Apparently, the XVIII Winter Olympics took place in Nagano, Japan. Unfortunately, what with a 14-hour time difference between the Far East and the continental United States and abysmal TV coverage by CBS, we here in the States were almost none the wiser. Sure, the weather wreaked havoc with the schedule—but isn't snow to be expected in the winter? According to published reports in reputable magazines and newspapers, the citizens of Japan put on quite a show and a few non-Americans won medals in dramatic fashion. But as anyone who watched CBS's stale, packaged, mostly tape-delayed prime-time telecasts knows, the U.S. women's hockey team, figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan and Alpine skier Picabo Street were the only athletes in Japan. Oh, there was one foreign guy: Austrian skier Hermann Maier, whose spectacular crash in the downhill (see cover, above) was replayed a zillion times. Anyone out there who has additional information on the events as they unfolded is asked to send it in.

* At 15 years, eight months and 10 days, Lipinski became the youngest woman to win the figure skating gold medal.

* Norwegian cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie won three gold medals, bringing his career total to a record-setting eight.

* Technology—in the form of the clap skate and zig-zagging, drag-reducing rubber strips sewn onto the exterior of the athlete's unitard—revolutionized long-track speed skating. In the men's and women's competitions, five world records and 11 Olympic records were set in 11 events. In three races, the world record was topped by at least two skaters.

* The U.S. men's hockey team, made up of professional players from the NHL, was a dismal failure, winning one of four games and trashing a room in the Olympic Village. Meanwhile, the U.S. women's team won the gold in women's hockey, which made its debut as a medal sport.

cover photograph by Carl Yarbrough

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