The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 27

26 WINTER OLYMPICS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1998 Ik tf ikwvj ft i -1 i 7 I Dutch have record on ice GAMES ROUND-UP Nagano: Gianni Romme of the Netherlands won the Olympic men's speed skating title on Sunday as the world record was destroyed three times in an hour. Fellow Dutchman Rintje Ritsma and Belgium's Bart Veldkamp had broken Routine's eld record in the preceding 60 minutes, but Romme was an astonishing six seconds faster in his gold medal-winning performance. Ritsma took the silver and Veldkamp the bronze. Shortly before the race, Romme gave notice that a revolutionary new suit containing rubberised shoulder and ankle patches designed to improve aerodynamic performance would dramatically increase the Dutch racers' speed. All three medallists were using the now almost-indispensable slap-skate blades that have also led to a spate of records this season, but Veldkamp did not have the suit.

THE first gold medal of the '98 Games was won on Sunday by cross-country skier Olga Danilova, but it was more than a victory for Danilova and her native Russia. It was also a victory for working mothers everywhere. Danilova missed the 1995-96 season after giving birth to twin boys. Since then, she has juggled skiing and motherhood. Lately, the skiing had been the 27-year-old's priority as she focused on her first Olympics.

"It has been a long time since I have seen my boys," she said after winning the 15km event in 46min 55.4s. Mothers claimed silver and bronze, too. Danilova's 32-year-old teammate Larisa Lazutina, who finished just 5.6s behind for the silver, has an eight-year-old daughter. Norway's 30-year-old Anita Moen-Guidon (bronze) 57.2s behind Danilova, has a six-year-old daughter. GERMAN defending champion Georg Hack! slid into a row over the shape of his new racing boots as he moved closer to a record third consecutive Olympic gold in the men's singles luge.

HackL the Olympic champion at the 1992 and 1994 Games, hit speeds of about 130kmh as he clocked superb times of 49.619s and 49.573s in opening two runs to finish the first day on an aggregate 1:39.192, a good distance ahead of rivals Italian Armin Zoeggeler and Austrian Markus Prock. But the Bavarian, who still faces the final two runs, had to survive an unsuccessful protest from the US and Canadian teams who claimed he was wearing illegal 'Super booties" which made him more aerodynamic US team spokesman Sandy Caligione said: "This equipment was not made available to all of the teams. There is a rule that says that all equipment must be made available to all teams. We also think that they are illegally Every thousandth of a second counts in luge racing. Slippery slope Zeke Steggall makes up lost time after skidding out of control on one of his runs in the men's snowboard giant slalom.

Photo by JASON SOUTH SNOW TRACKS STEVE MEACHAM Faster than a speeding avalanche Heavy snow means a further postponement of the men's downhill to Wednesday. But it shouldn't affect another speed event If you question the sanity of downhill skiers, imagine for a moment reaching speeds of 120kmh on a flimsy toboggan no bigger than a large briefcase. Today we will learn who will be the men's luge singles champion. Germans, Austrians and Americans are likely to dominate. Both Australians who figure in today's events are masoch-ists.

Anthony Evans will take part in more events during these Games than any of his countrymen. Injury and stamina permitting, he will feature in four cross-country events. Today it's the 30km men's classical. Equally dogged, Ker-ryn Rim, who at 35 is taking part in her second Olympics, begins her biathlon campaign. Olympic history is made today as one of the world's oldest sports makes its entry.

Curling began in 16th-century Scotland as a game played with rocks on frozen ponds, no doubt to work off the effects of too much haggis. Now it is an event dominated by the Canadians, Germans and Swedes. If your idea of fun is a night at a tenpin bowling alley, watch how it is played on ice. The average Australian is going to find it hard to cope with die antiquated feudal titles which abound at the Olympics. Why would a country which is debating ditching one monarchy accept the confines of the self-appointed petty monarchs of the IOC? First-timers to the Games are staggered by the tone of deference which surrounds these Games.

