| When the Team USA sledge hockey
squad made its first Paralympic appearance on the ice at Nagano
four years ago, its spirit was brave but results were predictably
disappointing against far more experienced European teams.
Coming into the Salt Lake competition, Team USA was seeded
sixth - last in a field that expected no threat from that
quarter. However, to the surprise of many - but not themselves
-- the host country underdogs bested five rivals in six games
- defeating Norway twice.
When the ice chips settled, U.S. final scores were Canada
(5-1), Norway (2-1), Sweden (6-0), Japan (3-0), Estonia (6-1),
and the final game against defending champion Norway (3-2).
The gold medalists were coached by Rick Middleton, a Canadian
who played in the National Hockey League for 14 years. Their
leading scorer was Chicago's Sylvester Flis, a native Pole
who achieved his U.S. citizenship less than a year ago. Sharing
his victory were teammates David Conklin, Manuel Guerra Jr.,
Dan Henderson, Joe Howard, and Kip St. Germaine - all veterans
of the Nagano games in which Flis wasn't eligible due to his
non-citizen status back then.
Another U.S. veteran was Sarah Will, who hails from Vail,
Colo., and, at 36, was the oldest woman on the U.S. squad.
The intrepid mono-skier swept first place in all four Alpine
women's categories, winning gold in the downhill, slalom,
Super-G and giant slalom. Will, who was paralyzed below the
waist in a 1988 ski accident, made history by becoming the
first women's mono-skier to win all four disciplines in a
Paralympics.
U.S. women Alpine skiers set a new standard for excellence
with what is believed to be an unprecedented feat - four straight
sweeps. The Americans won all three medals - gold, silver
and bronze - in the downhill, Super-G (mono and LW2), and
giant slalom races. The gold medalist in every case was Will.
Though she also won the slalom event, second and third place
finishers were from Sweden and Japan, respectively. The U.S.
amputee women, led by Sarah Billmeier, swept the LW2 class
of the Super-G.
Kudos also go to sit-skier Candace Cable, a multiple medalist
in both wheelchair marathons and snow skiing contests, who
was recruited for the U.S. Nordic Team because of her strength
and endurance. She finished fourth in the 5K cross-country,
only 1:36 behind powerhouse Ragnhild Myklebust. Cable is also
literally a good sport. Entered in the nordic biathlon, a
competition that melds cross-country skiing with shooting,
Cable finished in eighth place. Her time of 42 minutes, 26
seconds covering the 7.5 km course included a 7-minute penalty
for missing seven of the 10 prescribed rifle targets. A confessed
non-Annie Oakley, Cable neither owns a rifle nor has much
opportunity for shooting practice.
Cable's adversary, Myklebust, announced her retirement as
a competitive sit-skier at the conclusion of the women's Long
Distance cross-country race on Friday, Mar. 15, which she
won. That victory brought the Norwegian star's career Paralympic
medal count to 18 - 17 golds and one bronze. Myklebust, a
survivor of childhood polio, won every sit-ski race contested
on Salt Lake City's Soldier Hollow course, including her final
event, in which her gold medal time was 33 minutes, 43 seconds.
She retires as the most successful athlete in Winter Paralympic
history.
U.S. Men's Nordic Team member Steve Cook (LW4) did his Salt
Lake City hometown proud by capturing a silver in the standing
division of the 10km freestyle, missing gold by only 14 seconds.
He also was an integral part of the men's relay team that
captured the first Paralympic cross-country medal ever won
by the U.S. Aided by Bob Balk (LW12) and Willie Stewart (LW6),
Cook and companions did the grueling relay in 45 minutes and
50 seconds for a silver medal, missing out on gold to the
Russians by a single second.
Great showings were also turned in by U.S. Alpine silver
medal winners Chris Devlin-Young (LW12), downhill; Jim Lagerstrom
(LW4), downhill; Jason Lalla (LW2), giant slalom; Monte Meier
(LW2), slalom; Andy Parr (B3), slalom; and Chris Waddell (LW10),
downhill. And great promise was shown by women skiers new
to the Paralympics, including Sandy Dukat (LW2) with a bronze
in the slalom and the Super-G; Lacey Heward (LW11) bronze
in giant slalom and Super-G; Allison Jones (LW2) silver in
giant slalom and Super-G; and Stephani Victor (LW12/2) bronze
in downhill.
In all, US Paralympic athletes won nine gold medals, 17 silver
and 11 bronze. Other gold medalists besides the men's sledge
hockey team, Will, and Billmeier were Kevin Bramble, in downhill
men LW12 (mono-ski); Chris Devlin-Young, Super-G men LW12;
Allison Pearl, giant slalom ladies LW12; and Mary Riddell,
giant slalom ladies LW4 (2 skis, 2 poles, disability of one
leg, below the knee). Although he didn't medal in the Salt
Lake Paralympics, veteran U.S. Ski Team member Greg Mannino,
the team's premier three-track skier since 1991, accounted
for multiple gold medals and dozens of wins in his distinguished
competitive career which, at age 39, the above knee amputee
from Vail, Colo., is ending with this ski season.
A sellout crowd was on hand for opening ceremonies of the
VIII Paralympic Winter Games, at which US Alpine skiers Muffy
Davis and Chris Waddell lit the Paralympic flame. The joint
torchbearers received the flame from Eric Weihenmayer, the
first vision-impaired climber to summit Mount Everest. Also
joining in welcoming ceremonies were DS/USA spokespersons
Bonnie St. John, Mark Wellman, and Rudy Garcia-Tolson.
Held at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the opening included an entertainment
lineup that featured such names as pianist/singer/composer
Stevie Wonder; country music star Wynonna; Broadway entertainer
and pop music star Donny Osmond; pop-classical violinist Vanessa-Mae;
and teenage country singing sensation Billy Gilman.
The honor of carrying the American flag into the opening
ceremony went to nine-time Paralympian Candace Cable, a former
Alpine skier who switched to Nordic events and is the first
U.S. Ski Team female sit-skier. An accomplished distance wheelchair
racer, Cable has six Boston Marathon titles to her name. She
was selected by other members of the US Paralympic team, who
also elected Sarah Billmeier to give the Athletes' Oath during
the opening ceremony on behalf of all the participants in
the 2002 Games. Billmeier won downhill ski gold medals in
Nagano and Lillehammer, Norway. This year, competing in the
LW2 category (1 ski, 2 poles, disability of one leg, above
the knee), Billmeier won gold in the Super-G and silver in
the downhill and slalom.
The nine-day competition closed with a 90-minute ceremony
at which Joe Howard, captain of the U.S. Sledge Hockey Team,
was unanimously elected by the 56 other Americans to carry
the American Flag into the ceremony, held at Salt Lake City's
Olympic Medals Plaza. The entertainment for the evening was
provided by soul singer Patti LaBelle, who invited U.S. Alpine
skier and singer/guitarist Lacey Heward of Park City, Utah,
to join her on stage.
When it was all over, athletes, coaches, and support staffs
bade farewell to old and new friends encountered at this year's
Games. Consensus was that Salt Lake City, Paralympic organizers
and officials, and the thousands of volunteers did a truly
spectacular job of showcasing elite adaptive sports for an
audience increasing in both size and appreciation.
And then, the Olympic Village and sports venues were empty,
the fire extinguished, and flags taken down. Some contestants
immediately headed for other competitions. With hardly a chance
to unpack, the U.S. Disabled Ski Team was immediately off
to the Alpine Nationals in Montana. For most, there would
be many formidable events before the 2006 Winter Paralympics
IX in Turin, Italy.
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