Once upon a time, it was a way station for caravans between Europe and the Middle East. Now it's the meeting ground for people from all four points of the compass. It's Sarajevo. ABC Sports presents the 14th Winter Olympics from Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Today you'll see the mile-a-minute action of men and women flying down an icy run on the thin edge of control in the first day of competition in Luz. That'll come from the run at Mount Tropevich. Luz. You'll see speed on the flat from the speed skating rink. Anki, an East German girl, a one-time figure skater, in fact, could pull an Eric Hyden and sweep all the gold medals available in women's skating at these games. At Zetra Arena, a young American hockey team has its back to the wall as it faces Czechoslovakia. The victory tonight is a virtual must if the USA is to reach the medal round. And we'll have our first meeting of the game with the three American female figure skating stars, world champion Roslyn Sumners, Elaine Zayak and Tiffany Chin. It's the first day of varied action in the 14th Winter Olympics. Good evening. I'm Jim McKay reporting to you live from Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Well, tonight we have action for you from the mountains and from the city itself. Up in the mountains, you'll be seeing cross-country skiing and Luz. Down in the city, you'll be seeing highlights of the critical ice hockey game between the United States and Czechoslovakia and a remarkable speed skating performance by Karen Anki of East Germany. Now, since I'm reporting to you live, it's just after two o'clock in the morning here in Sarajevo, obviously all of the events have been concluded earlier for tonight. So I could tell you the results of all the events right now. But we don't want to spoil the anticipation for the many of you, truly, who have told us through the years that you go to great lengths not to hear the results in advance of a delayed broadcast. I hope those of you who do want to know the results before we begin will understand. Now, one other thing we have to report, and that is that you will not be seeing the men's downhill ski race. The reason? Nature intervened. There were 90-mile-an-hour winds up on the mountain, along with fog, and they canceled it very early in the day. That has been rescheduled for tomorrow. And as far as our program tonight is concerned, we're going to be two hours instead of three, followed by a special edition of ABC's 2020. So that kind of sets the mood for us here, and the basic facts will be rolling along. This portion of ABC's coverage of the 14th Winter Olympic Games is brought to you by General Electric. At GE, we bring good things to life. By Chevrolet, official U.S. cars and trucks of the 14th Olympic Winter Games. Chevrolet and you, taking charge. By Aetna Life and Casualty, America's largest investor-owned insurance and financial service company. And by Apple Computer, the makers of Macintosh, a business computer so advanced you already know how to use it. Well, there was no question after the disturbing opening day lost to Canada in ice hockey that tonight's game between the United States and Czechoslovakia really was a critical one for the young Americans. We're going to start our coverage with that. But as we join Al Michaels, he has Michael Ruzioni with him, the captain of the 1980 team, and they're talking to the coach of that team, Herb Brooks in St. Paul, Minnesota. Well, we're in Sarajevo, of course, and Herb Brooks in St. Paul, nearly halfway around the globe. But I know, Herb, you're following the fortunes of this team very, very closely. What is the best course for a coach to take under these circumstances now coming into a critical game like tonight's against Czechoslovakia? Well, Al, I think the, you know, after the opening day lost against Canada, I think that Lou Vero and his staff probably brought their team into the reality of the importance of this game against Czechoslovakia. Not to put so much pressure on them, they're not able to function, but to put the necessary pressure that they are able to sort of play their game and not get caught up into another team's style, another team's game, and what have you. What do you feel on the ice tonight will be the key to a U.S. victory? What do they have to do? Well, I think tonight, the United States, when they play the Czechs, and Lou Vero is very familiar with the Czech style, but they're sort of, if I may draw a parallel between a boxer, they're sort of a counterpunching type of team. They make a very quick transition from their defense to offense, and at that point is sometimes where the U.S. is really going to have to check very well. Because if they're not sharp in that little aspect of the game, they're going to find themselves at some numerical disadvantages, so the Czechs, I would say they're sort of a counterpunch type of an organization, and they have to approach it from that standpoint. Herb, one of the reasons I feel that they were not successful in the first game was they did not play with the emotion. Now, they're a young hockey team coming off an emotional Olympics in 1980. Does that surprise you in a way that they came out in that first game without that emotion and really tense? No, it doesn't, Michael. I think if you go back to 1980 when we were playing, and I sort of pulled a little temper tantrum after the first period that sort of shocked us or brought us into a game reality. You might recall on that, but it didn't surprise me because we did the same thing in 1980, and it's normal, and it can happen. So in other words, then it's up to the coach or to some type of a situation that has to happen to break them out of that? Well, that's true, but I think that by now, getting ready for the second game against Czech Slovakia, the coaching staff has made the necessary psychological adjustments, and I think the U.S. is going to play very, very well today. How important a factor, Herb, is goaltending? You got a tremendous performance from Jim Craig, of course, four years ago. Is that the key? Well, I think in any playoff hockey, it starts from the goal out, and I think the goalkeeping is very important today, whether they choose Mason or— It'll be barren tonight. It will be barren. Well, I think either of the young athletes would be capable, but I think that's first and foremost. I think you're going to have to win any type of playoff hockey, and especially the Olympic hockey where it's just one game. You have to win it in your defensive zone, and then everything outside of that will take care of itself. Finally, Herb, you know we don't get the local papers here. You guys still in first place? Well, we're tied with the New York Islanders. We