The U.S. women stole the show from the men in Albertville
by E.M. Swift Issue date: March 2, 1992
Let us now praise famous women:
Cathy Turner, short-track speed skating, gold medal, silver medal.
Kristi Yamaguchi, figure skating, gold medal.
Donna Weinbrecht, moguls, gold.
Diann Roffe, giant slalom, silver.
Hilary Lindh, downhill, silver.
Nancy Kerrigan, figure skating, bronze.
This imbalance is a new phenomenon. Taken as a whole, in the
previous two Winter Olympics, the American medals have been split—eight for men, eight for women. So why, in 1992, is there suddenly a
gulf? What has enabled American women to succeed in Winter Olympic
sports at a rate U.S. men can't match?
Practical reasons include increased funding from the United States
Olympic Committee's treasure chest and relaxed rules on amateurism.
As a result, successful athletes like the 27-year-old Blair can keep
training from one Olympics to the next without sacrificing their
financial well-being. Also, there are more Olympic sports for women
than in the past, ergo more medals for them to vie for. In 1960, for
instance, there were only 11 medal events for women, compared to 25
events in 1992.
But there are also more medal events for men—34, compared to 17
in '60. And with more medals available, American males come home with
a total of two? No golds? The worst medal showing by U.S. men since
1972? Versus the best showing ever by U.S. women? What gives?
Theories abound. Paul Wylie, whose silver in figure skating was
one of those two medals won by U.S. men—the other was a bronze by
mogul skier Nelson Carmichael—believes that women Olympians have a
stronger mental commitment. ''Our men don't have the killer instinct
the women do,'' Wylie says. ''Many of the men have an ambivalence
about whether they should still be competing or starting to scale the
corporate ladder. The women athletes don't have that ambivalence.
They see athletics as one of the few places they have a chance to be
Number 1, where they are judged purely on merit, and their sex
matters not in the least.''
photograph by Carl Yarbrough
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Bonnie Blair, speed skating, two gold medals.
In all, of the 11 medals won by U.S. athletes at Albertville—the best American showing in the Winter Games since 1980—women
took home nine, including all five of the golds. Half of the 20 other
top-10 finishes by U.S. athletes belonged to women. Figure skater
Tonya Harding placed fourth. Skier Julie Parisien was fourth in the
slalom, fifth in the giant slalom, and her teammate Eva Twardokens
was seventh in the giant slalom and eighth in the Super G. In the
luge, Cammy Myler finished fifth, Erica Terwilleger ninth.
American women finished higher than American men in every sport in
which both fielded teams, except cross-country and biathlon, in which
the two sexes were equally inept, neither one cracking the top 10. In
every other discipline, on snow and on ice, in traditional sports and
in first-time Olympic sports, the dynamic and surprising U.S. women
outdid their brethren. Composing just 34% of the U.S. team—55 of
161 athletes—the ladies wearing stars and stripes took home 82% of
the medals.