Bill Koch wins 30km classic silver at Innsbruck in 1974. courtesy of Marty Hall

North America is no stranger to the Olympics, as Vancouver 2010 will be the third time Canada is hosting the Games, with the first being the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Que., followed by the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alta.

The U.S.A. has waved the Olympic banner many more times, including the Summer Games way back in 1904 in St. Louis, Mo., then in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1932 and 1984, followed by Atlanta, Ga. in 1996. The Winter Games were first hosted in the U.S.A. in 1932 in Lake Placid, N.Y., followed by Squaw Valley, Calif. in 1960, then back to Lake Placid in 1980, and most recently at Salt Lake City, Utah in 2002.

The modern-day Olympic Games began in 1896, patterned after the ancient Grecian contests. The Summer and Winter Olympics were held during the same year, up to and including 1992, when they alternated every two years. The next Winter Olympics was held two years later in 1994, with the Summer Games moving to 1996.

The North American Olympic medal charge began with the U.S.’s Bill Koch stunning silver in the men’s 30km classic at the Innsbruck Games in 1974. Koch’s performance put North America on the Nordic map and marked the beginning of the U.S. and Canada’s later prowess on an international playing field dominated by the Europeans and the Russians.

North America’s first medal at the Winter Games was actually a bronze in ski jumping in 1924 at the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, France. Norwegian immigrant Anders Haugen from Lake Tahoe came fourth, but in 1974, a full 50 years later, historian Jakob Vaage uncovered an error in the scoring calculations while preparing for a reunion of the Norwegian medalists. America’s Haugen should have been third, and in an unprecedented move, the bronze medal of Norwegian Thorleif Haug, then deceased, was presented to the 85-year-old Haugen.

But Canada and the U.S. were shut out of the Nordic medals until 1994 in Lillehammer, when Canada’s star biathlete Myriam Bedard scored two golds, bringing the country to its feet.

The 2002 Games in Salt Lake City saw gold shine again for North America as Canada’s darling, Nordic skier Beckie Scott, first won the bronze in the pursuit, but was later awarded the silver and finally the gold as the two Russian skiers ahead of her were disqualified on doping charges. This was the beginning of the huge outcry against doping led by Scott and other athletes as the sport began to add teeth to otherwise lame attempts to regulate doping in Nordic skiing and all sports.

More Olympic hardware came home to Canada at the Torino Games in 2006 as neo-pro Chandra Crawford from Alberta surprised everyone with her sprint gold, proving once again that the top step on the podium was attainable. Scott and Sara Renner added to the thunder of applause with team sprint silver.

Both Canada and the U.S. have strong teams coming into Vancouver 2010, and hope to keep the medal tradition alive.

2010 U.S.-Canada Olympic Snapshot

• Anders Haugen – Bronze in ski jumping at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, France
• Bill Koch – Silver in 30km classic at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbrook, Austria
• Myriam Bedard – Bronze in biathlon at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France; 2 Golds in biathlon at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway
• Beckie Scott – Bronze to Silver to Gold in 10km pursuit at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, U.S.A.; Silver in team sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy
• Sara Renner – Silver in team sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy; Bronze in the 2005 Nordic World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany
• Chandra Crawford – Gold in sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy
• Kikkan Randall – 9th in sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy; Silver in sprint at the 2009 Nordic World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic
• Todd Lodwick – 8th in 15km and 9th in sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy; 2 Golds in Nordic combined at 2009 Nordic World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic
• Bill Demong – Gold and bronze in Nordic combined at the 2009 Nordic World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic; Silver in Nordic combined at the 2007 Nordic World Championships in Sapporo, Japan
• Johhny Spillane – Gold in Nordic combined at the 2003 Nordic World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy
• Jay Hakkinen – 10th in 20km biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy
• Sarah Konrad – First U.S. woman to compete in both cross-country and biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy

Games Retrospective

by Bob Woodward
Looking back at the most recent Winter Games held in North America, each left its own unique impression.

Lake Placid 1980
It seemed small-town Lake Placid, despite offering a unique intimacy, wasn’t ready to host the world. Within days of the Games beginning, the lead item on every American and Canadian television news show was how bad things were in Lake Placid.

