1980 Olympic Winter Games 40th Anniversary

LAKE PLACID NEWS

1980 Olympic Winter Games 40th Anniversary February 2020

U.S. Olympic hockey players celebrate Feb. 22, 1980, during the 4-3 “Miracle on Ice” win against the Soviet Union.

(Lake Placid News file photo)

Building an Olympic Legacy in Lake Placid

Team Gold members — including 1980 U.S. Olympian John Harrington (top right) — celebrate after winning a gold medal during the 2019 Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp.

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn)

PAGE 2

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

LAKE PLACID NEWS Building an Olympic legacy in Lake Placid 54 Broadway Saranac Lake, NY 12983 Phone 518-891-2600 www.lakeplacidnews.com www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com Publisher, Catherine Moore Lake Placid News Editor, Andy Flynn Enterprise Managing Editor, Peter Crowley Business Manager, Donna Leonard Circulation Manager, Liz Murray Press Foreman, Rick Burman Advertising, Susan Moore Advertising, Lindsay Munn Advertising, Carol Swirsky

TABLE OF CONTENTS Part 1: Olympic Roots Page 4 Page 4

Lake Placid embraces Olympics, brings games here in 1932 Olympic Winter Games nearing centennial year

Part 2: 1980 Winter Olympics Page 6

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 8

Page 9

Olympic Winter Games return to Lake Placid in 1980 Former Howard Johnson’s owner remembers the 1980 Olympics Sue Cameron shares memories from the 1980 Winter Olympics U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden wins 5 gold medals How 1980 mascot “Roni” raccoon was named “Miracle on Ice” became an underdog story for the ages

Part 3: 40th Anniversary Page 10

Page 11

Welcome to the 40th anniversary celebration Schedule of events

Part 4: Olympic Legacy Page 13 Page 13

Page 14

Page 15 Page 16 Page 17

Page 18

1980 Olympics after-use planning leads to creation of ORDA Denny Allen remembers his role during the 1980 Olympics New York state invests millions in the Olympic venues List of local Winter Olympians Training programs groom young athletes, aspiring Olympians Lake Placid hosts Paralympic sports training, competition Fans relive “Miracle on Ice” game through fantasy camp

W

e’ve subtitled this special section of the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games “Building an Olympic Legacy in Lake Placid” because that’s exactly what this village has done.

It’s easy to say “the governor loves Lake Placid” when we see the millions of dollars governors such as Andrew Cuomo and George Pataki have given the state Olympic Regional Development Authority to improve the Olympic venues. But not even the most powerful person in the world handed Lake Placid the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980 out of pure fondness for this resort town.

For more than 100 years, Lake Placid residents have worked diligently to create an international winter sports presence here.

Blood, sweat and tears — and plenty of locally sourced funding — have gone into this process.

It began with the Lake Placid Club in the winter of 1904-05 and then the Lake Placid Skating Association, including philanthropist Henry Uihlein II, which organized the first international sporting event in Lake Placid, in February 1920 that pitted the best male and female U.S. and Canadian speedskaters against each other on Mirror Lake.

It continued with sending two Lake Placid speedskaters to the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France, including Charles Jewtraw, who won the first gold medal of any Winter Olympics.

Then Godfrey Dewey of the Lake Placid Club traveled to the 1928 Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, to study how the event was organized and gauge if Lake Placid could do the same. He was convinced that residents could indeed host a Winter Olympics, so he gathered support locally and within U.S. Olympic circles, helped bid on the 1932 Olympic Winter Games and was in Lausanne, Switzerland in April 1929 when the International Olympic Committee awarded Lake Placid those games.

Lake Placid residents successfully organized and hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics, which included the construction of the arena and bobsled run. Despite the financial stresses caused by the Great Depression, Lake Placid Olympic organizers were able to secure funding for venues.

After the 1932 games, Lake Placid made use of those venues, hosting events at the arena, bob-

U.S. athletes enter the stadium Feb. 13, 1980, at what is now the North Elba Show Grounds during the opening ceremony of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid. sled run and ski jumps. New venues were created over time, including the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington.

