				DIRECT FROM SALZBURG (Chapter 98)

They had a morning practice the next day. They blew it off. They had told June and Kathy--both of whom were there with them--that they were going to. "We're going to watch downhill skiing. We'll see you at the afternoon practice!"

"Guys....." Kathy started.

"Hey, it's the Olympics," Sophia told them. "Screw it. We're trained, this practice isn't on the main ice, and Warren loves downhill skiing. See you!"

They found a spot at the end of the hill. To their amusement, they found themselves surrounded by Austrians. In fact, they found themselves in the midst of a bunch of rabid Gerhard Weichenbauer fans. Weichenbauer was the world's number one ranked downhiller. And, there they were, in their "USA" coats, waving tiny American flags.

"Was? Americans?" one of them asked a friend.

"Hey, are you lost?" the friend asked Warren and Sophia.

"Probably," Sophia laughed. "We just wanted to get a good seat."

"I see your coats. Are you athletes?"

"Yes, we're ice dancers," Sophia told him.

"We skipped practice to come watch some skiing," Warren laughed.

"Ah. Is gut. Austrian skiers are the best, yes?"

"Yes," Warren laughed. "Alan Zimmer's been skiing well lately, though."

"Ja, he has. Got fourth in Innsbruck. I'm Otto, this is Wilhelm."

"I'm Warren, this is Sophia."

"You stay with us, ja, see skiing with Austrians?"

"Yeah," said Sophia, "It'll be fun. As long as you don't mind us cheering for Alan Zimmer."

"Sure," Otto said, "for silver or bronze!"

Sophia and Warren stayed with the Austrian ski fanatics, and Sophia was right--they had a blast. One of the Austrians had brought some sort of grill, and, the next thing they knew, they each had a bratwurst in their hands. Then they had a beer in the other hand. And the race was about to start, so the Austrians were getting rowdy.

The first skier was a Swiss. He fell. The predominantly Swiss crowd groaned, but the Austrians delighted in it.

"We don't hate the Swiss, except in skiing," Otto told them with a smile.

A couple of other skiers came down, then the first Austrian--Ingo Buell. "He's a youngster," Otto told Warren and Sophia, "new to the national team."

"IN-GO! IN-GO! IN-GO!" the Austrians screamed as the skier roared down the hill. Warren and Sophia watched the huge video screens track his progress down the hill, until he appeared in their sight roaring down the final bit of terrain into the finish area.

"Sehr gut! Sehr gut!" one of the Austrians was yelling as the time flashed on the screen. It was a good time. It was early, but Buell had moved into first place by a full second.

Two skiers later, Alan Zimmer left the starting gate. "GO ALAN!" Sophia hollered, to the bemusement of the Austrians.

"Do you know him?" Otto asked them.

"We met him last night, at the opening ceremonies. He's great," Sophia told him.

He was roaring down the hill. They checked his progress on the video screen and the timer. "Ah, great time," one of the Austrians said as he passed the halfway point.

"He is really skiing well," Otto said admiringly, watching him on the screen. He roared into the final bit, and barreled over the finish line. Looking up at the timer, they saw that Alan had moved into first place.

"YEA, ALAN! WHOOO! USA! USA!" Sophia and Warren yelled. The Austrians smiled and good-naturedly clapped them on the back.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Otto told them. "The Master is after this Norwegian guy."

The Norwegian finished, out of the running, and Gerhard Weichenbauer took to the hill. The Austrians started screaming "GER-HARD! GER-HARD!" and then the traditional Austrian skiing chant, "HOP! HOP! HOP! HOP! HOP!" Warren and Sophia loved it. Somebody thrust tiny Austrian flags in their hands. They looked at each other with a smile, and started waving them along with their American flags.

"HOP! HOP! HOP! HOP! HOP!" Weichenbauer was tearing down the hill full-bore, as he came around the bend into the final section. "HOP! HOP! HOP! HOP! HOP!" He cruised across the finish line, and all eyes turned towards the scoreboard. Weichenbauer had flown into first place. Sophia and Warren's Austrian companions went completely berserk. And, of course, more beer was passed around and mugs were raised.

Many other skiers came down the hill, pursuing Weichenbauer, but none could catch him. The Swiss champion, Frederic Boucher, came close, and had the home country crowd on its feet, but fell just short. The good news for Warren and Sophia was that Alan Zimmer did, in fact, hold on for an upset bronze.

"Good day for Austria, pretty good day for USA, too," Otto said with a toast of his beer mug.

"I'm glad there aren't any prominent Austrian ice dancers!" Warren told him.

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They thanked their new Austrian friends for their hospitality, and made arrangements to join them for the super giant slalom in three days. Then they went to lunch, took a quick nap, and made off for practice. They practiced 'Romeo and Juliet' and were thrilled with the way it went.

Walking through the village, they saw Gerhard Weichenbauer walking the other way. They approached him. "Sprechen zie Anglisch?" Warren asked him.

"Sure," he said with a smile.

Sophia and Warren introduced themselves. "We watched you ski today, surrounded by, apparently, the Salzburg division of your fan club," Sophia told him.

Gerhard smiled. "How did you end up there?"

"Just happened," Warren said. "It was great. We had a blast."

"They didn't torture two lost American ice dancers, did they?"

"Nah, they just plied us with beer and bratwurst and made us yell 'Hop! Hop! Hop!' when you came down the hill," Sophia said with a grin.

Gerhard laughed out loud. "That must have been an experience."

"It was a blast," Warren told him. "Watching skiing with Austrians, who can beat that? Congratulations."

"Thank you. It's a good thing for you guys I won, you wouldn't want have been surrounded by depressed Austrians!"

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After supper, it was time for the first ice skating competition of the games--the pairs' short program. 

Warren and Sophia's friends Andrea and Brett were fairly early in the order, and skated wonderfully. They didn't miss an element, and had really matured in their skating.

The Russian world champions, Zhalenya and Stanskiy skated later, and moved into first, even though they made a mistake in their side-by-side jumps. The Canadians Sellers and Poulin were next, skated clean, but still finished second.

"Figures," Sophia said to Warren.

When all was said and done, the Russians and Canadians were one-two. Andrea and Brett finished fourth, which was fine, as they would skate in the final group and were in position to try to get a medal.

Warren and Sophia walked through the village hand in hand.

"Not a bad first day at our first Olympics, eh?" Warren said.

"You got that right! Of course, we haven't had to skate yet!"

"We'll be fine. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. No problems."

"Great. Up for sleep and Day Two?"

"You betcha!"

------end of chapter------



