OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, THE XIII {1980 LAKE PLACID OLYMPICS} {1980/02/12}, PART 1: PREVIEW (TV)
Summary
This program presents a portion of coverage of the 1980 XIII Olympic Winter Games from Lake Placid. Highlights of this portion include coverage of the following events and topics:
Anchor sports commentator Jim McKay presides throughout this portion and introduces various events and highlights.
McKay previews and compares the 1980 Winter Olympics to the 1932 Winter Olympics that was also held in Lake Placid, New York; the population is still 3,000 people; in 1932 White Face Mountain was just a presence, now it will be used for all downhill skiing; the indoor arena was built for the 1932 Olympics but only four nations competed in ice hockey; in 1932 speed skating was performed in front of the local high school and cross country skiing was the only skiing event; bobsledding was swift and dangerous in 1932, unlike the tracks today.
McKay introduces the sports commentators for the 1980 Olympics which includes Dick Button (covering the ice arena), Al Michaels and Ken Dryden (covering ice hockey), Keith Jackson (covering men's and women's speed skating), Frank Gifford and Bob Beattie (covering alpine skiing) and Jim Lampley (covering the latest political developments).
McKay captures memorable moments from the 1976 winter Olympics which includes women's speed skater Sheila Young (USA) who won the gold medal in the 500m race; for the 1980 winter Olympics Young (USA) will be an expert commentator for speed skating; men's cross country skier Bill Koch (USA) won the silver medal in the 30km and was the first American to win in this sport; ski racer Rosi Mittermaier (West Germany) won two gold medals; men's slalom skier Piero Gros (Italy) won the gold medal in the slalom and is hoping to do it again; figure skater Dorothy Hamill (USA); men's downhill skier Franz Klammer (Austria) won the gold medal with a time of 1:45:73.
McKay describes alpine skiing differences with slalom being technical, giant slalom being technical and speed and downhill being a two mile race with a mile a minute is all about the speed.
McKay highlights that the speed skating competition is going to be very quick this year and will have some breaking records; two women's USA skaters going for the gold is twenty-eight year old Leah Poulos Mueller (USA) and twenty year old Beth Heiden (USA), Eric Heiden's sister.
Sports commentator Keith Jackson profiles twenty-one year old speed skater Eric Heiden (USA); his hometown is Madison, WI; ironically, the people in Madison have no idea who Heiden (USA) is; however, the Norwegian's and the Dutch can't get enough of him; while walking in Oslo, Heiden (USA) has fans following him asking for pictures and autographs; in his future he would like to study sports medicine and one day speed skating will no longer be a mystery in his hometown.
Jackson interviews Heiden (USA) and asks him if he can win all five races; Heiden (USA) admits the 500m will be the hardest.
Michaels reviews men's ice hockey's breakout with two divisions and six teams in each division; for the blue division the teams to beat are Czechoslovakia, Sweden and USA; for the red division the teams to beat are Soviet Union, Finland and Canada; currently the Soviet Union team is beating Japan 13-0 in the second period; Poland is beating Finland 5-4 in the third period; Czechoslovakia beat Norway 11-0; Canada beat Netherlands 10-1 and Romania beat West Germany 6-4 which was a big upset.
Michaels recaps ice hockey game between USA versus Sweden with Buzz Schneider (USA) denied his goal in the first period due to offsides; Sture Anderson (Sweden) scores 11:04 in the second period and is now 1-0 Sweden; in second period Dave Silk (USA) scores 19:32 in the second period and is now 1-1; Thomas Eriksson (Sweden) scores 4:45 in the third period and is now 2-1 Sweden; Bill Baker (USA) scores 19:33 in the third period and is now 2-2 tie.
Michaels interviews Baker (USA) asking him what his feelings are right at that moment. Baker is very happy; Michaels asks if there is any chance with Czechoslovakia; Baker is hopeful as long as they skate well and are able to keep up with them.
Gifford and Beattie discuss the alpine skiing competition with the women's competition going to be very interesting; for men's USA team the one who could win gold is Phil Mahre; in 1979 Mahre (USA) fell in the giant slalom ending with a severe broken leg; in giant slalom Ingemar Stenmark (Sweden) has 14 consecutive wins.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: February 12, 1980 09:30
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:00047
- GENRE: Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: Sports; U.S. Olympic Archive, presented by Gordon Crawford, The; Olympic Games, 1980, Winter, Lake Placid; Olympics; Ice Hockey, ice hockey men
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jim McKay … Anchor Sports Commentator
- Dick Button … Sports Commentator
- Al Michaels … Sports Commentator
- Ken Dryden … Sports Commentator
- Keith Jackson … Sports Commentator
- Jim Lampley … Sports Commentator
- Frank Gifford … Sports Commentator
- Bob Beattie … Sports Commentator
- Sheila Young … Athlete
- Bill Koch … Athlete
- Rosi Mittermaier … Athlete
- Piero Gros … Athlete
- Dorothy Hamill … Athlete
- Franz Klammer … Athlete
- Leah Poulos Mueller … Athlete
- Beth Heiden … Athlete
- Eric Heiden … Athlete
- Buzz Schneider … Athlete
- Sture Anderson … Athlete
- Dave Silk … Athlete
- Thomas Eriksson … Athlete
- Bill Baker … Athlete
- Ingemar Stenmark … Athlete
- Phil Mahre … Athlete