On the night of the opening ceremony, guests at the IOC Marketing Club were asked to clear a path through the restaurant so Juan Antonio Samaranch and his party could make an exit worthy of a Japanese warlord. One Australian businesswoman, whose company is a Sydney sponsor, remarked loudly: "What crap. Don't they realise who is paving for all this?" Anyone who has ever spent more than a day on the slopes knows there is tension between skiers and snowboarders. One middle-aged veteran of the Winter Olympics, reporting for an American agency, was complaining bitterly about the US snowboarders' press conference he was obliged to attend. "I don't mind it when the snowboarders are airheads, you expect that But the snowboard journalists are worse.

One stood up and said, 'Like man, I just wanna say, instead of asking a question, that seeing you here, like, is, well, awesome. You guys are so radical. It freaks me out'. And then he sat down. God, they are so bad they make you want to become a Canadian.

Almost" When McDonald was asked what would happen if all 20 teams met the criteria, he replied: "They have said 20 teams in 1998 and part of the negotiations is 16 for 1999, but in 2001 who is to say what number of teams could be there?" The floor erupted, jeering McDonald and saying he had not answered the question. When he began to speak about the financial deal which promised clubs a S3 million salary cap in 1998 which would continue in 1999 with a $2 million grant to each club, calls of "answer the question" rained down on him. Finally, meeting chairman John Reardon said nobody knew what would happen if all 20 teams met the criteria. A motion was put forward for Aussies for the ARL to register no confidence in the ARL board. Before the motion could be put to a vote, however, a second motion was put forward for ARL clubs not to merge.

Reardon asked if this was an amendment to the first motion and the crowd, eager to be heard, if not listened to, agreed before realising what they had done. In other league news, Melbourne have won their first-ever game, beating Adelaide 26-22 in North Hobart after leading 14-0 at half-time. Parra-matta had a comfortable win in their first trial, beating Port Macquarie 66-4 on Saturday. aoiratt bosses that, it was essential for them to have the morning off. They have also organised the day of the women's slalom race, when Steggall's sister, Zali, will compete.

Of his sister's prospects, Zeke said: "Zali will do well on this course. But it is a great shame I will not see her." Zali Steggall has been training with Thomas Sykora and Thomas Stangassinger, both Austrian slalom specialists, and will come into Nagano on February 12, the day Zeke Steggall flies out Steggall has to compete in another board race in Japan "Don't ask me where, that is what my coach is for, to organise me" the next day. SNOWBOARDING "I was going really well. I don't know why it happened; it is quite a technical course but it is not that fast," said Steggall, who has not experienced a summer since 1988 after chasing the snow circuit for the past decade. "You have to let it go from the bottom of the wall through to the finish.

I am really disappointed. You had to have a clean run to be up there." As it ended up, Steggall might have moved up dramatically from his first-run place of 27 after another six competitors in the second run failed to finish in freezing, fluctuating conditions at Mount Yakebitai. At one stage, after the first five seeded competitors had completed their run, officials closed the course because of poor visibility something that has never before happened in snowboarding. But in tune with the renegade nature of the sport, the officials decided to go ahead despite the deteriorating conditions that had cancelled the men's down LEAGUE '98 Meetingjeers ARL directors Mot sDgtniDDDg ai saffe baft to baaDinrae ace ddh Mdleirs9 pack JACQUELIN MAGNAY Nagano: Zeke Steggall's Olympic campaign lasted all of 10 seconds. From the moment he skidded out on a backhand turn, just four gates into his initial run at the top of the giant slalom snowboard event, he knew he had absolutely no chance of scraping into the prestigious top 10.