played tonight against the Minnesota North Stars. We're making a run out of it, and it's really exciting to be in a race. Keep it up. Good luck, Herb. Thank you. Now we're ready for the faceoff. The referee tonight, Doc Olson. He is from Sweden. The two linesmen are from the Soviet Union and Austria. The United States team in white, Texas, Milwaukee in red. This is David A. Jensen coming in over the blue line, but Lafontaine is offside. So a faceoff outside the blue line. The referee, Doc Olson, from Sweden. Again, for those of you, and there are many, who only watch hockey during the Olympics, offside is when the man with the puck is preceded over the blue line by a teammate, as was the case there. Jensen had the puck, but Lafontaine came into the zone ahead of him, and another case right there. So the U.S. twice offside, and right off the bat, a little altercation in the corner that's quickly broken up. Of course, as we said before, really all eyes are going to be on the U.S. team right at the start. They played a game on Tuesday night against Canada, where they seemed really paralyzed for almost the last half of the game. They've got to get their skating legs. They've got to get moving. Ed Olchek, who's 17 years old, on the faceoff for the U.S., from the Chicago area. This is Chris Chalios. He's been drafted by the Montreal Canadiens. He's expected to join them following the Olympics. This is Korbala for Czechoslovakia, in over the blue line. Lafontaine riding with him. Checks him into the boards. Hershey's there, and it's pinned against the boards for a faceoff. 34 seconds into the game. Mike, some initial thoughts. Well, right away, a change in the U.S. plans. They had Ed Olchek centering that line. Instead of Lafontaine, they had Lafontaine on the wing, and it looked like Lafontaine and Jensen were interchanging quite a bit. So they're really trying to get some skating and some movement right away. That's something they've experimented with from time to time during the course of the pre-Olympic schedule. This team formed on the 4th of July at the National Sports Festival. Right now, the line featuring Bill Rocota, number 8 for the U.S., and one of the two veterans. The other, number 23, is John Harrington, also playing in the same line. The two holdovers from 1980. Average age of this team is 21.4. Shot is deflected into the corner. This is Rocota trying to clear it out of the zone. And finally, the U.S. able to gain control. Not the center ice, though. John lets into Lukacs. He had the hat trick the other day. Barron makes a great save. The rebound is blocked in front, and the Americans are able to clear the zone. Back they come, with Brooks having his pass intercepted, but picked up in the corner by Corey Miller, the smallest of the Americans. And then he has it taken away, and back come the Czechoslovakians. This is Rusnak. Drop pass to number 11, Igor Liva. He'll be a man to watch tonight. Number 11, Liva banning on the shot out in front. Back toward the blue line, and knocking down the shot is Corey Millen, as the Americans come back the other way. John Harrington on the right wing, number 23, shooting it in right on Schindl, who covers up for the faceoff. So he played a minute and a half. The United States against Czechoslovakia at the Zechra Arena. No score. We have eight and a half minutes remaining in the first period. The U.S. and Czechoslovakia no score. The teams right now skating at equal strength. Czechoslovakia coming in for the victory. No losses thus far. And again, we'll reiterate, Canada has already won today, defeating Austria. Finland defeated Norway earlier today. Thus, those two teams in the same division with a record of 2-0. Only the top two teams advance to the medal round as Fusco gets taken down, and that'll be a penalty against the Czech team. Once again, it was a defenseman moving up from the back, causing a problem for the Czech defense, forcing them to take the penalty. Number 26, Jaroslav Korbila goes to the penalty box. Here you can see Fusco breaking through the middle, getting a step on Korbila, and then being hooked down. So that's the second penalty against Czechoslovakia. We'll take another look at it right now. Two-minute advantage coming up for the U.S. And Korbila goes into the penalty box at the 12-0-1 mark of the first period. Czechoslovakia finishing second in last year's World Championship Tournament at Munich, West Germany. During that tournament, they tied the Soviets 1-1. It was the only blemish on the Soviet record during the tournament. The shot is saved by Schindel, the rebound by Fusco, another save, and the Czechs are able to clear it. So the best opportunity thus far for the United States. And it was a good opportunity. Not only the original shot, but there were two U.S. players standing in front of the net. Good save by Schindel. And a shot goes in by Igor Liva, number 11, as the Czechoslovakian team scores shorthanded. So not only do they take the pressure off, Liva gets a pass out in front. And with the man in the penalty box, the Czechs lead 1-0. And just like that, we've got a power failure at the Zetra. As you look at the freeze frame on the replay, most of the lights have just gone off in the arena. You never know what's going to happen at the Olympics. That power failure actually lasted for 28 minutes. And when the game resumed, Tom Hirsch of the United States received a two-minute penalty for interference. That put the teams at even strength as the game resumed. Let's go back to Al Michaels. So in the first period now, as we have gotten things back underway, the lights back on at the Zetra arena. They have six minutes and 53 seconds remaining in the first period. And they'll stop at the end of this first period, resurface the ice, and then play 20-20. Al Michaels along with Ken Dryden and Mike Arruzzione, Czechoslovakia leading 1-0. A shorthanded goal just prior to the power outage by Igor Liva. Right now, the team's standing at equal strength, but in 30 seconds, the Czechs will begin a 44-second man advantage situation. Back of the net, Czernik gets it out in front of Ruschak, and a great save by Barron. And the shot is wide. Awkwarram is thick. Another wide shot by Kondlač, and the puck comes out past the blue line. Czernik has to vacate the net and has to cover up. He almost lost control of the puck with Harrington bearing down on him. European goalies are usually less adept outside their crease because in their game, there's much less of shooting the puck and forcing the goalie to come out and make the play. Here was a very nice save from a high angle by Mark Barron as he kicked out the puck with his right leg. Mark Barron has played very steadily tonight. He's giving