Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 17, 1992 TAG: 9202170145
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALBERTVILLE, FRANCE LENGTH: Long
U.S. SHOWING STRENGTH IN WIDE RANGE OF SPORTS
DESPITE WEAKNESS in some visible areas, such as the bobsledding team's seventh-place finish, the Americans already have as many medals they earned in 1988. But there's no chance of them catching the dominating Germans either.\ Neither Herschel Walker's bomb-out on the bobsled nor Eric Flaim's burnout in speed skating Sunday could dull the glow of the U.S. team's surprise showing midway through the Winter Games.
On a day when bird-like teen Toni Nieminen of Finland soared above everyone, the Americans kept chugging along toward perhaps their best overall performance in the Winter Olympics.
The biggest complaint, "atrocious" meals for the athletes that made Flaim sick, may shock the sensibilities of the food-conscious French, but it still couldn't spoil the U.S. team's happiness.
More than a medal bonanza - the United States already has matched its total of six in 1988 and still hopes to surpass its record of 12 - the Americans are showing strength in a wide range of supposedly un-American sports and doing the grunt work for 1994.
There's no chance they'll catch the Winter Games powerhouses - Germany leads with 18 medals, Austria has 16 and the Russian-led Unified Team has 14 - but the Americans see medal opportunities this week in hockey, speed skating, skiing and women's figure skating.
The Americans have the only unbeaten, untied hockey team following Canada's first loss, 5-4, against the Unified Team.
"Across the board in the contemporary Games since 1956, these are probably our best finishes," U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Moran said. "We're very happy with this and thrilled for the athletes and sports governing bodies. Everybody, since Calgary, stepped it up a couple of notches."
Walker, the Minnesota Vikings tailback who thought he could barge into the Games and run away with a medal, finished seventh in the two-man bobsled with driver Brian Shimer. But their time was respectable - .69 seconds behind Switzerland's gold medal duo of Gustav Weder and Donat Acklin and their placement was the best for a U.S. team since a fifth place in 1980.
Flaim came here looking for a gold to complement the silver he won in the men's 1,500 speed skating. But a sudden sickness caused by food poisoning left him 24th, far behind Norway's gold medalist, Johann Olav Koss.
Like other U.S. athletes, Flaim complained about the quality of food in the Olympic Village and started cooking his own.
"The food here has been atrocious, it really has," he said. "One of the women downhill skiers told me she was sick, too. I've been cooking my own meals, but I was kind of getting tired of it. The one time I go and eat at the village, I get sick.
"I felt really, really bad. I threw up and had diarrhea all night. I only slept a few hours and I told my roommate I didn't know if I could skate."
U.S. team doctors gave him mild medication, but strict Olympic drug rules prevented him from taking anything stronger.
Flaim said he has no plans to skip Tuesday's 1,000, which he considered his best chance for a medal even before the Olympics began.
Besides suffering the complaints about the food, the French have to sweat out the wait with their favorite skaters, world champions Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay. The couple finished second in the original dance behind Russians Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko after coming in third in compulsories.
Though second overall heading into Monday night's free dance, at which they are masterful, the Duchesnays must beat Klimova and Ponomarenko, the 1989 and '90 world champions, by two places in the free dance to win the Olympic crown. They've never done that.
Artistry in the air is the specialty of 16-year-old Toni Nieminen, and, oh, can he fly. In his native Lahti, kids grow up ski jumping the way Americans grow up playing baseball. Nieminen is a sort of little slugger of the slopes.
With his skis pointed toes-out in V style, his body leaning nearly parallel to the ground, and his long blond locks blowing behind from under his helmet, Nieminen is an aerodynamic wonder.
He soared to the two longest jumps Sunday - 400 feet, 3 inches and 403-6 - to become the youngest Olympic champion on the big 120-meter hill. Not bad for a smooth-cheeked teen-ager in his first year of international competition.
"I am the luckiest guy in the world, it's great," Nieminen said as he celebrated his victory with hundreds of jubilant, flag-waving Finns.
On Friday, he became the youngest male champion in Winter Games history by helping Finland win the team title. With a bronze medal from the 90-meter, short hill event a week ago, Nieminen finished his first Olympics with three medals.
The top American was Jim Holland in 12th place with jumps of 344-5 and 333. That's among the 10 best ever by an American and an improvement of 22 places over Calgary.
"With seven days to go, our athletes and sports governing bodies can hold their heads up high and feel they really accomplished what they set out to do," Moran said. "We've had top 10 performances by U.S. athletes in the Winter Olympics in a lot of sports - biathlon, men's luge, women's luge, super-G [slalom], Alpine combined, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating."
More medals, faster times and higher finishes mean extra bucks for training from corporations. Harvey Schiller, the USOC's executive director, said the group's budget for the next four years may rise to about $400 million from the current $300 million.
"The advertisers are thrilled with the public support of the team," he said. "The level of competitiveness is increasing and the momentum is building. We're looking to 1994 and beyond."