Word: slalomer
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Monday: 9-11 p.m. and 11:30-11:45 p.m., men's giant slalom, U.S. vs. Rumania hockey, ski jumping, men's figure skating, women's cross-country...
Stenmark joined the European racing circuit in 1974, when he was 17. The following year he blossomed. He was the World Cup leader in the slalom and giant slalom, and was in contention for the combined championship (slalom, giant slalom and downhill) until the final day of the season at Val Gardena, Italy, when he lost to Italian Gustavo Thoeni in a dramatic, head-to-head slalom. In 1976, he became the first Scandinavian to win the World Cup, and he was again champion...
...downhill, an event he shuns. Despite this self-imposed handicap, he leads in total points for this year's World Cup. Says he: "I just do not have time to train well enough for the downhill without cutting into the time I find necessary for the slalom and giant slalom." Adds Mahre: "Ingemar is a very precise man, a high-precision skier, and the slaloms are precise and perfectible. The downhill is just a matter of going fast...
Stenmark's technique is spare and tightly controlled, quite unlike the hellbent, hurtling style of a Killy. In the early days of slalom competition, skiers navigated the gates with looping S-turns. Later they flattened out the S-turns and substituted rapid-fire slashes, often brushing the poles. The Swede has achieved further refinements, reducing the slashes to mere flickers of shifting body weight. He owes much of his letter-perfect form to exceptional physical gifts. "He has tremendous balance, great agility, a good eye and fantastic concentration," says former U.S. Alpine Team Director Hank Tauber. "He has what...
...brain concussion and was unable to resume snow training for several weeks. "I've never before started so late in the year," says he, "but I'm not worried." But after his disappointing performance at Innsbruck in 1976-he managed only a bronze in the giant slalom-Stenmark is wary of making medal predictions. "The margins of victory are so small and accidental occurrences so often decisive," he says. "If only I get one Olympic gold medal, I'll be happy...