the right message to his team now. He's saying to them that he is ready. He's ready to play an outstanding game. Barron from the University of Wisconsin. Helps guide the team to a couple of NCAA championships. And the Czech is the lock-in man, exits the penalty box, and Czernik comes out. Now 37 seconds remaining in the penalty to Hersch. So the Czechs on a power play here as the Americans take control of the puck. Long pass. He eludes Sampson, but kept in by Fusco. Sampson trying to deflect it in. 20 seconds now remaining in the penalty. And Kumpel has it on a break. He scores! Mark Kumpel picks up the loose puck and the Americans tie the game. So both teams score shorthanded and the U.S. ties it. And a little bit of deja vu here, four years ago the Czechoslovakian team led 1-0 and Michael Ruzioni scored a goal to tie it 1-1 as the U.S. went on to win it 7-3. Mark Kumpel scoring for the U.S. The Czech team was in good shape moving up the ice. The last man decided to make a back pass, assuming one of his teammates was there, creating the breakaway for Mark Kumpel. You see, coming in, waiting for Schindel to move across a little bit, opening his legs, shooting the puck between his legs for the goal. Here we see it again, wide, wide open. Watch, opens his legs, right through. Channel 4, your Winter Olympic Station. Well, penalties were getting to be a problem for the Americans as we rejoined the highlights of the game, David H. Jensen. Remember there are two David Jensens on the team, David A. and David H. David H. was in the penalty box. Paul Michaels. Samson on the faceoff for the United States as the U.S. tries to kill off this penalty and get off to a good start by clearing it into the check end. Each goal has come shorthanded. Leba for Czechoslovakia. Kumpel for the United States. A minute 45 remaining in the penalty. And it's shot back into the check end. Czechoslovakia passing it over to Svoboda. Now Ulvira has it taken away at the blue line. Here's Kumpel who scored the goal. Shooting it, back of the net, Schindel comes out. Left in the corner now as Jelio scraps for the puck. Jelio's looking for Harrington, but has it taken away by Ulvira. The U.S. team again is forcing way up on this disadvantage. They even have their defenseman behind the net. Jelio spent many seconds behind the net forcing the play. Harrington going down. We have less than a minute now remaining in the penalty. David H. Jensen in the box, a nice pass. Rusnik coming in, backhander. And he just missed. Hit the post. So a big break for the U.S. there. Again Rusnik with the puck. What a move. Comes in through the crease and they score. As he gets it over to Lukacs, number 29. Vincent Lukacs was scoring three goals the other day when Norway was defended by Czechoslovakia. Gets another one here with 34 seconds. It came with 34 seconds remaining in the penalty. A great play by Rusnik. Sweeping it around the fallen U.S. defenseman. Finding Lukacs wide open. Again the U.S. was forcing the play while being a man down but they were getting themselves into trouble. They were taking too many chances. Here's the play again. Rusnik sweeping by a sprawling Mark Fusco. And the pass over to the corner of the crease for Lukacs. Well that was all the scoring in the first period of play in the game between the United States and Czechoslovakia. If you just joined us we would like to tell you, as we told the other people earlier, that our program tonight will be just two hours long followed by a special edition of ABC News 2020. Now let's take a look at another sport. It's one of the wildest sport in the Olympic Games with a deceptively soft sounding name, luge. For our report on it, here's Sam Posey. This is an older section of Sarajevo. As you see it from the top of the luge course on Mount Trebevich. There are mosques down there built when this land was ruled by the Turks centuries ago. Today however our attention is on a different sort of architecture. A building called the start house. Here the competitors wait their turns through a solitary plunge down the mountain. Inside the racers change into their special clothes. The atmosphere appears convivial because luge as a sport recycling is very much a part of the game. You must never let your opponents know your doubts. But these are not casual moments. They say you'll remember years later the exact spot you sat in the start house. The sleds wait in the room below. Each of their curving steel runners laboriously hand polish. Because weight translates into speed the rules provide a handicapping system allowing lighter riders to balance themselves with a vest weighted with lead. Suits are made of thin plastic coated nylon and the tighter they fit the better. It means less aerodynamic drag. But the need to cheat the wind restricts you to the most minimal padding and protective equipment. Narrow treadless boots again for aerodynamics although they might be more appropriate at a ballet. Oddly incongruous are the spiked gloves that Spartacus might have worn therefore pushing off at the start. Finally the visor is cleaned with an anti-fogging solution. A last chance to concentrate. Eyes closed you imagine the track turn by turn programming yourself for the perfect run. Downstairs now your heart pounding. Danger and the possibility of a crash has been thrust from your mind. In a minute your rivals still waiting their turn upstairs will hear your times, know what you've done but you don't think of that now. At the green light using every ounce of strength you hurl yourself forward and are alone on the ice. Hundreds of feet below is the finish line drawing you toward it now like a magnet. Go, go. Sport of luge. It's still relatively unknown in the United States where there are fewer than 300 participants but it's very popular in East Germany, West Germany, Austria, Northern Italy and most recently it's become popular in the Soviet Union. Hi, I'm Sam Posey and we're just moments to go now before the start of the men's singles competition. The format is very simple really. Each competitor will make one run per day for four days and the winner will be the man with the lowest elapsed time for those four runs. Working with me today as our expert on the sport of luging is Jeff Tucker. Jeff is a former national champion and was the highest placed American on the American luge team in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid four years ago. Now Jeff, the first man down the hill today is going to be an American, Frank Maisley. And less than 24 hours ago, Frank was carrying the flag in the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, obviously an incredible moment for him. Now as a former Olympian yourself, can you give us some idea what