European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 09, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 34 sports wednesday february 9,1994 Bosn Anh bobs Edder risked life to reach Lillehammer by Adriana Pontieri Lillehammer Norway up every athlete who has reached olympic Standard can Tell tales of sacrifice and hardship but most Pale against the Story of Igor Boras. The bosnian bobsled Der risked his life to escape his besieged Home City of Sarajevo just to get to Lillehammer and the team does t even have a Sleigh to race in. After an unsuccessful plea for Aid to the International olympic committee and the United nations in Geneva Boras had to find his own Way out of Bosnia running 20 minutes Over territory con trolled by serbian forces in the War torn former Yugoslavia. I am at the olympics because i want the world to see we Are not Savages said Boras a 25-year-old Catholic bosnian croat. You have to find . People in Sarajevo or Zagreb who Are willing to help you that s the Only Way it was a . Officer stationed with the peacekeeping forces in his Home town who aided Boras out of his War torn country. I cannot give you More details about the officer because the . Will remove him from Sarajevo if they find out who heis. Maybe he will help me again or some one else sometime so i Don t want him to get caught said Boras. The other three members of the 4-Man Bob squad Izet Haracich Topran Zoko Lovic and Zach Ragi Nizar were Able to escape earlier in the year by working As bodyguards for bosnian politicians. The Trainer cannot choose the ath letes so he must do with those who Man age to get out of the country said Boras. The 10-Man bosnian olympic team was unable to get together or train until arriving at Sidehammer. We never train together. It is too difficult to collect everyone when there is a War going on outside your Doorstep so instead everyone trains independently when he or she believes it to be Safe said Boras. The top two floors of a Burnt out demolished building serve Boras As a train ing room where he can practice sprinting while he lifts weights at a gym in the Cen Ter of Sarajevo. The weight lifting room is very dangerous because there Are too Many win Dows. My Cousin was wounded in there by a shot Only a few Days before i left said Boras. Boras and his teammates will again have to rely on the friendliness of other countries if they wish to Start in the com petition on feb. 26 and 27, As their impoverished National federation Only had enough Money to afford a sled for the 2 Man team. We have no Bob Sleigh but i m sure one of the Richer nations will lend us one. I am sure we will get one somehow said Boras. After the olympics Boras is not plan Ning to return to his country. Our government does t help us any More they Don t show us they want us. It is my parents wish i am their Only child and they Don t want to see me without Boras is visibly proud to be at the games but he does not see himself As a representative of his War torn country. Because i am not a Soldier and i have never fired a Bullet he said. Security has big numbers at olympics Lillehammer Norway a five helicopters 400 cars 50 police dogs including eight bomb sniff ing dogs imported from Northern Ireland and about one third of nor Way s police will be used to keep the Winter games Safe. The Force also includes an anti terrorist unit hostage negotiators and bomb squads. Arne House commander of the olympic police Force said 2,770 police and military personnel would be in place by monday five Days be fore the Start of the games. The figure represents one third of the total norwegian police Force although it s much smaller than the 8,000 Security personnel deployed during the 1992 games in Albertville France. The Cost of the Lillehammer police operation is about $50 million. Norwegian police do not carry arms. But House said his Force can quickly assemble firepower if needed. We will be Able to Arm the police Force quickly and efficiently House said. Luger had bumpy path to medal bid by Christopher Clarey the new York times Lillehammer Norway if All goes according to her Well Laid plan this will not be Cammy Myler s last olympic season. At age 25, she has one More year of Ivy league education before her and Many More luge courses to conquer. But no matter what life throws Myler s Way Between now and 1998, the Road to Nagano Japan will probably prove a great Deal smoother than the bumpy path she has travelled in the last six months. It has been a difficult emotional time Myler the United states top female Luger said on her first fall Day in the Lillehammer olympic Village. Myler s travails began in september in her native Lake Placid ., when one of her often mended shoulders again proved too fragile. Of late she has had to Cope with the suffering