While the U.S. and Canada did not perform well despite tremendous results at the ’76 Games in Austria, the racing at Placid was superb.

The closest individual race ever turned out to be the men’s 15km. Norwegian powerhouse Ove Aunli arrived first with a time that looked unbeatable. Then the giant Finn Juha Mieto bested Aunli’s time by several seconds, looking like he’d finally get to take home the elusive gold for his collection. But Sweden’s Thomas Wassberg, the king of the 15km, skied fanatically to win by 1/100th of second. Or as a Swedish journalist put it the next day, “He won by the length of his nose.”

I’ll never forget Mieto’s reaction at seeing Wassberg’s time. His face fell, he turned away, hunched over, visibly shaken, then quickly straightened up and went to congratulate Wassberg.

Juha Mieto (l) and Nickolai Zimjatov Bob Woodward

As usual, the Soviet team was very good and the best of them was Nickolai Zimjatov. He opened the Games with a disappointing fourth-place finish in the 15km, only to rally and win the 30 and 50km. In the 50km, it was close racing and Mieto was the man who got nosed out of the gold again.

On the women’s side, the most startling result was the relay win by the East German team over the highly favoured Soviets and very good Norwegians.

The biggest biathlon story was that of Alexander Tichanov winning his fourth gold medal in as many Games.

Calgary 1988
Whoever decided to make the Calgary Games fun should be given a medal. The post-race parties at the beer tent started small in the start-finish area at the Canmore cross-country venue, but by Day Three, things were hopping.

Doping, which was mostly a behind-the-scenes issue, became front and centre with media at these Games as the success of the Iron Curtain countries’ athletes was constantly scrutinized and questioned.

I recall Pierre Harvey in his fringed Western-motif Canadian team jacket coming in to meet his father at the tent and being mobbed by fans.

The party spirit infected all. After the men’s 15km, we came on a group of Soviet coaches huddled by the banks of the Bow River swilling vodka. As we drew near, one coach peeled down to his briefs and leapt into the river.

It turned out that he’d bet that if the racer he coached won a medal, he take a dip in the Bow. His boy won, and, medal and all, in he went.

Swedish royalty were also there to see Gunde Svan break through for his first individual gold medal in the 50km. And to make the king and queen even happier, the Swedish men won the relay.

For the women, the biggest story was the 5km gold and 10km bronze going to the bubbly Finn with the brilliant smile Marjo Matkainen.
Over at the magnificent biathlon venue, East German Frank-Peter Roetsch won both the 10 and 20km individual races and picked up a bronze in the relay.

Salt Lake City 2002
The Soldier Hollow venue outside Salt Lake City for the 2002 cross-country event was the most spectator-friendly venue I’ve ever seen.

Add friendly volunteers, a flawless venue and race management and brilliant sunny, yet cold weather for almost the entire Games and you have the recipe for success. Success despite the spectre of doping that hung over the cross-country events.

The first race was the women’s mass-start 15km freestyle, and just when it looked like Italy’s Stefania Belmondo would skate away, she broke a pole. With a new pole from a spectator, she made a super-heroic effort to bridge back for the win.

Next up was the men’s 30km freestyle mass-start race where Spain’s (by way of Germany) Johann Muehlegg already had an impressive lead, and some joked that he may even lap the field. Muehlegg took the gold in total domination of the race, sparking rumours of doping.

When the great Norwegian skier Bjorn Daehlie was asked about Muehlegg’s performance, he replied, “It was impressive, but I think he must have had some assistance.” Later, Muehlegg would be stripped of his 30km freestyle and his 50km classic gold medals.

Doping reared its head again in the women’s events, allowing Canada’s Becky Scott to eventually claim her rightful gold medal in the women’s 10km pursuit event, after lengthy protests and litigation.

While it’s sad that she was cheated out of her deserved moment of supreme glory on the podium in Salt Lake’s Olympic Plaza at the medal ceremony, there’s a happy ending with her eventually getting recognition as the winner.

Finally, there’s my favourite quote of the Games from a local farmer who had wandered over to Soldier Hollow to see what was going on. “Boy,” he said, “those cross-country skiers are about as fit as they come, aren’t they.”
On to Vancouver.