he must be going through as he tries to readjust from the excitement of that moment to what he has to do here? Well, walking into an opening ceremony as a member of the U.S. Olympic team is just an incredible experience. Carrying the flag, well, that's just fabulous. That's something Frank will carry with him for the rest of his life. What he's got to do now though is carry over the enthusiasm, the excitement into this race, but he's also got to put some of that behind him. He's got to focus his attention and concentrate on the four runs he has over four days. He's really got to apply himself. Do you think he has any chance? Well, Frank's done very well in international competition. He's risen through the ranks. He's had some good finishes. But, as you know, the competition here is going to be between the very strong Russian team of Yuri Harchenko and Sergei Danilin and the Italians, Paul Hildegardner and Ernst Hausbinger. It's going to be an exciting race. They've been neck and neck in training, trading off the fastest run. I think we're going to have a great race soon. The face you see, Frank Masley, four-time national lose champion in the United States, six feet, one inch tall, 185 pounds. He's from Newark, Delaware. You know, he's a true amateur and in every way embodies the spirit of the Olympics. We had a chance to talk to him about a moment that was very special in his life yesterday when he carried the flag in the opening ceremony. I never expected to have this honor, to carry the flag. My fellow athletes gave me the position to carry the flag. It's a big day for Luge, I think, also a sport of Luge. We've never carried the flag before. My athletes put me in there. My fellow Luge athletes picked me. The whole American team picked me and I'm just so happy and I'm proud to be an American. On the right of your screen with Frank Masley, there's Sven Rumstad, the very young, just 23-year-old coach of the U.S. Luge team. Frank Masley, obviously a very hot prospect for this year and for the Calgary Games beyond. Now, Frank had a personal best time down the run, Jeff. A couple of days ago, there's just one second off the track record set by Paul Hillgartner. So this could be very, very important. Of course, this is the moment he's waited for for so long, trained for, for four years. There's been so much publicity, so much anticipation. Now he must put it on the line. Well, that's right, Sam. It's showtime for Frank. And he knows that. He's a seasoned competitor. He seems to rise to the occasion. I think we're going to see a very good run from him. Of course, it's the first man down. We haven't seen anybody else yet come down, but great start for him, Sam. Very nice start for him, right back into the position. Super aerodynamic position there. Head all the way back, toes pointed. Let's see his first splits coming up. Right, the upper part of the track. Very important before they really gather a lot of speed, not to make any mistakes, not to hit the walls at all, because you scrub off so much speed before you really build up that rush of energy later in the course. There's the first split time, 21.3. We'll be watching those as the competition develops. But Frank now coming onto the long straightaway where speed for about 70 miles an hour will be hit here. He looks great, Sam. He nailed this straightaway right down the middle. The tough turn nine and into the labyrinth. It's a tricky section from the men's start. There are the labyrinth turns, right, left, right, and now he's out onto the last turn of the track, the finish turn. It's a terrific run for him, Sam. A 46.89 with the snow on the track. That's really a fabulous run for Frank. He's got to be very pleased with that. It was clean all the way down. He drove good lines, maintained a good position. In the start, Sergei Danilin of the Soviet Union. He dominated early season racing, and he's been awfully fast. He's got to be Yuri Harchenko, his teammate who's currently in first. Let's see how he does. He's never won on this track, Jeff, but he's won everything else over the last few months. If there is anybody coming into this competition that could be described as hot, it's Danilin right here. 24 years old, the best man the Russians have, as we understand it. That's true, but Harchenko will also give a run for the money. That's the classic Danilin start right there. Quick off the handles, few quick paddles, right down to position. He's smooth up the top. He's loose on the sled, and the aerodynamics are absolutely perfect. Some people think that you just coast down here, but in fact, they're steering. They're steering all the way down the track, and that's tough, Sam, because there are big G-turns in these curves. Their bodies are getting pressed, their legs are getting pushed in the ice, their heads are getting pushed down. Okay, it's a new record-split time off the top. Sergei Danilin has just gone faster over the early part of the track than his teammate, Harchenko, so he is making an excellent run as he works through that ninth turn there and starts into the latter. And that's just perfect luge form right there. Whoa, he was high there. All right, we see him at the finish. No, he does not take the lead, Jeff. That is where the mistake was made, right there in the labyrinth. He got too high. Am I correct? You're absolutely correct, and that's very uncharacteristic of Sergei Danilin. He usually comes down like he's on rails. He's lucky he didn't crash there, Sam. He is lucky he didn't go over and blow it all. He made a good recovery, and he's in second place, but still a surprise. Well, they're going to take a moment to sweep the snow out of the run. Earlier, with the help of Carl Rupke, Jeff demonstrated just how a luge is steered. A luge sled steers with absolute precision. If Carl wanted to make this sled go to the right, what he'd do is he'd push in with his left leg and at the same time down with his right shoulder, turning his head to facilitate the turn and the pushing down of the shoulder. If he wanted to go in the opposite direction, to the left, he'd do the opposite thing. He'd push in with his right leg and down with his left shoulder. Now, a luge sled's steering is very subtle. It doesn't take a lot to make it turn. Carl, show us a hard turn to the right. In with the left leg, down with the right shoulder. It doesn't look like he's doing much, but this sled will steer, dive to the right. The machine really steers well. And now steering in action as Olympic team alternate, Paul Dondaro takes us for a run down the luge track. He pulls off and builds speed quickly, probably 15 miles an hour by that first turn. And you see he's already steering, pushing in with the left leg, going around