of her older brother Tim who has cancer and is fighting for his life in a Hospital Ward in Albany It was Tim a talented Slider in his own right who introduced Cammy to luge at age 11. And it is Tim now 37, who is occupying his sister s thoughts on the eve of her third olympics. I definitely would t be Here if it weren t for him because i probably would t have tried the sport in the first place Myler said. I think the hardest part is not knowing what s going to happen with him. But it certainly puts things into a different perspective. This is just a sport that i m Here Doirs. It s definitely not the end of the world if i Don t win a medal or the remarkable thing is that despite the roller coaster Myler has been Riding she is in position for a medal Effort. Having finished fifth in the 1992 Nevin Ter olympics in a Bertille France when she had to contend with a race Day Case of stomach flu Myler has steadily Gath ered strength this season. And on Jan. 30 in Altenberg Ger Many she became the first american woman to win a world cup luge event outside the United states. A similar performance on the fist track Here in Norway would make her the first . Luger to win a medal in the olympics Cammy Myler slides to her Jan. 30 Victory at Altenberg Germany first world cup win outside the . By an american woman. A unless Duncan Kennedy or the defending men s world Champion Wendel Suckow beat her to it in the men s event. Cammy was a medal contender last time and she is one again this time said the team Leader Claire sherred. She s peaking at a very Good her season could Well have come to a premature end in september when she dislocated her left shoulder while lifting weights in Lake Placid. In june 1992, Myler endured major sur Gery on her right shoulder which she has dislocated four times. That operation led to a six month Layoff from luge one she put to Good use by working toward her degree at Dartmouth and slowed her consider ably throughout the 1992-93 season. But with the olympics for motivation she gradually worked her Way into top shape. Then suddenly less than six months before Lilhammer she found herself lying on her Back in a weight room and hoping against Hope that her left shoulder would somehow find its Way Back into its socket. I think i was More shocked than any thing she said. It s nauseating to think about it now. It went out and the person v, spoiling me took a second to grab the bar. It finally popped Back in place by itself but the pain was incredible. I just could t believe i had trained so hard All summer for hysterical Myler stumbled to the phone to Call Jeff Scheuer the . Luge team s strength and conditioning coach who was in the nearby luge office. Secre tary Amy Chapin answered Myler s Call. At first Amy thought i was laughing and then she realized i was crying crying really hard Myler said. She got Jeff on the phone in a hurry and he was by my Side in about two minutes. He was great. The first thing he told me was that we were going to work right through this and get me As Strong As possible for luckily for Myler this dislocation required no immediate surgery but it did keep her from starting the season in any thing resembling a Blaze of glory. She finished 12th and seventh in the opening world cup events in Latvia and then Lith in ills Austria. Discouraging reports on Tim s Condi Tion did Little to improve her spirits. Found to have Colon cancer nearly three years ago Tim had considerable Early Success fighting the disease and was Able to travel to Albertville in 1992. But his condition has steadily Degener ated in the past year. I got Home the Day before Christmas and they had to Rush him to the Hospital that Day Myler said. He almost died in the emergency room. They had to perform emergency surgery because he had an ulcer that was bleeding. He has been in the hos Pital since then. He s doing of. As a result of Tim s illness Myler is facing her olympic Challenge without on site family support. Her Mother Ann is staying Home in Lake Placid and her father skip is stay ing with Tim who recalled on monday from the Samuel Stratton veterans a fairs Hospital that he had last seen Cammy when she visited him at another Hospital in Early january. Despite the distance she has remained close by phone. She s called several times Tim said in a Telephone interview from his Hospital bed on monday. She was in real Good spirits after her Victory in the world Tim has had enough Energy to give a few Long distance Pep talks. Myler recalled How a couple of weeks ago when i talked to him he was saying he was really proud of what i d done already in the sport and then he said but i d still be really Happy if you won one for me " Myler promptly went out and won in Altenberg. I was pretty excited to Call him pack after that one she said t 5
