Word: germanic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Soviet Union's Erika Salumae in the final heat of their best-of-three face-off. "It would have been fantastic to win the gold medal," said Luding philosophically, "but it was not possible." An Estonian, Salumae, 26, has spent two years in close rivalry with the East German: in the 1986 world championships, she lost to Luding in the sprint final; last year she reversed the order...
...competition also produced some memorable moments. In the 1-km time trial, Soviet Alexander Kirichenko clinched a gold medal even though his rear tire began to deflate during his final lap. In the 100-km time trial, an East German team that had trouble breaking two hours in training clocked 1:57.47 to take the gold. In the qualification round of the 4,000-meter pursuit, Australia set a new world record of 4 min. 16.32 sec., only to see the Soviets break it again...
True, the powerful East German women's team won three of the first four golds and did not stop there. Cheeky, frail-looking Janet Evans of the U.S., a 17-year-old whose nonexistent muscle mass offers no visible means of propulsion, easily took the fourth gold in the 400-meter individual medley, as form said she would. She went on to shock East Germany's imposing Heike Friedrich, accelerating astonishingly in the last 50 meters of the 400 freestyle, to break her own world record by 1.6 sec. with a 4:03.85. But the first four women's silvers...
...hurt," said Evans, as a masseur worked over her after her 400-medley victory. "The day after a race, I hurt all over." But in her 400 free rouser it was the trailing East German powerhouses, Heike Friedrich and Anke Moehring, who hurt first. Biondi's coach Nort Thornton offered a clue: "You think Janet doesn't have the body? She's a heart and lung pump, an incredible aerobic machine. Her chest expansion is six inches, and that's two or three inches more than any other woman on the team." Against Friedrich and Moehring, Evans' rare aerobic gifts...
Politics and technicalities overruled performances in the team bronze-medal confrontation between the American and East German women. The U.S. team was not expected to be a contender. But the Americans came on strong during the compulsory round, finishing less than half a point behind the East Germans. What happened next will nag at Americans in Games to come, much the way that sports fans still pick at the scab that remains from a 1972 wound, when the U.S. basketball team lost the gold to the Soviets in a disputed final few seconds of play...