Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 27, 1994 TAG: 9402270108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LILLEHAMMER, NORWAY LENGTH: Medium
While the U.S. squad has won more medals than ever, there is something for optimists and pessimists when looking at Olympic results.
There was the joy of Dan Jansen's long-sought victory. And then there was the Tonya-Nancy affair.
There were Bonnie Blair's clockwork victories, and the disappointment of the U.S. hockey team. And then there was the Tonya-Nancy affair.
There was the surprise of the alpine ski team's four medals, and the disappointment in luge. And then there was the Tonya-Nancy affair.
And then there was the mystery of short-track speed skating.
"I was just as confused as everyone else, and I used to skate in that sport," Blair said Saturday when asked about charges that Cathy Turner of the United States won her 500 meters gold medal by interferring with a Chinese rival.
Blair's answer came during a U.S. Olympic Committee news conference wrapping up the Games. Attended by Blair, Jansen, Nancy Kerrigan and other athletes, the session had a self-congratulatory air whenever a non-Tonya Harding question was asked.
"These athletes should be considered national treasures," said Harvey Schiller, the USOC's executive director.
There were plenty of reasons for satisfaction. With 13 medals in hand by Saturday night, the U.S. team has surpassed the U.S. Winter Olympics mark of 12 set at the Lake Placid Games of 1932 and 1980.
While the results reflect some disappointments, most expectations were met.
Before the Games, pundits predicted U.S. dominance in speed skating; Blair, Jansen and Turner saw to that. While Donna Weinbrecht was picked to repeat her 1992 gold medal performance in the moguls, her failure was softened by Liz McIntyre's silver in the same event.
Some hoped-for medals slipped and slid out of reach. The hockey team could only produce one victory and faded in the medal round. The luge team, touted as the strongest in U.S. history, lost its chance for a medal when Duncan Kennedy lost control of his sled.
But the ski team, all but dismissed in pre-Olympics predictions, will bring home two golds and two silvers.
Schiller said Tommy Moe's opening day victory in the downhill and Diann Roffe-Steinrotter's Super G gold "shocked many of the people in the ski world and showed what we've accomplished."
Another plus: These Games were the most watched in U.S. history. While spurred by the drama of the assault on Kerrigan and the subsequent finger-pointing at Harding, the effect may have an important impact on U.S. winter sports.
Olympic officials report they have received an average of 500 calls a day from young people interested in luge after watching the U.S. team flirt with victory. The speed skaters' success also is expected to bring more people to the sport.
But those with too much time on their hands probably will spend the next four years arguing the deeper implications of the numbers.
This year's record takes on a slightly different meaning when you consider that in 1932 the United States took medals in 12 of a total 14 events held that year. The number of events had grown to 38 by 1980; there were 61 in Lillehammer.
by CNB