Winter Olympics - only 36 more days

Cold weather post number 3 - The Winter Olympics.

Perhaps it is my German heritage. Perhaps it is the fact that I grew up in South Florida longing for a winter of snow. Perhaps it is the fifth grade geography report I did on Austria and Switzerland and the Alps. Perhaps it was the perceived elegance of sophisticates attired in fur coats and hats (faux of course) drinking champagne on the slopes of St. Moritz or Gstaad. Or maybe it was just the crush I had on Jean Claude Killy. Perhaps the Winter Olympics just seem more elegant, glamorous and less sweaty. I have always had an attraction to the Winter Olympics (albeit runners and bikers are some of my favorite people).

The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France in 1924; springing from the Nordic Games which began in 1901 in Sweden. To me, these games have always been all about skiing and speed skating. Oh, I know there are other events, but it was those two sports that first attracted me.


My first recollection of interest in the Winter Olympics were the 1964 games in Innsbruck, Austria. I remember looking for the medal standings in the newspaper each day and getting glimpses of the competition on TV. Zimmerman, an Austrian, took the gold that year in the downhill. Years later I would visit Innsbruck and stand atop the very place that downhill race began.

The 1968 Games in Grenoble gave us Jean Claude and his three gold medals in alpine skiing events. Oh Jean Claude; although a very young lady, I was enthralled with Jean Claude. Charming and talented, he was the golden boy of the games.


And if he was the golden boy, Peggy Flemming was the golden girl, swirling, ever so gracefully, upon the ice in the figure skating events. I can still remember her gracefully floating in blue light to "Ave Maria." She took the gold that year. Her award in Grenoble was singularly important for the American athletes and the nation as a whole, for this was the only gold medal that the U.S. Olympic team won in the 1968 Winter Games. It signaled a return to American dominance in the sport of women's figure skating following the unprecedented tragedy of the 1961 plane crash which killed 18 members of the US figure skating team en route to the World Figure Skating Championship.


I must have been busy in 1972, since I don't recall gluing myself to the television for the Sapparo games; but I was back for Innsbruck in 1976. For us Americans, the Innsbruck games were all about Dorothy Hamill; and her haircut of course. Hamill came in second in the figures and then won the short and long programs, taking the gold medal. She was "America's Sweetheart" and they even made the Dorothy Hamill doll the following year.



Lake Placid in 1980 was all about the "miracle" of the US hockey team bringing down the Soviets on the ice. Speed skater, Eric Heidin brought home five gold medals for the United States.

As the years progressed the opening ceremonies seemed like they too were becoming a competition. Bigger, longer, and more people on the field than in the stadiums. TV coverage went twenty-four hours with features on the athletes: what they drank, what they wore, who they were dating. Too much information.



The last Winter Games that got my full attention was 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. That is also the year that the Winter Games split from the Summer Game schedule. Lillehammer's opening ceremony was enchanting and despite the unbecoming behavior of American skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, we got to watch Oksana Baiul. Oksana took the gold in the women's individual figure skating competition; beating out Nancy Kerrigan. She went professional the following year.

I can't tell you why I haven't been paying attention to the Winter Games since Lillehammer. I'm guessing that February has always been a bit busy for me. But I miss the alpine events and the speed skaters and I would love to see the Jamaican bobsled team back in action. 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver are quickly approaching. I want to see Sasha Cohen and Marco Sullivan and Kelly Clark and Shawn White. . .only 36 more days. . .