European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 b the stars and stripes wednesday february 19, 1992winter olympics winning ice dance truly unified by Jim litre kiss your wife kiss your sister. Win a Gold win a Silver. Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko opened their olympic freestyle ice dance program monday night in a pose so suggestive that it was almost a Relief to learn afterwards that they were actually husband and wife. Then they sealed it with a kiss so passionate that the ice was the Only thing still cold when they were through. And moments after they had been handed cold medals one of the first questions asked was whether a pair of skaters had to be married to perform something that steamy. A yes a Ponomarenko answered without hesitation or obvious embarrassment. A i done to know the persons who Are not married which could do this  Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay . White marinas husband was in her arms Isabelle a was in the grandstand. The Duchesnaye the suddenly dethroned King and Queen of sizzle Are brother and sister. A it must be very difficult for Isabelle and Paul to skate. Love a Ponomarenko said. A we find such a program and know we will do it Well because we love each  their 4-minute, 6-second program could do for Bach what to Derek did for Ravel and record sales of his  you thought British ice dancers Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean chose that score for their equally sensual performance at the Sarajevo games eight years ago think again. Klimova and Ponomarenko proved that even the French could use a refresher course now and then on love. Just the first 18 seconds of the performance had so much writhing and intertwining of limbs that whoever owns the rights to the videotape should be required to put a warning on the Side of the Boxford Home use Only. Do not attempt this on ice wearing skates. Remember these people Are professionals not to mention married. Yet As hot As the Public details were several reporters naturally needed to know More. One asked Ponomarenko what their life was like behind closed doors. A we live Nice. Fantastic Quot he said with a glimpse toward Marina and still without embarrassment. A and very  Sergei Ponomarenko of the unified team lifts his partner Marina Klimova during the free style dance  not so the Duchesnaye. They were reminded that one of the problems with leading the revolution in ice dancing As in politics is staying one step ahead of the mob. Four years ago at the Calgary games they were so rakish so anarchic so very up against it so Damnable different from the rest of the competitors that the judges did t know what to think of them. But judging by the Marks that they wound up with Back then a eighth place a it was not much. Skating before a largely French crowd waiting to be wowed they skated superbly a but if truth be told not that much differently from everybody else. To be sure the couple who once courted controversy with such aplomb still had their original moments. Skating to the music from the opening of a West Side Story a they incorporated a somersault by Paula few splendid illusions in which Isabelle reversing the traditional male female roles actually appeared to lift Paul and a closing around the body swoop of Isabelle by Paul that deservedly brought Down the House. But in the final analysis the Duchesnaye were neither the most sizzling nor the most sensational nor even the most daring couple on the ice. Most incredible perhaps they were not even the Best dressed. Each of those distinctions in turn were claimed by Klimova Ponomarenko whose performance officially titled a a Man and a woman from the mundane to the Sublime a was so sensual that it gave new meaning to the term a unified  still there is a debt to be acknowledged Here even if Ponomarenko stubbornly refused to do so monday night. Much of the Freedom some of the sensuality and almost All of the sizzle was possible because of the Duchesnaye. Yet when someone asked Ponomarenko what he and his wife had Learned from the Duchesnaye the eyes that Only a moment earlier had been laughing now flashed anger a since 1983, we skate by our own style and never copy anybody a Ponomarenko said. A and we have a different program each year. We can skate in different styles funny and tragic and so we never do  no one thought the Duchesnaye would either a especially after the establishment welcomed them in by awarding them the world championship last year. But Success does funny things to people. During several exhibitions just prior to these olympics the Duchesnaye sought out judges and asked them to critique their program. As a