in Celebration. Behind him the Board registers 123 meters a 403 feet 6 inches a the Best Ever in olympic Competition though not quite enough to catch the Angels. But perhaps that a his widening smile now nearly shaped like a a seems to suggest a will come next time. 1992 Winter olympic medals through 2 of 3 events monday g s b t Germany 8 8 5 21 Austria 4 6 6 16 unified team 6 4 5 15 Norway 6 3 3 13 France 3 3 1 7 Italy 1 3 3 7 United Stales 3 2 1 6 Finland 3 1 2 6 Japan 0 1 2 3 Netherlands 0 1 2 3 Canada 1 0 1 2 Switzerland 1 0 1 2 China 0 2 0 2 czechoslovak to 0 2 2 Sweden 0 0 2 2 Luxembourg 0 1 0 1 a Gold. A Silver a Bronze to Totaj Doss not include demonstration sports canadians still no. 1 despite loss aps amps by the associated press Meribel France a Canadas hockey team met its goal despite falling one goal Short of Victory. The canadians 5-4 loss to the unified team on. Sunday did t prevent them from entering the medal round As the top seed in their group. The former soviet Union needed to win by three goals to overtake the canadians in the playoff seeding. Because of the tournaments tiebreaker system Canada 4-1 gets to play the no. 4 seed from the other group tuesday the unified team 4-1 is seeded second. A i say we celebrated but i think the Guys understand the rules and the format a Canada coach Dave King said. A we wanted to win the game very much but our goal was to finish first. Then if you get to the final four you re playing for the thrill of a lifetime. France has already achieved its All time hockey thrill. Sundays 4-2 Victory Over Norway before its Home crowd put France 2-3 into the medal round for the first time. It will meet either the United states or Sweden on tuesday. A just to be in the quarterfinal a France coach Kiell Lars son said a is a Gold medal for Czechoslovakia 4-1 beat Switzerland 4-2 in sundays other game and is seeded third in its group two behind Canada. The medal round expanded from four teams in 1984 to six teams in 1988 to eight teams in 1992, will have four teams in two different pools a a and a Canadas loss made the United states 4-0 the Only unbeaten untied team going into monday night s game against Sweden 3-0-1 a a contest that was to determine seeding at the top of Pool a. The canadians Are no. 1 in Pool b even though they had the same record As the unified team and Czechoslovakia. Because each team was 1-1 against the other two it came Down to goal differential in games among the three teams. Canada was plus-3, the unified team even and the czechs minus-3. In mondays Early games Finland 5, Italy 3 Finland a nil connection outplayed Italy a North americans in the preliminary round finale for both teams. Finland 3-1-1the 1988 Silver medallist goes on to the quarterfinals. Italy 1-4eliminate olympics on to Central european time today an seb 7-9 . Speed skating menus giant slalom. Ard German first program a 9 15 .-7 25 . Menus Cross country skiing relay menus giant slalom first run 9 55 ., second run 1 55 .nordic combination relay menus 1000-meter Speed skating hockey quarterfinals. Eur sport 6 Nearly around the clock coverage including live menus giant slalom Cross country skiing live hockey 3 30 . And 8 .live Speed skating men s 1,000 meters 7 . Early wednesday an seb a 2-5 Speed skating hockey Speed skiing 5 30-6 Wrap up of tuesdays events. From Contention earlier in the Day when Germany beat Poland will play in the Consolation round. Italy which has 15 canadians and one player on its roster out shot Finland 17-10 in the first period. But Finland which has 10 former nil players and one future Nehler took a 3-0 Lead and never trailed. Teem Sulanne the 21-year-old Forward who was the Winnipeg jets no. 1 draft Choice in 1988 10th Overall broke through Italy a defense and beat goalie Michael zanier 3 57 into the game for his team High fifth goal. Hannu Jarvenpaa who played with Winnipeg in the late-1980s, scored his fourth of the tournament at 14 25. Just 59 seconds later Pekka Tuomisto beat zanier. Italy a Emilio Iovito had the Only goal of the second period. Two More sex Nehlers Timo Jutila and Raimo Summanen scored in the third period. Giuseppe Foglietta scored twice in a 33-second Span for 4, Poland 0 Ernst Koepf scored and Helmut de Raaf needed to make just 17 saves to carry Germany Over Poland and into the medal round from group a
