Balanced Blur

The toughest competitor in the world's ski championship at Bad Gastein, Austria last week was the steep ski track itself. It was an accomplishment for the racers who skidded into the giant slalom course across the face of Graukogel Mountain merely to finish without falling. French Ace Charles Bozon careened out of control, collided with a gate pole and soared into a spectacular 25-yd. somersault. He was taken to a Salzburg hospital with a dislocated neck. Colorado's surprising Bud Werner (TIME, Feb. 3) hit a bump and teetered wildly. By the time he regained his balance, he was slowed down to fifth, out of the running for the combined Alpine title (slalom, giant slalom and downhill).

But while other skiers sprayed themselves across the Graukogel, Austria's defending champion, Toni Sailer (TIME, Feb. 4, 1957), leaned into the zigzag, 58-gate course and picked up speed all the way to the finish. He was clocked in 1:48.8, which gave him an almost incredible lead of four seconds over his teammate, Josl Rieder. Just two days before, Rieder had edged ahead of Sailer in the slalom. But then, on a slick, icy track, little (132 Ibs.) Josl had a large advantage over 173-lb. Toni. On the giant slalom, the onetime journeyman plumber who had almost beaten the Russians singlehanded at the Cortina Olympics, had every ounce working for him. His steel-spring frame was a well-balanced blur as he swept through gate after gate as economically as an All-American halfback loose in an open field.

After that, the downhill race at week's end was little more than a formality. But after Sailer schussed home first on the sloppy course and made his Alpine championship secure, Bud Werner turned the competition into an American catastrophe. Forgetting all his carefully acquired caution, Bud gambled on a long, time-gaining jump and lost. He landed all askew and cartwheeled down the slope for nearly 75 yards. He finished far back, balancing ignominiously on one ski. Tom Corcoran,

U.S. No. 2 man, also took a tumble and finished on one ski. As he left the course, the flicker of red long Johns through his split ski pants signaled his team's final indignity.

When the women shoved off down the dangerous course, spectators found themselves cheering for still another invader who had learned to ski far from the Alps. Compact (5 ft. 4 in., 122 Ibs.) Lucile Wheeler from St. Jovite, Que. tucked her blonde hair into a white crash helmet and rocketed through the 1 1/2-mile downhill race in the record-breaking time of 2:12.1. Whipping up to almost 60 m.p.h. on a bumpy trail softened by rising temperatures, Skier Wheeler, 23, just managed to keep control as she shot through the final schuss. But she hung on to become the first Canadian ever to win a world ski championship. Two days later, the course still melting, Lucile raced through a spectacular giant slalom to win her second gold medal. Even though she had finished only 14th in the slalom, her fine performance moved her up to second in the combined Alpine competition, close behind Switzerland's Frieda Daenzer.

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