that right-hand turn. And now a left-hand turn. He pushes in with the right leg, steering all the way. Coming up, the first big turn he hits, turn five. You see the vibration building already, and you get the sense of speed. It builds up quickly. Now he rolls his head, goes with the turn into six, a quick transition into the big turn seven. Very difficult to get out of there well, and into a long straightaway, 75 yards long. He's probably going 75 miles an hour here. Turn eight, the biggest turn on the track, fighting the Gs all the way around, and he's thrown right into turn nine, a very sharp turn which sets him up for the very difficult labyrinth where there's been a lot of crashes. You can see it's fast. One curve right after another. Quick steering, quick body movements. He's through. He's into the finish curve, another big curve, but he can relax here just a little bit because you know the finish line's right there, and you hope you've had a good one. At the top of the course now, the man many consider, Jeff, to be the favorite in this event, Paul Hillgarten, 31 years old, certainly not the youngest man on the track, but arguably the most experienced. That's absolutely correct, Sam. He won a gold medal in 72 in doubles, took the silver in Lake Placid in 1980. He's a veteran. He's a cool, calm, collected competitor. He set the track record here. He's been consistently the fastest in training and a great start. All right, well, now we're going to be watching him over the early part of the track where he has to beat a split time set by the Russian Sergei Danilin of 21.0 in the early part of the running. His form, Jeff, is absolutely perfect. It's absolutely beautiful. I just hope that the snow that's coming down isn't going to be to his detriment. Okay, he's working that turn five, the first turn where they really slammed down on their sleds, and there's the split time, a little disappointing for Hill Gardner. It really is. Hopefully he can make it up at the bottom of the track. He's got a great, great straightaway, and he looks very smooth. He did a big turn eight, and into the hard turn nine, Labyrinth coming up. He'll make it through there. He'll be home free, and he's riding it on rails, Sam. Smooth as can be. His first gold medal, Sarajevo in 1972. Here it comes up to the finish, and he's taken the lead! Unbelievable! He overcame that early deficit of almost a tenth of a second, and now Paul Hill Gardner has taken the lead from Yuri Harshenko. He knows it. Look at him give that salute. He is gritting. He sees the time ahead of him. They have timing just ahead so he can see what's going on there. What a magnificent run from the man from Northern Italy, Paul Hill Gardner. All right, at the top of the course, Hurston Gurlitzer from East Germany, and, Jeff, the wind is starting to blow all of a sudden very hard here. It really is, but that shouldn't affect the riders too much. They're down low to the ground. There's walls on either side of them, and unless it gets out of control, it shouldn't have too much of effect. Gurlitzer looking very good coming down the track, Sam. Fairly inexperienced, and he really shows the depth of the East German luge program. Really only seen in international competition a couple of times before the Olympics, and here he is sliding very well. A couple of tenths of a second off the fastest split time so far on the top, which belongs, of course, to Sergei Danilin. He looks sharp. He looks good. He really does. And coming up into that labyrinth section, very smooth through there, Sam. No problem whatsoever. He's had minimal amount of training on this track. It's kind of a surprise he's here. All right, Gary makes the finish, and if the clocks can be believed, he has taken the lead. Torsten Gurlitzer, this seems almost impossible. He was two tenths of a second off in the upper part, but they have him taking the lead. This is a complete upset, Jeff. It's really a surprise. He just wasn't in the top men in training. He came out here and popped one off. I was wondering what he was doing here. He wasn't seen in international competition. He literally came from nowhere. Now he's in first place ahead of the greats like Hilda Gardner, Hartchenko, and Danilin. What a surprise. KG East Germans show up and grab first place now. Ernst Haasbinger at the top of the run, heavy snow falling. Jeff, here's somebody you know. Ernst Haasbinger, a big disappointment in 1980. He's been waiting four years for this moment. He crashed on the fourth run with 100 yards to go to the finish, all he had to do to pick up a gold medal. I think this man's here for revenge, Sam. Boy, he looks powerful as he pulls out of those hands. A good start for him, and he's been quick in training. He's had the fastest run in a couple of days, and he's been saving this one up for four years. I expect a really good run out of him. Ernst Haasbinger from northern Italy. He and Paul Hill-Gartner, who had such a good run earlier, virtually neighbors. Haasbinger, a little bit younger, 28 years old, a very determined man as he hits the fifth turn there. The big G-force is pressing into the banking. He looks very good, Sam, very smooth. 21.096 was his split. I think that's the second... That's the fastest. That is the fastest split. That's the fastest by two one-thousandths of a second. Ernst Haasbinger now working the fastest run of the day so far. If you wonder why they have to time this sport to the thousandth of a second, you just see the example of it there. All right, there he is through the finish turn. Ernst Haasbinger, and he has taken the lead. Ernst Haasbinger, unbelievable. The last two riders down the track have both improved on the earlier fast times. Ernst Haasbinger has moved into the lead with a brilliant run. So at the conclusion of the first of four runs in the men's single competition in Luz, in a driving snowstorm here on Mount Trebevich, four men have fought to a virtual tie, less than five one-hundredths of a second, separating the first four places. In first, Ernst Haasbinger of Italy. In second, Torsten Gerlitzer of East Germany. A real surprise there. And in third place, Paul Hilgartner, the Italian veteran. In fourth, Michael Walder, the East German. The American Frank Masley is back in 15th, but encouragingly he's only seven-tenths of a second out of the lead. Three more days of that competition yet to go. Well, you know the old line about the best laid plans of mice and men. I don't know how the mice made out today, but the men have had a tough time. Earlier you saw the power failure at the hockey game, and the men's downhill race was postponed. Report on that, Frank Gifford and Bob Beattie. Frank Gifford and Bob Beattie standing at the finish