Olympic Downhill

Where shall I start ...

As with many of our childhood memories, I recall fondly the reason I enjoyed watching the Winter Olympic Games and in particular the Downhill Ski Race. I would sit frozen in front of the TV watching one after another of the skiers rocketing down the course managing turns and elevation drops avoiding crashing while seemingly off balance at times to either recover or end up tangled in the bright orange netting. You could hear the cow bells clank and the crowds cheering as bleered sound as racers pasted by. Each skier was pushing the envelope to attempt a gain of fractions of a second. You'ld hear the annoucement with wild aplauds as a time and the position in the standing was revealed. A new leader would emerge over each of the next series of runs and to cheering at the bottom of the course. Skiers would lunge forward at the finish line stretching to cut even more time. Suddenly the weather changed to near white-out conditions as the camera feeds would exist as a screen of heavy snow, but the skiers continued to cut an ever clear path. This is what the downhill was all about - speed, excitement and daring.

Like many others, I came to like one skier in particular due to his more reckless style. His name was Franz Klammer - Austrian (Skier). Franz Klammer dominated the skiing world from 1975 to 1978 and achieve a gold metal and international fame at the '76 Innesbuck games where he skied at "the edge of disaster." Many people feel that the spectacular downhill run was not only one of the finest moments the history of skiing, but in all of sports. Franz was skiing from the dead last position in the first heat and needing to improve on his own personal best by 2 seconds. He made an adjusted midway down the course to pick up more speed as he felt he was not going fast enough. Klammer won the Olympic downhill race in his native Austria and instantly became a National Hero.

When racing each other down the slopes, my friends and I would get down into a tuck position to try to imagine what it would be like have to ski like Franz Klammer. Over the years, many American skiers have achieve many great victories, but only a select few can come close to matching "the perfect run" in the Olympic Downhill race and I applaud them all, but there will be a special place in my memory every time I unload from the lift and get ready to take on the black diamonds for this true Olympic Hero.

Good luck to all the skiers in the Vancouver Olympic Games; may you rise to the occasion and become the fond memory for a new generation of skiers.