Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 20, 1992 TAG: 9202200116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALBERTVILLE, FRANCE LENGTH: Medium
U.S. SKATERS STAND TALL
THE GLAMOUR SHOW of the Winter Games, set up as a showdown between Kristin Yamaguchi and Midori Ito, looks more like an American affair with a French flair.\ Nearly perfect, Americans Kristi Yamaguchi and Nancy Kerrigan are poised for gold and silver in women's figure skating after Midori Ito's triple lutz turned into a triple klutz.
France's Surya Bonaly took advantage of Ito's fall to vault past her into third Wednesday night, leaving Japan's former world champion fourth, France's Laetitia Hubert fifth and America's Tonya Harding sixth going into Friday's free skate finale.
Ito looked stunned, almost numb, as she left the ice, her effervescent smile absent. But she controlled her emotions at the disappointing scores and shed no tears.
"I am sorry," Ito said. "I did not think I would fail the triple lutz."
Tears flooded the Tarentaise Valley all day amid accidents, upsets and complaints.
Herschel Walker wailed about gutless U.S. officials after getting bumped from the bobsled, while American skier Diann Roffe cried joyfully as she clutched her silver in the giant slalom.
One day after winning a gold in the super giant slalom, Italy's Deborah Compagnoni screamed and wept in pain after a spinout on the first run of the giant slalom that tore up her left knee. Four years ago she had an operation on her wrecked right knee, and in 1990 she underwent intestinal surgery.
Defending Olympic champion Vreni Schneider of Switzerland sobbed in the snow after she broke her right ski pole when she hit a gate and couldn't complete the course.
Trouble befell some of the top figure skaters, too.
Ito and Harding, the highest jumpers, both had trouble with their landings. Ito rolled to the ice on a triple lutz, a jump she substituted for her trademark, the more difficult triple axel. Ito, a charismatic leaper at Calgary and world champion in 1989, fell off the ice surface on a triple lutz in last year's world championships. She stayed on the rink this time and got up to complete the double toe loop portion of the combination.
Harding, the only other woman to do the 3 1/2-revolution jump, missed the axel for the third straight time in competition and skipped the double-toe loop that was to follow it.
Yamaguchi, the reigning world champion, skated lightly and effortlessly, cutting a graceful figure on the ice in aqua blue and silver to the music of Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz. Though she didn't sparkle quite as much as she did at the U.S. championships, her jumps and spins were clean and precise.
"I tried to just skate free out there and create a romantic mood and something easy and flowing and nice to watch," said Yamaguchi, who confessed to being "a little surprised" she was first.
"The original program is where most of the tension is because of the required elements, and it's always nice to get through that cleanly."
The crowd loved her, giving her a long ovation. A banner proclaiming "USA Loves Kristi" and dozens of waving American flags accompanied the cheers.
The judges were satisfied, too, giving her no mark below 5.6 for required elements and seven 5.9s for artistry.
Bonaly, European champion the last two years, hesitated once between a triple lutz and a double toe loop but stayed up and got the partisan crowd clapping as she moved into position to win France's second-ever ladies' figure skating medal. Jacqueline du Bief won a bronze in 1952.
"I feel I am the big winner tonight," Bonaly said.
Yamaguchi was sympathetic about Ito's fall, saying: "You want to see everyone go out there and do their best because it makes for a better competition."
A crash also claimed two-time defending World Cup circuit champion Petra Kronberger of Austria, who tumbled near the bottom on her first run of the giant slalom after hitting a gate too hard.
No such problems affected gold medalist Pernilla Wiberg, a 21-year-old Swede who displayed the flair of childhood idol Ingemar Stenmark in a dramatic second run.
"I was thinking about him when I looked at the second run," Wiberg said. "But I don't think I felt like him when I was skiing. He's a great idol and I think maybe he watched this, and I hope he's happy, too."
Wiberg's runs added up to 2 minutes, 12.74 seconds, .97 seconds faster than Roffe and Austria's Anita Wachter, who tied for the silver.
Antje Misersky's gold medal in the women's 15-kilometer biathlon gave Germany 24 medals, 10 of them gold, and moved Germany closer to the record of 29 set by the Soviet Union in 1988.