line. They have canceled today's scheduled downhill. There's wind, there's snow, just about everything you want. Good decision, Bob. Oh, it was definitely the right decision. The snow is not even the major problem. It's snowing lightly, but there's fog up there, and there's about 90-mile-an-hour winds. I'll tell you, every kind of weather in the world has hit this mountain. I tell you, it wasn't even a decision. No one can even get up there. As a matter of fact, they have stopped the chair lifts. The snowcats can't get up there, but before they did, we've got a pretty great cameraman, Gary Danatelli. Sir Edmund Danatelli somehow got up there, and let's take a look at some of the pictures from the top of Vila Schnitzel on a really wild day. As a matter of fact, the only other person we have seen up there through Gary's camera has been this mountain climber who's standing right at the start house. That's where the racers leave to start the downhill, and I'll tell you, it's bad. This is where the racers come in to prepare to move into the starting position, and, Bob, it's almost a whiteout. Well, it really is bad. You know, the thing that's amazing, Frank, is that when we get up in the morning in Sarajevo, I thought it looked pretty good today, and all of a sudden we get right up over the knoll here coming in, and look what we've got. This is amazing. And this is what happens up here, Vila Schnitzel. Again, the wind's reported at 90 miles per hour up on the top. You can see it would be impossible to race today. Well, there are going to be some big drifts on the course, too, with all this wind and snow. And here's our mountain climber again, and that's Gary trying to clear off his lens, and there he is, our hero for the day, Gary Danatelli. Bob, Gary thought working the sidelines on a Monday night football game was tough. Well, he finds out that we're downhill laughing about it. I'll tell you, I'm glad he's up there and we're not. Great guy. Bob, what is this going to do now to the chances for young Bill Johnson tomorrow? This course is going to change dramatically. Well, it could change some with all the new snow, but you know, a few days ago we got about 8 inches of snow, and the 350 soldiers came out, they shoveled all the snow off the course. They're going to do the same thing through the night and tomorrow morning, and I think they'll have it in pretty good shape, and very frankly, I think this really kind of helps his chances because he's good in soft snow. You know, when you realize that the best we've ever done in downhill in the United States is two fifth place finishes in the downhill, I think really that Bill's got a chance to win a medal. You know, he thinks he's going to get a gold medal. I think he knows he's going to get a gold medal. He really is something, but we also know the Europeans are not going to let him run away with it. Let's take a look at some of the competition and see what happens. This is Urs Reber of Switzerland, big, strong veteran of the Swiss team, who is the only double winner thus far on the World Cup downhill circuit, and he leads the World Cup in downhill points. Well, Frank, he's the most consistent downhiller on the circuit right now. He's on it like a fullback on skis. He's big and strong, and the thing that's good about that on this course is it gives him some weight for these flats down here. And Canada presents Steve Podborski. Steve hasn't trained that well here, which is sort of surprising, because this course is made to order for him. He rides a very, very strong, fast ski. And Franz Klammer is literally everyone's favorite. He has 25 downhill victories and will be looking for an unprecedented second downhill gold medal here at Sarajevo. And Frank, earlier in training this week, he broke his favorite pair of skis when he took that really bad fall when he broke his favorite pair of skis when he broke his favorite pair of skis when he broke his favorite pair of skis when he took that really bad fall. The Austrian has been madly testing to find a pair of skis that were as fast as the old ones, but he hasn't found them yet. He's concerned. Another member of the Swiss team, the Piramund Zürbrücken, perhaps the best all-around skier in the competition, hasn't run that much downhill in his brief career, but he seems to get better each time he goes out, Bob. Well, Frank, he's only 21 years old, and I think if you watch his skiing right here, you can see the tremendous feel he has for the snow. He's going to be the bright new star of the future, I'm sure of it. And Todd Brooker from Canada. Todd fell at the Honincom at Kitzbuehl a few weeks ago. He missed the last two downhills, but he's improved with each training run here in Sarajevo. And sometimes those skis of his will fly all over the place, but the one thing that they do do is go straight down the mountain and fast. He's very fast on his skis. He'll be a big threat to you, I think, particularly when this race finally gets to be held. The boy of the Swiss strong, Peter Muller, three times the World Cup downhill champion. This veteran has never won an Olympic or a World Championship medal. Good course for the big Swiss, Bob. Well, last year in the pre-Olympic race, he took a very bad fall on some bumps that have since been taken out. Also, he was sick earlier in the season, but he told me the other day, hey, I feel really good about this downhill, and I'm feeling great physically for the first time in really a long time. He's also going to be a tough one. And again from Austria, Erwin Reisch, second to Rayburn. World Cup downhill points into these Olympics has won once this year, but has been in the top ten in six of eight downhills that they've run this year. Well, you know, in talking to the Austrian coaches, they say that this guy is the strongest man they have on the team. He just trains and trains and trains. And he's going to be particularly strong on the bottom of the courses, where conditioning's important. And our boy Billy Johnson of the United States came from nowhere as far as the Europeans were concerned to win at Fingen. They didn't like it and he didn't care. He certainly doesn't care, because he's fast on his skis, and his results in the training runs really have proven that. He could give the U.S. his first Alpine medal in the downhill. Well, in a minute you're going to meet young Bill Johnson and we'll also re-equate you with Franz Klommer, he of the famous victory in 1976. Could be a Cinderella story in these Olympics. A month or so ago, most people had never even heard the name of Bill Johnson. Now he's an authentic challenger for a possible medal in that men's downhill race, now scheduled for tomorrow morning. He came into our studios this