Word: ski
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...that point, the gold fever became contagious. Going into the women's slalom, the U.S.'s hopes hinged on Marilyn and Barbara Cochran, the two sisters who with brother Bob made the U.S. ski team something of a family affair. The sisters' chances were quickly halved, however, when Marilyn, 22, snagged a gate in her first run and tumbled out of the race. Then, out of the snow flurries came Barbara, 21. Cutting corners dangerously close, she whizzed home with the fastest time in the first of the two heats. Refusing to look at her competitors lest...
...more than had turned out to see either John F. Kennedy or Queen Elizabeth II. The singing, cheering crowds demonstrated a sound instinct for commercial values. A disproportionate share of Austria's money and jobs comes from the skimaking industry, with a mighty boost from the prestige of ski champions like Schranz...
...those resources is a reservoir of expertise in skimaking, which equips a leisure-time activity that is growing phenomenally all over the world. The number of skiers in all countries has jumped from an estimated 3,000,000 since World War II to the present 15 million. The Austrian ski industry now makes more than a quarter of all the world's skis. Last year 230 Austrian firms exported about $80 million in ski equipment and clothing, more than three times sales in 1965. This year Austria's (and the world's) largest skimaker, Josef Fischer, expects...
Inevitably, the ethics of amateur skiing have been altered by the strain of the sponsors' competition. In the 1950s, Austrian Ski Star Toni Sailer supposedly earned a modest $1,200 a year from advertising. Eventually he dropped out of competition after the International Ski Federation investigated his role in Sailer-Tex, an Italian textile firm to which he had lent his name. "I hoped that my leaving would be understood as a protest against the hypocrisy of the so-called amateur status," Sailer said recently. "But the situation has only become worse...
...recent years, several leading ski manufacturers in Italy, Germany and Switzerland have been acquired by British and American firms. The Austrian skimakers, who for the most part are the sons of the cartmakers and carpenters who started the business, have thus far resisted the temptation to sell out. "I am worth more every day," boasts "Toni" Arnsteiner, himself a former ski racer. "So why should I sell?" He foresees, however, that "in a few years, ten manufacturers will remain the world over. The problem is to be among them...