Locals never lost track of their ability to host international winter sporting events and hung on to the prospect of someday hosting another Olympics. They offered to host the Winter Olympics in 1940 and 1948 and bid on the games multiple times until this village was tapped for the 1980 games in 1974. Teams of volunteers would travel to IOC meetings to make their bids.

Lake Placid residents had to relearn how to put on Olympicsized international events when this village hosted the 1972 Winter World University Games.

They applied those lessons to create the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee and spent more than five years preparing for the games. That included new venues, such as a luge run, crosscountry ski stadium and biathlon range at Mount Van Hoevenberg, two new ski jumps, a new speedskating oval and a new Fieldhouse with hockey and figure skating rinks.

That was the last small-town Olympics, and people are still surprised that the people of this village were able to successfully organize and host the games.

Yet Lake Placid was not done with international winter sports.

On the contrary, the state of New York created ORDA in 1981 to manage the Olympic venues for tourism. That included hosting World Cup events for a variety of sports, including luge, bobsled, skeleton and freestyle skiing.

Sports development programs such as the New York Ski Educa-

(Lake Placid News file photo)

tional Foundation and schools such as Northwood School and the National Sports Academy groomed aspiring Olympians.

The U.S. Olympic Committee established an Olympic Training Center here in the 1980s. USA Luge and USA Bobsled & Skeleton call Lake Placid home, using the combined bobsled-skeletonluge track at Mount Van Hoevenberg, finished in 2000 for the Winter Goodwill Games. The Empire State Winter Games celebrated its 40th annual event here this year, attracting more than 2,000 young athletes.

It’s important to note that Lake Placid and surrounding communities have sent at least one athlete to every Winter Olympics since the first one in 1924.

Lake Placid has built its Olympic legacy — brick by brick — with the hands of many for more than a century. And the future is bright.

Lake Placid is deeply rooted in the Olympic movement, and it will be for many years. It will continue to groom aspiring athletes and host international events. With the state’s multimillion-dollar investment in the Olympic venues — with construction taking place at Mount Van Hoevenberg and the ski jumps— and future improvements at Whiteface Mountain and the Olympic Center, this village is uniquely positioned to host Olympic-style events.

Lake Placid is currently preparing for the 2023 Winter World University Games, and it could one day host the Winter Youth Olympic Games. As for a third Olympics, what’s the saying? Never say never?

Thinking about Buying or Selling? Call us Today!

GUIDE BOAT REALTY LLC 191 River Street • Saranac Lake, NY 12983 • 518-891-1144

www.guideboatrealty.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 3

Olympic Roots

Lake Placid embraces Olympics, brings games here in 1932 Road to Olympics began in 1905 at Lake Placid Club

By ANDY FLYNN Editor, Lake Placid News LAKE PLACID — The official report of the III Olympic Winter Games said it best when referring to the way this village’s residents organized and hosted the games in 1932.

“For much that the Organizing Committee did there was no pattern. If it can leave one for others it will be glad.”

There was no cookie-cutter approach to the 1932 Winter Olympics; there was no cookie cutter. Especially considering the games were held during the worst depression in the country’s history.

Residents used all their best resources — physical, mental, political and financial — to successfully host the 1932 Olympics. They broke ground for others and created a lasting legacy.

Yet there’s something else that resonates in the official report of the III Olympic Winter Games. When those games were awarded in 1929, Lake Placid had already been in the winter sports business since the early 1900s. The report gives credit where credit is due.

“The Games could never have been awarded to Lake Placid if it had not been for the international standing that this resort had attained as a winter-sports center. So the history of the Games in reality goes back to that day, over a quarter of a century ago, when organized enjoyment of the sports of snow and ice and cold began where the highest peaks of the Adirondack Mountains cast their shadows on the village by the two lakes.”

