Word: sarajevo
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...slalom wizard who has won more World Cup races (85) than any other man. But Stenmark does not like downhills, and he won't run these down-in- flames plunges. He won golds in slalom and giant slalom at the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980, then was banned from Sarajevo because he did not meet the tortured Olympic definition of eligibility. He'll be on hand at Calgary, still rich from fees and endorsements but once more eligible. Stenmark is the archetype of an age of skiing specialists, and Zurbriggen is the best of the handful of world-class racers...
Americans who watch international sporting events only to see Americans win miss most of what is best in the Winter Olympics. At Sarajevo in 1984, the Soviets collectively came in first, the East Germans second. U.S. Olympians were fifth, taking just eight of the 117 medals awarded. That total was bettered by athletes from Finland and Norway and equaled by the Swedes. Even the quark-size principality of Liechtenstein claimed two bronzes. The long white winters of Europe, from Lapland down to Alpine Italy, virtually invite the young and gifted to test their skills on slopes and frozen ponds...
...skater, but sprouting growth (5 ft. 9 in.) and injuries from too many falls persuaded the 13-year-old to switch to speed skating -- less glamorous, more rewarding of power than finesse. She won one gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980 and two more (plus two silvers) at Sarajevo. Now approaching her physical peak at 26, Kania says, "My aim is two gold medals in the Olympics." How about three? "Oh, no! Just two." And she waves off any bad luck that might come of talking about impossible feats. In fact, at Calgary she is favored...
...season. "I train three or four hours every day in summer," she explains, "five or six hours other times. Sometimes I hate it." What spare hours she has are spent with her second husband Rudolf Kania, a school sports instructor, and their son Sasha, born a year after Sarajevo. Shy and soft-spoken, Kania is one of the best-liked athletes on the winter circuit. Competitors will not be trailing in her wake much longer. Kania has already announced her retirement at the end of the season. Future plans? Another child, for sure, and eventually opening a beauty salon...
...fewer than six Swedish skiers have qualified for the Olympics; in World Cup standings, they hold the two top positions and five of the top ten. The team's most celebrated star is 6-ft. 2-in. Gunde Svan, 26, who medaled in all four cross-country events at Sarajevo. "Wonder" Gunde, as he is known in the Swedish press, occasionally leavens his workaholic ways with zany ideas. In 1985 he provoked frantic rules discussions among officials when he announced he would soon start using a single extra-long pole, gondola-style...