afternoon to look at his training runs, said he had learned something. He watched the training run in our control room with Donna DeVarona. I'm standing here in ABC's Nerve Center, the control room, and with me, a special guest, our best hope for a medal in the men's downhill, Bill Johnson. Welcome. Thank you. We've got monitors behind us, and I know that you'd like to see your last run. Can you take us through it? Sure. Take a look at it. Right here is the start, you come out of the restaurant, a couple good pushes, and then a hard left-hander, then hit a hard right-hander here, then get in your tuck and try to get as much speed for this, you've got a steep pitch coming up. So, and then there's a little bump here, take a little bit of air, get back down in your tuck, then you come by the midway station, this is about a 15-20 second flat right here, so you really got to hold your position. And this is the tough part of the course coming up here. I've been having trouble getting through this section without losing time. I think this run I take, I go out really wide here, and lose probably about a second there. Is that the scariest part of the course for you? Yeah, probably the most technical and scary, I'd say. And then you come down here on a couple turns on the flats, and then right down here is where I've been winning most of the races of the week, or doing well in training anyway. I've been way in front down this bottom section, just letting the skis roll pretty much right now. A little bump here, and then you come down, and you think about the two finish bumps which are coming up, and try to hold your tuck as long as you can into them, and then break it right at the last moment. And then hopefully you don't take too much air right back in your tuck, and then prepare for the next jump. Get out of position a little bit, and then just tuck it to the finish. How about that new snow? You mentioned that you knew how to ski the new snow. What does that mean? Well, in the new snow, there's going to be a lot of loose stuff on the course sometimes. So, you just have to be careful of the new snow, and hope that your foot doesn't get caught in the rut or something, otherwise it could take your ski right away from you, and then you'd certainly crash. Well, if the conditions are right tomorrow, if the sun's out, there's going to be new snow. How are you dealing with that? Right now, I think the weather conditions, the reports say that it's going to be the same as today. Right now, I think it's snowing out there, so the army will be out there early in the morning trying to get rid of all the new snow, so the course will be in good shape tomorrow, I think. Bill, coming into this Olympic competition, you've brought a lot of momentum with you. You were the first American man to ever win a World Cup downhill, and then in the training you've had the best overall performance, and now it's a weight. How do you deal with that? Well, I try to keep it toned down. I try to not create so much pressure on myself. I try to go into each race and prepare myself the same, as if this were only a divisional race, I'd prepare the same way, because you have to have the same concentration level. You've been saying it's just another race. Do you really feel that way? You know, that's the way I have to go into it. Well, good luck. Thank you. A bit later in the day, we caught up with the well-remembered victor of Innsbruck, Franz Klommer. Fabiatti caught him at Austria House. Franz, we're sitting in the Austrian House, and of course this was supposed to be the night after the downhill, so everybody is having a good time anyway, but let me ask you what does a delay mean to you? Is that going to be a problem? It's not really a problem, I think it's not good. I prepared myself, my body and my mind for this day, and now we have a delay, so I have to prepare myself tomorrow again, and hopefully it's the race tomorrow. Of course, being from the United States, there's a lot of interest in Bill Johnson. He's been doing very well in training here. What do you think about his chances? Oh, I think he's one of the biggest favorites, but if he wants to win, he has to ski very well. But he has really a good chance to do it. What's the most difficult part? The most difficult part is the ass right after the middle stage. There was a rumor in the newspaper before we came over to Europe this year that maybe you and Johnson had had some problems. Do you have any problem with him? No, I never had a problem with Johnson, but his ski well, he's one of the best glider in the world, what I have ever seen. He has to learn something in the turns, and then he will be one of the best in the world. Now let me ask you, you had a fall the other day and you broke your ski. Has that been a problem? Have you been able to find another fast pair? It's a little problem, but we tested a lot of skis every day, and fortunately we find a good pair. Hopefully it's a really good one. Well, Franz, I never thought I'd be sitting at the Austrian house with the Umpau band in the background and everybody drinking a lot of wine the night before a downhill. Let's hope we're here for a celebration with you. Good luck tomorrow. Thank you very much. Franz Klammer, the oldest skier on the World Cup circuit at the age of 30, but a real challenger in that downhill race tomorrow. Coming up, a remarkable performance in women's speed skating. Right now, an ABC business brief, followed by a word from your local station. This is the facility called Zetra in Sarajevo, the ice arena and speed skating oval, all part of one unit. Very well done. Located near the center of the city. Seating capacity about 5,000 and skaters call it a fast track. Hello, everybody. I'm Keith Jackson. In 1980, at Lake Placid, the personality, the dramatist persona was one Eric Heiden, with that remarkable performance in winning five gold medals. In 1984, here in Sarajevo, the most dramatic personality could well be Karen Enke of East Germany. She could win all four gold medals available to the women. There's something that goes with that, and let's discuss it with the man who took five gold medals home with him at Lake Placid, Eric Heiden, who is our expert commentator and analyst. Eric, tell me, what happens when you come to the Olympics, which is enough pressure under itself, but you come and you're expected to win everything? Well, there's a lot of expectations, not only from the public, but from the press. The nice thing with Enke is that she's been the world champion at both the sprints and the all-arounds for the past few years, and she comes out here with the confidence because she knows she has the ability to beat everyone, and having that confidence is a big