Word: aamodt
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...unexpected U.S. triumphs left Austrian and Swiss favorites floundering in the powder. The two powerhouse Alpine nations, where World Cup races are routinely televised and schuss stars are celebrities, had dominated Olympic skiing for decades. Yet last week a Norwegian (the dynamic Kjetil Andre Aamodt) and a Canadian (the surprising Ed Podivinsky) won silver and bronze medals in downhill after Moe, while a Russian, Svetlana Gladischeva, edged Italian Isolde Kostner for silver in the women's super-G. In the men's super- G, Markus Wasmeier, a Bavarian who likes to play Mozart on his zither, won the gold, beating...
Only Alberto Tomba, the madcap Italian slalomer, is a household name beyond the Alps. But Moe, 24, and Aamodt, 23, seem poised to become the Jean-Claude Killys of the '90s: glamorous derring-doers capable of focusing world attention on the Alpine sport. Moe, so easygoing that he was yawning at the starting gate of both races, has an outdoorsy charm that could earn him as much as $1 million a year in corporate-endorsement contracts, according to industry insiders. "He is already capturing the hearts and minds of the American public," says Jon Franklin, a vice president...
...Aamodt, whose ski-coach father used to blindfold him on skis to teach him the feel of the snow, he is fast succeeding the Austrian Marc Girardelli, who competes for Luxembourg, as the world's best all-around skier. Leading in World Cup points, the charismatic Norwegian skis both downhill and slalom and could well rack up more medals this week. "In Norway we used to have the attitude that you should not do something special -- or at least you should not think you are special," Aamodt said. "But now we are developing a winner's attitude...
...success than glitz, having followed Tomba's post- Calgary blues, his faltering in two world championships and his reconstruction under the severe tutelage of former Olympian Gustavo Thoeni. "I fought to win," said the husky Bolognese. "I gave the best of myself." Whether for giants like Tomba, upstarts like Aamodt or veterans like Fernandez Ochoa, the glamour has come with its fantasies and its fireworks, but only after years of grit...