Word: skater
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...lean, graceful East German on the practice rink was muffled against the cold; a pink cap was pulled down to her eyebrows and a white turtleneck sweater pulled up over her nose. An American skater had no problem identifying the woman to a visitor: "There she is -- the one with the lovely long legs." The "she" is Karin Kania, perhaps the finest and most admired woman speed skater of this or any other Olympic year...
...four, Dresden-born Kania started her athletic career as a figure 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...
Common wisdom among skaters holds that it is harder to defend as world champion than to come from behind. Adding to the pressure, Canada's Olympic dreams rest heavily on Penetanguishene's favorite son (that's in Ontario). But Orser seems to relish his position. "I'm in the driver's seat going in," he says, "so all eyes and expectations will be on me. That's the way I want it to be." Other than Boitano, the only tough competition is likely to come from Alexander Fadeev, the Soviet skater who won the 1985 world title and has placed...
...black. But she seems to regard her race as the merest coincidence. When she hears the term role model, she cringes. "I never felt I had to have a role model," she says. "It was like, 'O.K., I want to be a doctor, and I want to be a skater, and I'm going to.' I didn't think I had to see a black woman do this to believe it's possible." Her burgeoning mail tells her that in spite of herself, she has been an inspiration to young black women and is about to become a nationwide...
...plans to reclaim the women' s skating gold for the U. S. But she will have to take it away from East Germany' s enchanting Katarina Witt. -- Two Brians: Orser of Canada and Boitano of the U. S. are pretty good friends and the very best of the men skaters. -- Red, White and Dreams: A picture essay offers a look at American competitors from world- record speed skaters to a luger and a biathlete with chances at a first U. S. medal. -- Super- Z: Switzerland' s Pirmin Zurbriggen, the top World Cup skier, is a slashing, aggressive all- event star...