plus. The thing is, being in the Olympics may be a little bit more burdensome with the pressure, but I think she can handle it. The women's 1500 meters, the opening speed skating event, three and three-quarter times around the 400 meter oval. The lanes are four meters wide. The world record for this distance, 20404 Nachalya Petrosheva of the Soviet Union. The Olympic record is 21095 Annie Borkink Holland set it in Lake Placid, 1980. Now a look at the current world record holder for 1500 meters for women, Natalya Petrosheva, Soviet Union. Ivan Funginip-Holland in the dark suit, 20 years of age. Petrosheva starting on the inner lane. And we get a good start. I should point out here and emphasize the fact though we have two skaters on the ice, they are not racing each other, they are simply fighting the clock, going as fast as they can for 1500 meters. The key to Olympic style skating is that you really, you do want to beat your pair but you also want to post the fastest possible time that you can skate and then take your skates off and you let everybody take a shot at that time. But once you get in front of your pair then you just forget about it. Well the key to Olympic style skating is that you really don't ever want to pay attention to your pair. You want to know what your abilities are and that's what's important about a 1500 meters. You want to go out there, you and your coach decide what kind of pace you can set for yourself. Natalia Petrusova, well out in front now of the young woman from Holland, Petrusova, 28 years of age, married, a seven year old son. Now we have seen middle distance and distance runners in track, for example, get stronger and stronger as they get up to that 28, 29, 30 age bracket. What about speed skating? Is that likely to happen? Well, the Europeans in general are a lot older than the Americans. You see a lot of the good long distance European skaters in the upper 20s but the sprinters are generally in their lower 20s. Now we're coming toward the 1100 meter split and that's going to tell us a lot about the pace of Natalia Petrusova because once you go into that final lap, once you heard the bell ring behind you, you really have to reach inside yourself and dig because now you're starting to hurt some. Petrusova still holding her form quite well. Her 1100 meter split was 130.89 that puts her on a 203 which what Schirner was on and Schirner was really at a disadvantage because she was the first pair out there and now everybody knows that the ice is fast and Petrusova is really shooting for that time. The time to beat is 205.29 set by Andrea Schirner of East Germany. That is a new Olympic record and it's in sight of Natalia Petrusova now as she turns down toward the finish line. Watch the time tick away at the bottom of your picture, 205.29 the time to beat. Didn't do it, 205.78 for Natalia Petrusova. The second fastest time posted so far. Watch Petrusova's arm swing. When it comes up in front of her, it raises way above her head and that'll obstruct her vision plus it's also a wasted effort. You want that arm to reach out in front of you and to really pull you down the straightaway. 205.78 for her, meantime the great Karen Enke, getting ready for her race. Let's go back to 1980 and remember a tough moment for Eric Hyden in the 1500. Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music But he held his composure and stormed to this finish. The bell the bell 124.11 the 1100 meter slip. Let's watch it again. That's it! A surge of encouragement from his coach Diane Hollow. As Eric Hyden is on the inner plane. Coming down off the final turn. Slip there a moment ago. This time he handles it very well. Here's the drive. Watch the time. Well, you can see it. He just missed his world record. Despite the slip in the turn Eric Hyden puts a 155.44 on top of the board. Music Music Music Music Music The world knows that Eric Hyden won five gold medals in 1980 at Lake Placid. That young woman on the left, Karen Anka, East Germany, trying to win four gold medals in 1984. Women only raced four times. Her pair Annette Carlin, Stockholm, Sweden. What's the power of Karen Anka of East Germany? As she thunders off the line. Drives it all the way into the turn and through the turn before she really sets up her gliding stride, Eric. Well, Karen Anka knows how important the first 300 meters is. You can see both arms down until she hit that home stretch. Now she's starting to settle back. She's going to relax this next lap. Pushing hard the entire time. But holding back a little bit because a 1500 meters is a race where you can't sprint the entire time. 26.35 for 300 meters. That's far and away the fastest so far of the day. December of last year, Karen Anka turned in a two minute, 0-3-4-0 second time for 1500. That is the fastest ever, but it has not been certified, as yet at least, as a world record. Like Shuna, Anka's arm, again, is off her back. And that's a really, that's a waste of effort. She should have it sitting on a smaller back and be relaxed. She tightens up and that's nothing. That's what you do not want at 1500 meters. At 700 meters, she is quite a bit faster than anybody else today at 57.10. The time to beat posted by Anders Shuna of East Germany. Two minutes, 5.29 205.29 the best time so far. That's the gold medal time. She's tentatively on a 2-0-3 schedule which Petra Sheva and Shuna have been on. We'll have to see whether she can hold it through the 1100 meters in the last lap. Anka the 1984 all-around champion at the Worlds. Look at that 1100 meter time. Far and away the fastest so far today. Right now, that puts her on a 2-0-2 which is way below the world record. Can she maintain the pace? Can she hold her form? 205.29 Andrew Shuna's earlier new Olympic record. The time to beat the world record. 2-0-4-0-4 held by Natalia Petra Sheva. She's closing in on it. She's got it! She nailed it! With the strongest finish we have seen all day. New world record 1500 meters 2-0-3-4-2. A sterling performance by Anka. Everybody knew that the ice was fast, but I don't think anybody thought it was this fast. And despite Anka's flaw in her having her left arm dangle off to the side as she does, she shows what kind of strength she has. Here a little bit tired, starting to come up a little bit, an upper body bobbling but she just powers her way in to a new world record in the 1500 meters. 2-0-3-4-2 Listen to this. That's seven and a half seconds under the old Olympic record. Here are your final standings then for the medals. Karen Anka wins the gold, East Germany. Andrea Shuna wins the silver, East Germany. Natalia Petra Sheva, Soviet Union, makes the bronze. New world record for Karen Anka. The Americans married Dr. 14th, Jen Goldman 17th.