This report — submitted by the III Olympic Winter Games Committee and compiled by Lake Placid News Publisher George M. Lattimer — was referring to the Lake Placid Club, a sprawling resort on the shore of Mirror Lake. The club was founded in 1895 as a summer resort by Melvil Dewey and began welcoming guests during the winter of 190405. It was Dewey’s son Godfrey that is credited for securing the 1932 games for Lake Placid, and he was president of the III Olympic Winter Games Committee.

Lake Placid Club Melvil Dewey, the controversial New York state librarian and creator of the Dewey Decimal System, invited Lake Placid Club members to spend a vacation at the Forest cottage on Mirror Lake during the winter of 1904-05, according to former Lake Placid historian Mary MacKenzie.

“Winter vacations amid ice and snow were then unheard of, but Melvil boldly ordered forty pairs of skis from Norway (not a pair could be purchased in America) and brought in a stock of skates, snowshoes, and toboggans,” MacKenzie wrote in a story about the history of the club. “Ten Club members came for that first Adirondack winter outing, which was to firmly establish Lake Placid’s claim to the title of pioneer winter

PAGE 4

Olympic Winter Games nearing centennial year

Speedskaters compete on the oval in front of the high school during the III Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid. sports resort of America.”

MacKenzie called the experiment a “rousing success.” So many people signed up for the next winter vacation that Dewey had to build a winterized clubhouse immediately. The club’s winter program continued to grow over the next decade.

In addition to new buildings to accommodate the vacationers, the club invested in winter sports facilities, such as a double-shuttle toboggan run, ski slopes and trails, ski jumps, skating, hockey and curling rinks, ice boats and four-in-hands sleighs.

Skating, the pioneer sport It was speedskating that eventually put Lake Placid on the map as far as international competition was concerned. Races were held on Mirror Lake and Mill Pond.

“It might be said that Lake Placid’s great winter sports program was born on Mill Pond,” MacKenzie wrote in a history of the pond in 1974. “One of the early toboggan slides was there, and the first skating rink in town.”

Jewtraw Park on the Station Street side of Mill Pond was named for Charles Jewtraw, a Lake Placid speedskater who won the first gold medal of any Winter Olympics in 1924 at Chamonix, France at the age of 23. A monument in the park explains Jewtraw’s connection to the pond: “It was on this MILL POND that ‘CHICK’ made his start to WORLD FAME.” As teenagers, Jewtraw and his older brother Harry competed in speedskating competitions on Mill Pond and Mirror Lake in the mid to late 1910s. Years before

Fans of Charles Jewtraw pose during a skating meet on Mirror Lake.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

being dubbed the “Lake Placid Ice Wizard,” it was Charles who began grabbing headlines at the age of 14.

“This youthful wonder sprung into promise last winter by winning about all the local races of interest,” stated the Lake Placid News (Feb. 11, 1916).

Lake Placid Skating Association The recently reorganized Lake Placid Skating Association sent Charles Jewtraw and Ray Bryant to Newburgh, New York, to compete in the Eastern Skating Association’s championships on Feb. 12, 1917.

The trip wasn’t just about skating; it was about Lake Placid’s future in the world of winter sports.

“In order to have the (Eastern Skating) association races held at Lake Placid sometime in the future Placid must first enter skaters in the association meets,” stated the Lake Placid News (Feb. 9, 1917).

“There is no place in the country better suited and better equipped as a skating center than Lake Placid, and some of the country’s coming skaters are to be found here in Charles and Harry Jewtraw, Bryant, (James) Hennessy and (Leo) Facto.”

Two years later, the Eastern Skating Association tapped Lake Placid to hold the Eastern Amateur Championship races in Lake Placid. They were held Feb. 20-21 at the Mirror Lake rink.

In what’s become a tradition for Lake Placid, the Lake Placid Skating Association sent a team of representatives away to lobby for the championships. In a conference in New York City with the Eastern Skating Association, the local committee consisted of M. C. Landon, P. J. Hennessy and Raymond Stevens (Lake Placid News, Feb. 14, 1919). The awarding of the championships was a big deal for Lake Placid.

