Word: innsbruck
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...Shah of Iran has canceled his visit to the Games after the kidnaping last month of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna. But Innsbruck will still attract a powdering of such celebrities as Muhammad Ali, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Lord Snowdon. To prevent another terrorist Munich, Austrian police will enforce tight security, even at the Olympic Ball, where every fourth tuxedoed guest is likely to be a policeman...
...skiers have crashed to death in international competition. Fierce national rivalry, especially in Europe, and a multimillion-dollar ski industry have turned top skiers into human missiles, whose streamlining is tested in wind tunnels. The choice of wax for polyethylene ski bottoms before each run is a state secret. Innsbruck may produce top speeds of nearly 85 m.p.h. Says Austrian Champion Franz Klammer, 22: "You know what a car looks like if it hits a wall at that speed." Adds former World Champion Annemarie Proell-Moser: "If angst grips you, stay off the course...
Since 1952, the first year that all three alpine events were held, only two skiers, Austria's Toni Sailer and Jean-Claude Killy of France, have been good enough to manage a complete sweep. Innsbruck will probably not turn up such a man or woman. Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark could win two medals. The son of a farmer, Stenmark, 19, finished first or second in eleven of 15 slalom events last season and is leading the combined standings for this year's World Cup. He has the nerves that are as necessary as goggles to this competition...
...Plank, 21, and Swiss Veteran Bernhard Russi, 27, should dominate the downhill schuss. "Go for maximum speed, but never force it," says Russi. Forcing it, however, is Klammer's credo. The straighter-and steeper-the course, the better Franz feels. He likes a sheer drop of ice, so Innsbruck's curvy Patscherkofel Trail is not ideal for him. Two Canadian daredevils, Dave Irwin and Ken Read, have recently scored upsets in European events...
Neither rain nor thaw will stay the bobsled racers from their rounds at speeds up to 70 m.p.h. at Innsbruck. The course, which cost $5 million to construct, is artificially refrigerated. Unfortunately, say the speed freaks who will use it, it is too safe and far too short. West German Baker Wolfgang Zimmerer, who won a gold and a bronze in Sapporo in 1972, complains that the brevity of the course places undue emphasis on quick starts...