But in that split second when the brain realised that the legs weren't doing what they were supposed to do, the lime-clad Steggall, 26, desperately tried to rescue the occasion, making each of the 40 gates down the course so that he could attempt the second run later in the day. IN BRIEF Australia Cup on the Swan River in Perth yesterday. Barker and his crew, representing the New Zealand America's Cup defence syndicate, came from behind to win the five-race final against Fremantle-based Frenchman Sebastien Destre-mau and crew 3-2. ATHLETICS Marathon man Tokyo: Spain produced a new Sydney Olympic hopeful when Alberto Juzdado clocked 2hr 8min 01s his personal best and a course record to grab his first win at the international men's marathon here yesterday. HOCKEY Roos strike hard The Australian women's team won the Test series against The Netherlands 3-1 with a 6-0 thrashing in Perth last night Midfielder Kate Starre opened the scoring and veteran Rachelle Hawkes made it 2-4) at half-time.

Alison Annan then picked up two goals, with Louise Dobson and Nikki Mott scoring one each. SAILING Women in trouble The all-woman crew of Education in the Whitbread round-the-world race were struggling with a damaged rig on Saturday after their boat was hit by strong winds and big seas. GOLF Els just ahead Durban: Ernie Els shot a third-round 68 in the $750,000 South African Open here on Saturday to move into the final round one stroke ahead. hill race earlier in the day. And, given the all-or-nothing attitude of the competitors, there was a high frequency of wipe-outs.

First, world champion Nicolas Conte failed to finish and the other early leaders struggled to surf the icy conditions cleanly. Steggall, who raced down in second-last place, was disqualified for missing a gate well down the course. "I would have loved to have finished, even if the result was bad," he said. "I would have liked to have done better but I had to go full power and give it everything it just didn't work." Instead, Canadian Ross Rebagliati took the gold medal from Italian Thomas Prugger and Swiss Ueli Kestenholz. got my work cut out for me.

"But it's been good so far. For an important position they haven't put that sort of pressure on me." Such is Brann's nature, though, you wonder if it would worry him anyway. He is free and easy, happy to roll with the punches. Long before rugby league began to pay his bills, the tall front-rower was working at a shopping centre hosing walkways for $5 a night About enough for a nice piece of steak. One cold night the type of night he must get used to in Canberra he was wearing a tracksuit and balaclava to keep out the chill while he worked.

After the paths were washed Brann wandered into the takeaway shop for some chips. Next minute there were cops shouting from the doorway, guns drawn. He hadn't taken his balaclava off and the police, driving past in a squad car, had seen him walk in. "As soon as I saw the guns I knew what was going on," he said. "I whipped the balaclava off straight away." Know what annoyed him? The fellow behind the counter knew the full story but didn't say a word.

The police replaced their guns and all they said was never wear a balaclava into a shop again. "Didn't even say sorry," he said. "I'd rather have no time than a slow time," said Rebagliati, a shock victor who rocketed from eighth place in the first run to decimate the foggy course with a combined time of 2min 03.96s. The wild monkeys that inhabit the area and are famous for bathing in the local hot springs would have been perplexed at the sights on the slopes. Swiss Sigi Grabner had a long plait flying down his back, German Bernd "The Devil" Kroschewski wore a horned hat and Frenchman Matthieu Boz-zetto dyed his hair a brilliant red.

On the hillside, waving the Australian and boxing kangaroo flags, were scores of Shiga Kogen-based Australians who convinced their nearby hotel So he lived to clean up another day, as is his knack. Kind of like he will be doing in Canberra. The Raiders already have their superstars. Brann, who likes things simple, just wants to contribute, to keep it tidy in the middle of the field. "Basically, I'm looking to get them some go-forward and then try to get some off-loads away," he said.

"If I can get some balls away I'll be happy. IH be working on that a lot, there's nothing worse than when you're up tackling and they keep getting the ball away." Being at Canberra will help. They have a habit of turning unfashionable props from Terry Regan through to Sam Backo and Paul Osborne, the local politician into key players. Not that Brann's looking at politics. "Everything is good, except I just wish I was near the beach," he said.