“Eyes of the skating world focused on this resort” was a subheadline for the Feb. 14, 1919 Lake Placid News article announcing the Eastern Championships.

Henry Uihlein II Henry Uihlein II had just turned 23 years old when

Henry Uihlein II is seen in February 1920 during the International Outdoor Speed Skating Championships on Mirror Lake.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Lake Placid held the Eastern Skating Association’s championship races in Lake Placid in February 1919, and he had recently been named the president of the Lake Placid Skating Association.

A grandson of Henry Uihlein, a longtime president of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Henry Uihlein II was a director of the company for several decades until its sale in 1982. Shortly after he was born on Feb. 3, 1896, Uihlein and his family moved from Milwaukee to New York City. As a child, he was active in sports such as ice hockey, baseball and track. With an eye toward being a doctor, he was enrolled at Cornell University when he contracted tuberculosis, according to a biography written when he became an honorary life member of the Potato Association of America in 1983.

Uihlein moved to Lake Placid to regain his health, and when he did, he became a supporter of local sports, particularly speedskating. It was through his leadership that Lake Placid landed its first internationally sanctioned winter sports event, the International Outdoor Speed Skating Championships. It was a three-day event in February 1920 that pitted the best male and female U.S. and Canadian speedskaters against each other on Mirror Lake.

See 1932 - Page 5

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

By ANDY FLYNN Editor, Lake Placid News LAKE PLACID — There’s an exhibit on the Olympic movement in the Lake Placid Olympic Museum that shows — on a map — all the cities that have hosted the Olympic Winter Games around the world since 1924.

Olympia, Greece held the first recorded Olympic Games in 776 B.C., yet the modern Olympics date to the 1890s.

“When he announced in Paris, on a winter’s evening in 1892, the forthcoming reestablishment of the Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin was applauded, but nobody at the time imagined the scale of the project that reviving the ancient Olympic Games, appointing a committee in charge of organising them and creating an international movement would entail,” states the International Olympic Committee website.

Pierre de Coubertin founded the IOC in 1894 and organized the first modern games — all summer events — in 1896 in Athens, Greece, which hosted 241 athletes from 14 countries competing in 43 events.

“The modern Olympics became an international celebration of sportsmanship and peace,” the exhibit states.

Four more cities hosted the summer games before World War I broke out in 1914: Paris, France in 1900; St. Louis, USA in 1904; London, England in 1908; and Stockholm, Sweden in 1912.

After World War I, IOC officials awarded the 1920 Olympic Games to Antwerp, Belgium, a country that was torn apart during the war.

“The 1916 Olympic Games were scheduled to be held in Berlin but were cancelled due to World War I,” states the IOC website. “The 1920 Games were awarded to Antwerp to honor the suffering that had been inflicted on the Belgian people during the war.”

Countries blamed for the war were banned from participating in the 1920 games: Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

First winter events The first winter sports competitions during an Olympic Games actually occurred in Antwerp in April 1920, four months before the Aug. 14 opening ceremony. Ice hockey and figure skating events both took place at the Palais de Glace d’Anvers (Ice Palace of Antwerp).

Ice hockey matches were played between April 23 and 29. Canada — represented by the Winnipeg Falcons — won the gold, with the U.S. taking silver and Czechoslovakia getting the bronze.

In figure skating, gold medals went to Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden, men’s singles; Magda Mauroy-Julin of Sweden, women’s singles; and husband-and-wife duo Ludowika and Walter Jakobsson of Finland, pair skating.

First Winter Olympics A year after the Antwerp Olympics, the IOC announced that it would host a “Winter Sports Week” in 1924 in Chamonix, France from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5.

“This event was a great success, attracting 10,004 paying spectators, and was retrospectively named the First Olympic Winter Games,” the IOC states on its website.

In Chamonix, 258 athletes from 16 countries competed in 16 events from the following disciplines: bobsledding, cross-country skiing, figure skating, speedskating, ice hockey, ski jumping, Nordic combined, military patrol (which later became biathlon) and curling.

