The Trouble with Being No. 1

When the International Ski Federation issued its seedings for 1968, France's Jean-Claude Killy, 24, became the first skier in history to rank No. 1 in all three categories: slalom, giant slalom and downhill. Deservedly so. Last year the son of a Val d'Isere innkeeper won an astonishing 27 out of 32 events to make a shambles of competition for the World Cup.

In this Olympic year, with everyone giving it an extra push, that triple first ranking puts triple pressure on Jean-Claude. In the season's first big race at Val d'Isere, Killy came in fourth behind Austria's Gerhard Nenning, another Frenchman and another Austrian. In the second big meet at Hindelang, he placed second in the two slaloms, both of which were won by Switzerland's unheralded Edmund Bruggmann. At apres-ski parties, the buzz began: was something wrong with Killy? The answer from the French: don't be silly.

The one thing all France wants is Olympic victory this February, particularly on its home turf at Grenoble. Killy is happy, healthy and wise enough to know that the warmups are just that. Wait. And so last week in the second half of the giant slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, Killy roared out of the start and flashed down the 1,800-meter course, carving and skating through the 60 gates to finish in 1 min. 34.1 sec., a good 1.5 sec. ahead of his closest pursuer and enough to give him his first major win of the year. KILLY'S REVENGE headlined the papers. "I went all out," admitted Jean-Claude. "I wanted to show that I was better than ever."

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