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February 14, 1988 (day two) was the primary full day of competitors on the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and it was a day stuffed with hovering highs and devastating lows.
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Winds of as much as 160km/h created a whirlwind of hassle at Nakiska on Mount Allan, the place the boys’s downhill ski race was postponed. 1000’s of spectators with $30 entry tickets fought three-hour site visitors jams to get to the mountain, solely to search out they needed to flip round and head again to Calgary as a result of the race had been rescheduled.
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Many followers additionally did not fairly stay as much as their expectations on the Saddledome. Though the Canadian males’s hockey staff gained the sport, the staff narrowly beat Poland 1-0 in a shaky efficiency.
Nonetheless, essentially the most heartbreaking Olympic story of the day belonged to Dan Jansen. The American velocity skating world dash champion – and medal favourite – discovered simply hours earlier than the 500m occasion that his sister had died of the leukemia she had been battling for greater than a yr. Ten seconds into his race, Jansen slipped and fell – his Olympic dream and hopes for his sister shattered in sooner or later.
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The five hundred-meter velocity skating occasion was the primary medal competitors on the Olympic Oval and organizers had been excited to see the winner — East Germany’s Uwe-Jens Mey — break a world report time in his golden efficiency. The Oval was certainly the house of quick ice.
One other golden second that created buzz got here from ski jumper Matti Nykanen, who grew to become often known as the Flying Finn. No different opponents may match his hovering flight by means of the air within the 70-metre ski leaping occasion at Canada Olympic Park, prompting Finnish coach Matti Pulli to say: “After his first leap at the moment, it might have taken an angel to leap far sufficient to hit him.”
The ski leaping occasion attracted 52,000 spectators within the van on the backside of the run, all of whom cheered and cheered Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, who completed far final. Edwards stated the expertise was unbelievable, thanks largely to the group’s enthusiasm. “That is one of the best day of my life,” he stated. “Now I am an Olympian.”
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In one of many strangest tales of the day, the intercourse therapist dr. Ruth Westheimer invited within the tv announcer’s sales space at Nakiska and expressed her ideas on intercourse earlier than a significant athletic competitors. (That is nice, however solely with a everlasting associate, she famous.)
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What are your recollections of the 1988 Winter Olympics, or what tales did your dad and mom share with you? Tell us reply@calgaryherald.com .
To learn extra in regards to the 1988 Winter Olympics, try:
35 unforgettable pictures from 35 years in the past: Calgary welcomed the world to the 1988 Winter Olympics
35 years later, Calgary’s Olympic Winter Video games legacy lives on, however is beginning to present its age
Olympic Rewind Day One
Examine for extra Olympic Rewind recollections all through the month.