The 1924 Olympic Summer Games were held in Paris.

Winter Olympics schedule The Olympics are held every four years, and during the early years, the winter and summer games were typically — but not always — held in the same country: Chamonix and Paris, France in 1924; Lake Placid and Los Angeles, USA in 1932; Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Berlin, Germany in 1936.

LAKE PLACID NEWS

See HOSTS - Page 5

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

1932

Continued from Page 4

Godfrey Dewey Godfrey Dewey of the Lake Placid Club was active in the club’s Sno Birds organization, which promoted Nordic skiing in the region. The Sno Birds donated much of the money needed for the U.S. Ski Team to compete in the 1928 Olympic Winter Games at St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Dewey was the team’s manager. He personally paid the team’s dues to the International Ski Federation before they could compete.

Yet Dewey had more on his mind than participating

Olympic Roots in the Olympics; he was studying the host city’s winter sports facilities and how the event was organized and funded. He also visited other sporting facilities, such as those in Chamonix, France.

After his trip, he was convinced that Lake Placid could host a Winter Olympics. So he gathered support locally and within U.S. Olympic circles, helped bid on the 1932 Olympic Winter Games and was in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 10, 1929, when the International Olympic Committee awarded Lake Placid those games.

There were two conditions: Lake Placid must build a bobsled run if it is required

Local Olympic officials pose in front of the Lake Placid High School.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

HOSTS

Continued from Page 4

The Olympic Games in 1940 and 1944 were canceled due to World War II but resumed in 1948 with the winter games in St. Moritz, Switzerland and the summer games in London.

The schedule changed after the 1992 Olympics, with the winter games in Albertville, France and summer games in Barcelona, Spain. Starting with the Winter Olympics in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, there would be Olympic Games held every two years, although the summer games would still be four years apart, as would the winter games.

Winter host cities The following are all the past and future host cities of Olympic Winter Games.

1924 Chamonix, France 1928 St. Moritz, Switzerland 1932 Lake Placid, USA 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 1940 canceled 1944 canceled 1948 St. Moritz, Switzerland 1952 Oslo, Norway 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy 1960 Squaw Valley, USA 1964 Innsbruck, Austria 1968 Grenoble, France 1972 Sapporo, Japan 1976 Innsbruck, Austria 1980 Lake Placid, USA 1984 Sarajevo, Yugoslavia 1988 Calgary, Canada 1992 Albertville, France 1994 Lillehammer, Norway 1998 Nagano, Japan 2002 Salt Lake City, USA 2006 Turin, Italy 2010 Vancouver, Canada 2014 Sochi, Russia 2018 Pyeongchang, South Korea 2022 Beijing, China 2026 Milan-Cortina, Italy 2030 (expected to be announced in 2023)

by the International Federation of Bobsleigh and Toboggan; and organizers must provide the athletes, the IOC and all the officials “with excellent housing accommodations and food at a fixed price, not exceeding those of St. Moritz in 1928.”

The Dewey family donated a plot of land for the construction of the bobsled run at South Mountain (later renamed Mount Van Hoevenberg).

1932 Winter Olympics The III Olympic Winter Games were held from Feb. 4 to 15, 1932. There were 252 athletes from 17 countries competing in 14 events.

The sports were bobsledding, cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speedskating.

New venues were created for the games, including the bobsled run, an arena for ice hockey and figure skating and an Olympic stadium in front of the high school that was used for the opening and closing ceremonies, speedskating and hockey.

New York State Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt officially opened the games at the Feb. 4 opening ceremony. The Olympic oath was taken by local speedskating star Jack Shea, who won two gold medals during the Olympics in the 500- and 1,500-meter races. His teammate Irving Jaffee won the gold in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races.

Dewey made a speech during a Feb. 4 dinner honoring Gov. Roosevelt.

“It is our hope that thru the holding of the III Olympic Winter Games in the United States,” Dewey said, “the general interest and participation in winter sports on this side of the Atlantic, especially thruout [sic] the northeastern United States, may be set forward by at least a decade, if not a generation.”