"I might have to buy some golf clubs." GAINS: Anthony Brann (Hunter Mariners), Brandon Pearson (Sydney City Roosters), Nathan Sologinkin (South Qld Crushers), Lesly Vainkolo (Auckland Warriors). LOSSES: David Gray (released), Matthew Gafa (released), Lionel Harbin (released), Barry Lera (released), Noa Nadruku (North Queensland Cowboys), David Pearce (released), Quentin Pongia (Auckland Warriors), Darren Shaw (released), Phillip She-perd (released), Brendan Sherry (released), Korey Williams Dallas Yow Yeh (released). SPORT RUGBY Australia ousted Australia's hopes of playing in the final of the International Sevens tournament ended when the David Campese-led Black Falcons lost 25-12 to New Zealand's North Harbour in Adelaide last night UFESAVING New Zealand victory Auckland: New Zealand broke Australia's 43-year stranglehold on the world championships at Long Bay Beach here yesterday to take their first world crown. The Kiwis had a big lead after Saturday's pool finals and yesterday won six golds to end on 1 95 points, with Surf Lif esaving Australia on 167 and South Africa third on 149. SOFTBALL Gold powder Christchurch: Australia Gold were crushed 4-0 by the US in the South Pacific Classic women's final yesterday.

US pitcher Lisa Fernandez pitched a perfect game, with no hits, walks or errors conceded. BASKETBALL Dramatic Magic Two crucial three-pointers by guard Clinton McDaniel guided South East Melbourne Magic to a drama-filled 96-94 away win over Adelaide yesterday. SAILING Kiwi takes Cup Kiwi Dean Barker emerged as a rising star of international match racing when he won the PAUL KENT The Australian Rugby League is close to losing the support of one of its greatest allies, the "Aussies for the ARL" action group. Calls for a vote of no confidence in the ARL board, and for Aussies for the ARL to discard its ARL allegiance and rename itself Australians for Rugby League or similar, punctuated a heated meeting at Balmain Leagues Club yesterday. The angry, 300-strong crowd attacked ARL chairman John McDonald and NSW Rugby League chairman and ARL director Warren Lockwood.

The ARL has been accused by its action group of selling out to Super League. The group claims the ARL's battle cry was once "the ARL must run the Now, Super League has got every wish it wanted, with the ARL having only half a say in decisions made. Cheers, which rang out whenever a voice from the crowd criticised the ARL for turning its back' on the ARL foundation clubs, quickly turned to jeers when McDonald or Lockwood spoke of clubs being forced to merge. Both men repeatedly said no decision had been made about which clubs would be forced to merge, and said all 20 clubs would be regarded equally under the criteria for entry into the 16-team 1999 competition. PAUL KENT The Canberra Raiders have rolled the dice and are waiting to see if they come up winners.

They hope Brann's their man. There is an air of confidence coming out of the capital For the first time in a long while Ricky Stuart has had a summer where he has been able to prepare for football, not recover from injuries. He has even hinted he might be running again. Brad Clyde is injury-free as welL So, too, Laurie Daley. Ben Kennedy is also back, hoping to pick up from Ms boom rookie season when he stepped into the injured Clyde's rather large shoes and found them a snug fit Everything is just about right for the Raiders.

Except the front row. Two years ago John Lomax left the Raiders to follow Tim Sheens to Townsville. Last season Quentin Pongia packed his bags and headed home to New Zealand. It has left the Raiders somewhat bare in the front row. Luke Davico remains with the club but he is coming off a mixed season last year when, at one point, a quiet word in his ear told him to lift his form or he would be watching the main game from the stands.

It may have been even more severe than that The Raiders have several THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY other young front-rowers on the rise but they are light on in first gfade experience. Which brings us to Anthony Brann. A year with Hunter last season and with Balmain the year before doesn't quite give you automatic entry into the front-rower's union, the least-enviable group of hardheads in the game. Yet if Stuart, Daley, Clyde, Kennedy, Brett Mullins, David Furner and Ken Nagas are to take the club to the heights fans expect, then Brann's role could be the most important of all. Because no matter how well the Raiders' stars are playing, if the team is failing in the middle of the ruck, it's all over.

"I never really thought about it like that," Brann, 27, said. "I suppose there's a bit of pressure there, but we've got a lot of good props here anyway. "There are a few young guys who will make it so I've.