DON’T EXPECT A REPEAT OF THE 1980 cold-war nail-biter, but the Games should be good. Russia is the morning line favorite. The U.S. squad has no NHL stars; it’s fast, though, and primed with several former Olympians. In pre-playoff games, Team U.S.A. meets two other medal contenders, Canada (THURS., FEB. 17) and Sweden (SAT., FEB. 19). The championship, which may include the Czech team, is on SUN., FEB. 27.
WITH A WORLD Cup tour win behind them, the Americans, led by Brian Shimer, could finish first in the four-man event on SUN., FEB. 27. Though the Swiss sled, driven by the incomparable Gustav Weder, will probably come out on top in the two-man race on SUN., FEB. 20, don’t rule out a medal for driver Shimer and brakeman Randy Jones. Americans appear to have an extra edge with their new sled, designed by racing-car expert Geoff Bodine. Says Shimer, comparing it with the old model, “It’s like the difference between a Yugo and a Porsche.”
THE NEWEST, MOST DRAMATIC (read: insane) Olympic diversion has two divisions. In the aerials (THURS., FEB. 24), skiers shoot off a ramp, flying as high as 60 feet into the air, twisting, flipping and somersaulting. Minnesota’s Trace Worthington should outsoar Canadian Philippe LaRoche for the first gold ever – this used to be a demonstration sport. In the moguls ED., FEB. 16 , skiers tear down a slope of megabumps. A knee injury may mean that American Donna Weinbrecht will lose her Olympic title to Norway’s Stine Lise Hattestad.
IF 10 EVENTS – WOMEN’S AND MEN’S downhill, slalom, giant slalom, combined (one downhill plus two slaloms) and super G (downhill meets giant slalom) – leave you breathless, not to say befuddled, relax. CBS is providing several former Olympians, including Billy Kidd (silver medalist, 1964) and Andy Mill (a.k.a. Mr. Chris Evert), to explain it all to you. A homegrown talent, Norway’s Kjetil Andre Aamodt, could be a multiple medalist. in the slalom on SUN., FEB. 27, he’ll face Italy’s Alberto Tomba, who is immodestly eying his fourth gold, and two-time silver medalist Marc Girardelli, once known as the skier without a country (born in Austria, lived in Switzerland, now a citizen of Luxembourg). On SAT., FEB. 19, Picabo (“Shiny Waters”) Street hopes to become the first American woman to win the downhill.
FORGET DEATH-DEFYING AERIAL skiing. What you’re really dying to see is something suddenly more risky: figure skating. Among the men on SAT., FEB. 19, watch out for Elvis, whose coach calls the music he uses “shock.” But this one (last name, Stojko) is Canadian, as is another favorite, Kurt Browning. Ukrainian Viktor Petrenko will defend his title; American Brian Boitano (1988 champ) wants it back. You probably won’t remember who wins the pairs on TUES., FEB. 15, but they’ll probably be Russian. The big news in ice dancing on MON., FEB. 21, is the return of Britain’s Torvill and Dean, a bit grizzled but just as irresistible as they were when they sizzled in 1984. Oh yes, the women. You know who they are. Finals: FRI., FEB. 25.
YOU TRAVEL SO FAST (75 MILES AN hour) down the chute that if you flip over, bits of your skintight suit may burn off. On MON., FEB. 14, world champion Wendel Suckow, an American, goes for the men’s gold. (Teammate Duncan Kennedy is also a contender.) Women fly on WED., FEB. 16; top seed is Italy’s Gerda Weissensteiner. The two man event (FRI., FEB. 18) has gone P.C.: the sled can now be coed.
TEN YEARS AGO, EVERYONE IN THIS men – only event kept his skis parallel on takeoff. Now, to travel farther, they all put them in a V formation. So much for high tech. jumpers soar from a “large” (120 meters) hill (SUN., FEB. 20) or a " normal" (90 meters) one – a purely relative term (FRI., FEB. 25). Athletes from Norway (where they’re children’s heroes), Austria and Japan should take the medals.
WEEKDAYS, CBS BROADCASTS THE Games in the morning and prime time, and all day on weekends. TNT runs them on weekday afternoons.
