Stealing the Show in Innsbruck

For spectators, the In spots at Innsbruck last week were Mittermaier Mountain and Hamill Hall. At least that is what Winter Olympic officials might as well have called the sites where West German Skier Rosi Mittermaier and American Figure Skater Dorothy Hamill performed. Mittermaier Mountain was the steep slope of Axamer Lizum, where tens of thousands of Germans and Austrians chanted, "Rosi, Ro-si," every time their daredevil streaked by, which she did fast enough and often enough to win three medals: two gold and one silver. Hamill Hall was the Olympic Stadium, where seemingly every American in Austria turned out to cheer as their figure-skating favorite swept over the ice in flawless form to win a gold medal. By the time the two women were done, they had stolen the show at the 12th Winter Games.

Furious Clip. That was no small feat, given the diversity of action as the Olympics wound up. Ski races were going off moments after speed-skating contests ended, and hockey games followed each other at a furious clip. Traffic jams congealed around the competition sites, and some fans retreated to their hotels to watch the Games on TV. At night, hotel bars became the scene of pick-up Olympics. "This is mad," said one American girl at the Holiday Inn. "I might as well have stayed at a singles bar in New York."

For U.S. fans, the week's first surprise came on a twisting, plunging course in the snow bowl at Lizum, outside Innsbruck. When she started down the course, American Skier Cindy Nelson, 20, was not sure exactly what route to take: earlier, one of her coaches had unintentionally given her the wrong line to follow, and she had completed only three of nine practice runs. Even as she hurtled down the slope, Cindy was slightly off course. "When I saw my time," said the Lutsen, Minn., native, "I thought, 'Hell, that's a fifth.' " In fact, it turned out to be a third, giving the U.S. another skiing medal to go with Bill Koch's cross-country silver finish the week before.

On the ice, the U.S. fared considerably better. Skating a hard, high-spirited program with gusto, Colleen O'Connor, 24, and Jim Millns, 27, won a bronze medal in ice dancing. In speed skating, a University of Wisconsin music student, Dan Immerfall, 20, picking up where Sheila Young had left off the week before, won an unexpected bronze in the 500-meter sprint.

The American speed skating sensation of the week, though, was lanky Peter Mueller. Taking advantage of being among the first to race on a track that became progressively slower in a rising wind, Mueller churned through the 1,000-meter showdown more than a second faster than his closest pursuer--an overwhelming margin of victory in a race where finishers are clustered within hundredths of a second. For Mueller, 21, fiance of the 1,500-meter silver medalist Leah Poulos, the victory was the payoff for 15 years of gruelling training. "He's crazy about this sport," says Poulos. "Peter can never stop working. He just can't be bad at anything he does." Says Mueller simply: "I just love to go fast."

Gutsy Play. The young (average age: 21) U.S. hockey team, meanwhile, was putting on an inspiring show of gutsy, spirited play, becoming favorites of the fans as they constantly hugged and slapped each other in encouragement. By winning one hair-raising game against Finland, the team thought it had a solid chance for a bronze medal. But, at week's end, a loss to West Germany ended that hope.

There were plenty of medals to go around. In the men's giant slalom, Switzerland preserved its skiing pride with a gold and silver from Heini Hemmi, 27, and Ernst Good, 26. The Canadians picked up a surprising gold medal when Kathy Kreiner, 18, won the women's giant slalom. Britain won its only medal in figure skating--but it was an elegant one. Transforming Olympic Stadium into a stage for his lyrical ballet on ice, John Curry, 26, won the men's figure-skating title with as smooth and expressive a free-style exhibition as any Olympics has seen.

The Russians as usual came away with the lion's share of the winter medals. They picked up a host of prizes in speed skating, where Evgeni Kulikov, 25, and Valeri Muratov, 29, finished one-two in the 500. The Russian hockey machine, as expected, finished first.

Representing a nation of fewer than 17 million citizens, the East German team placed second to the Russians in total medals. The only sport in which they had no impact was alpine skiing. "Contrary to what one sometimes reads in the West," explained one East German official, "we don't shoot our athletes at dawn if they fail to win. Socialism is identical with competition." What he meant was that in East Germany, sport is a political device to gain prestige abroad and keep up national morale. Highly organized programs identify promising athletes at an early age. And East Germany's training facilities are among the most elaborate and modern in the world. The years of discipline can produce less than spontaneous athletes. Asked to what she attributed her gold medal in single luge, Margit Schumann, 23, replied, "I am a lieutenant of the people's army."

By contrast, West Germany's Rosi Mittermaier, 25, was irrepressibly herself, a born crowd pleaser with her infectious smile and constant giggles. In her first race, the downhill, she was expected to win nothing but came in at lightning speed for her first victory ever in a downhill. Three days later, in the slalom, she cut around the gate with surgical precision on courses so icy that only 19 of 42 starters finished both runs. Said Mittermaier: "I thought the tracks were just beautiful." After the race, she needed an escort of 20 policemen to get her through the crowd. The crush was even worse when she won a silver in the giant slalom.

First Victory. Before the curtain came down on the Rosi show, Dorothy Hamill, 19, opened to rave reviews back in Innsbruck. Her undoing in previous world competitions had always been the compulsory figures. In Innsbruck, though, Dorothy mastered the formal circles and finished second, ahead of her arch rival, Diane de Leeuw, 20. The reason: six months ago her coach Carlo Fassi, who also guided John Curry to victory (see box), reluctantly decided his own design of blades did not suit Dorothy and switched her to a flatter blade.

Her performance in the short program was joyous and technically impeccable, moving her into first place. Squinting nearsightedly up at the scoreboard, she could hardly believe the gold was now within reach. "It's strange. It's strange. It might really happen. I might win." Two days later, Hamill did indeed win before a packed, cheering stadium. The event was Innsbruck's hottest ticket, with some going for $50 and more. Seemingly nerveless, Dorothy gave the kind of performance that marks her distinctive style: she rushed brightly through the air in long, effortless leaps and then spun endlessly, it seemed, on a still point. When the music stopped, a cascade of flowers rained down on the ice; she hugged her coach and squinted again at the near perfect score. Afterward, in her dressing room, she exclaimed: "I didn't really bomb out on anything. That's a first for me!"

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