The Fun of the Games
Little-known facts shared from Olympics Stories of success and disappointment at
COMPILED BY LOIS ELFMAN But there are many interesting behind-the-
the Olympic Winter Games are well-document- ed. Everyone knows who won the medals and those who came up agonizingly short on the biggest of stages.
1968 OLYMPICS — Grenoble
For a seemingly unexplain- able reason, JoJo Starbuck wore Janet Lynn’s pants for the Opening Ceremony. On the day of the Open- ing Ceremony the two teenagers were giggling with excitement when they put on their official parade uniforms, which consisted of blue stretch pants with stirrups, white turtlenecks and red tunic jackets with white racing stripes down each arm and a navy blue patch on the center of the chest with gold embroidery. Lynn’s coach, Slavka Kohout, thought Lynn’s pants were too small and persuaded Starbuck to trade with her. Lynn’s pants were really small on the taller Starbuck, who did a makeshift job with safety pins to hold them up. Although quite un- comfortable, Starbuck made it through the Opening Ceremony with her pants still on, and she and Lynn became lifelong friends. They did not trade again in Sapporo in 1972.
1968 OLYMPICS — Grenoble
The Games provided highs and lows for the sister/brother pairs team of Cynthia and Ron Kauffman. She felt intense expectation heading into their second Olympic Winter Games, having won bronze medals at the two previous World Championships. Two falls in the free skate left them sixth. (They did rebound to win another World bronze
a few weeks later.) While waiting for their Olympic marks, Cynthia felt she’d let everyone down, which she soon learned wasn’t at all true. After the Closing Ceremony, their sponsor congratulated them on their second Olympics, wished them well at Worlds and presented them with the Olympic flag that flew in front of the skating arena.
1972 OLYMPICS — Sapporo
Ladies competitor Suna Murray and pairs skater Melissa Militano, both 16, got to witness some traditional Olympic souvenir gathering that with current-day security measures prob- ably would not take place. The two skaters sat in a taxi in amazement while several British ski jumpers took a few Olympic flags off the flagpoles. It was apparently quite the tradition at the time, as lugers were talking about a similar expedition in the dining hall the next day.
1976 OLYMPICS — Innsbruck
Pairs skater Alice Cook, who skated with Bill Fauver, was smiling and waving while marching during the Opening Ceremony parade of nations, but things soon took a turn for the worse. She had the flu and hadn’t eaten all day. That, combined with the two-hour standing wait to march into the stadium, left her woozy. Once the U.S. team was in place to watch the rest of the ceremony, she felt dizzy and fainted. Cook was taken by ambulance to the infirmary at the Olympic village. On the upside, her family was allowed to visit her there and thought getting inside the village was very cool.
18 FEBRUARY 2014
scenes accounts from the Games that are may- be not as well-known. Featured is a collection of 14 such mini-tales that feature several past U.S. Olympic athletes.
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