result of that feedback they tossed out a lift Here or there they began skating More in tandem than they had originally planned. In Short they went conservative on us. And Wilder won. The associated pres Japan wins 30-k relay Cour Chevel France a Japan won its first Winter olympic Gold medal in 20 years tuesday when the menus nordic combined team held off Norway and Austria in the closing 30-Kilometer Cross country relay. The United states started the Day fourth after the ski jumping portion of the event but faded in the Cross country and finished eighth. The japanese team entered tuesdays race with a big Lead after the ski jumping Competition and finished the three Man relay in 1 hour 23 minutes 36.5 seconds 1 26.4 ahead of Norway Austria was close behind. Japan a last Gold medal dated from the Sapporo Winter games in 1972, when Yukio Kasayka won the ski jumping Competition. Kenji Ogihara skied a Strong final 10 Kilometres to hold off his challengers after Reiichi Ikata and Takanori Kono had wasted most of the Lead. They left a whopping 2 27.5 ahead of Austria tuesday and 5 33.5 ahead of France which started out in fifth place. France finished fourth. Norway staged the most remarkable comeback leaving the starting Gate 6 16 minutes after Japan and finishing second. The relay course basked in sunlight and a temperature of 28 degrees fahrenheit that olympics on to today an seb a 7-9 . Women a giant slalom women a biathlon hockey quarterfinals. A Ard German first program �?9 45 .-725 . Women a giant slalom 9 55 , and 1 55 .women a 15-k biathlon hockey quarterfinals 8 15-11 30 . Days highlights hockey quarterfinals women a figure skating. Eur sport 6 . Nearly around the clock coverage including live women a giant slalom biathlon hockey figure skating. Early thursday an seb a 2-5 . General coverage 5 50-6 . Wrap up of wednesdays events Compagnoni captures women s super a Gold made the thick Snow cover hard. The nordic combined used the results from mondays ski jumping to Handicap the countries in the next Days Cross country relay. The team with the Lead gets to Start before the other countries and the first country across the finish wins the Gold. Japan started out with its weakest Cross country skier Ikata and he lost two minutes to Norway a Knut Apeland. But Takanori Kono had a bad relay and Fred Lundberg closed further in. Two thirds through the race Norway trailed Only by 1 55 minutes. Meribel France up italian Deborah Compagnoni Cut Short French celebrations tuesday when she came from Start position no. 16 in the olympic super giant slalom to push local favorite Carole Merle into second place. Compagnoni clocked 1 minute 21,22 seconds on a course set More like a giant slalom than the super a it was supposed to be to steal the Gold and the glory from the disappointed Merle who clocked 1 22.63. Germany a Katja Seizinger was third in 1 23.19. A during the race i never really thought about the Gold medal. Even though i knew i was going Well i never really believed that it would be Good enough to win a Compagnoni said. Compagnoni won by a comfortable 1.41 seconds to prove Correct the pundits who favored her to finish inside the top three despite starting at no. 16. Seizinger the talented Young German racer successfully Hung onto third place for the Bronze after Compagnoni unseated Merle for the top Slot. She said in the first half of the race she had perhaps lacked the necessary aggression. A but in the Bottom half i really gave everything i had. There was nothing else left Quot Merle said. Merle 28, has dominated super a racing in the past three seasons and had this tabbed As her race. She had won Back to Back super Gas Here in 1990 and was the outright pre race favorite. Seizinger was lying second to Merle until Compagnoni a Rush for the Gold. She had looked Strong on the top half of the course but lost time in an error on the Bottom and arrived in the finish area visibly disappointed. A i knew that Merle and Compagnoni were the ones to beat. This Hill just simply does no to allow for any errors a Seizinger said. Austrians Petra Kronberger and Ulrike Maier finished fourth and fifth respectively while Canadas Kerrin Lee Gartner the Surprise Winner of the downhill last saturday was Back in sixth place. Kronberger was Only one Hundredth of a second out of the medals. A Petra had some Tough Luck today a Seizinger said. A but that a racing. I had bad Luck in the  the course setting was a gift for Compagnoni who has emerged from obscurity this season to be the Best italian woman on the circuit in More than five years. The race put off one Day because of changing weather conditions was held tuesday under Brilliant Sunshine