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The Olympic drama unfolds
Deseret News editorial
After a rousing Opening Ceremonies, the focus of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games is where it belongs — on the athletes.
The athletes are the ones who write the history of the Games with their skis, skates, sleds and courage.
If the first two days of competition are an indication of what's to come, the Salt Lake Games will have a rich historical legacy.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the Games thus far is the performance of U.S. speedskater Derek Parra. Parra, one of the favorites in the 1,500 meter speedskating event, was supposed to be just an afterthought in the 5,000, where he is only ranked 15th in the world. Surely, he would be no match for the Dutch, who dominate the 5,000.
And while the Netherlands' Jochem Uytdehaage won the gold medal in world-record time, Parra not only beat the other Dutch skaters but everybody else to secure the silver medal. He even briefly held the world record, which Uytdehaage later broke.
What added to Parra's feat were the circumstances surrounding his training. A new father, Parra has been training in Utah while his wife and child are at home in Orlando, Fla. Parra works at Home Depot to make ends meet. He traveled to Florida to see his daughter born.
The strain of the traveling and the emotions surrounding his family situation made it difficult for him to concentrate during December's Olympic trials. Parra missed a chance to compete in the 1,000 meters but did qualify for the 1,500 and 5,000.
The announcers didn't give him much of a chance Saturday, saying instead it would be a good warm-up for the 1,500 later in the Games. Some warm-up. All Parra did was secure the first medal for the United States in the 5,000 since Eric Heiden won the gold in 1980.
Sunday produced other surprises, the biggest likely being Switzerland's Simon Ammann winning the gold medal in the 90-meter ski jump. A long shot to medal, Ammann, 20, clinched gold by soaring 323 feet (98.5 meters) on the final jump of the competition.
What made his victory over favorites Sven Hannawald of Germany and Adam Malysz of Poland, who took the silver and bronze medals, respectively, even more remarkable is that Ammann missed several weeks of the World Cup season after suffering injuries to his back and head during training in December.
It was Switzerland's first ski jumping medal since 1972 and its first-ever gold.
The competition is so fierce that in some instances just qualifying for the team is more difficult than winning a medal.
Consider the case of Hannes Trinkl, last year's downhill World Champion and 1998 Olympic bronze medalist. The Austrians are so strong that 10 skiers participated in practice runs Saturday on Snowbasin's Grizzly course to determine who would get the four spots for Sunday's final. Despite his pedigree, Trinkl didn't make the team.
The Austrians showed why they are the masters of alpine skiing as Fritz Strobl upset teammate Stephan Eberharter to win the gold with Eberharter getting the bronze. And Austria was without the renowned Hermann Maier, who is not competing because of injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident.
That's the drama of just the first two days. So much more remains.
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February 11, 2002
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