The middle years After 1932, Lake Placid

A crowd watches ski jumping during the 1932 Olympic Winter Games. continued to use its Olympic venues and grow its reputation as a winter sports resort.

Dozens of local athletes would use these venues in their quest for Olympic gold.

The middle years — between the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid — were filled with competition, tourism, infrastructure improvements, sports development and the never-ending quest to host the Winter Olympics one more time. More winter sports facilities were added, specifically the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Grenoble, France, which won the vote.

In May 1970, Denver was awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics, yet on Nov. 7, 1972, Colorado voters rejected a referendum allocating $5 million for the games. Various cities lined up to take Denver’s place, including Lake Placid, Salt Lake City, Squaw Valley, Vancouver, St. Moritz, Grenoble, Oslo and Innsbruck.

On Feb. 4, 1973, the IOC met and decided on Inns-

bruck, the host of the 1964 Winter Olympics.

In October 1974, 72 delegates from Lake Placid traveled to Vienna, Austria, for the IOC session to make their pitch for the 1980 Winter Olympics. By the time the IOC made its decision, Lake Placid was the only formal bidder after Chamonix, France, and Vancouver, Canada, dropped out of contention, and the Winter Olympics finally returned to New York state after a 48year absence.

Olympic bids Local officials offered to host the Olympic Winter Games in 1940 and 1948, and a concerted effort to officially bid on the Olympics began in earnest for the 1952 games, which Lake Placid lost to Oslo, Norway. For the 1956 games, Lake Placid lost the bid to Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy. A large bidding delegation from Lake Placid traveled to Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964 to bid for the 1968 games against five other cities, including

British figure skater Megan Taylor poses in the arena during the 1932 Olympic Winter Games.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Supporting our Olympic Athletes!

Godfrey Dewey, on the podium, talks during the opening ceremony of the 1932 Olympic Winter Games.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Since 1963

“Celebrating 57 Years in business” 518-891-4343 • www.sandyhayesrealty.com PO Box 288 • Bloomingdale, NY 12913

Author Signing Events ~ Saturday, February 22nd 1-3PM Mike Burgess

3-5PM Wayne Coffey

A Long Shot to Glory and Keeper of the Olympic Flame

The Boys of Winter

www.thebookstoreplus.com

2491 Main Street • Lake Placid • 518-523-2950 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 5

1980 Winter Olympics

Olympic Winter Games return to Lake Placid in 1980

By ANDY FLYNN Editor, Lake Placid News LAKE PLACID — This village hosted the XIII Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 13 to 24, 1980.

The opening ceremony was held at the North Elba Show Grounds, and the closing ceremony was held in the 1980 Fieldhouse.

Athletes: 1,072 Countries: 37 Events: 38 Volunteers: 6,703 ¯ Artificial snow: Lake Placid made a lot of snow to make sure the 1980 Olympic events took place.

There was a snow drought that year, but it was cold enough to make snow. This was the first time artificial snow had been manufactured for the Olympics. ¯ Official opening of the games by: Walter Mondale, U.S. vice president ¯ Lighting of the Olympic flame by: Dr. Charles M. Kerr ¯ Olympic oath by: Eric Heiden (speedskating) ¯ Officials’ oath by: Terry McDermott (speedskating) Lake Placid 1980 emblem According to the International Olympic Committee, “The chevrons on the right represent the mountains around the Olympic region.

The U.S. torch run was designed to retrace the American Revolution Bicentennial Trail, starting in Yorktown, Virginia, where it was carried through notable cities such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City. On Feb. 6 in Albany, the flame was split in two, arriving in Lake Placid from two directions — one through the heart of the Adirondack Mountains and one along the Champlain Valley. On Feb. 8, the two flames were reunited during a ceremony at the speedskating oval.

In all, there were 52 torchbearers in the U.S. — 26 men and 26 women representing the different states, the District of Columbia and the village of Lake Placid.

“Torchbearers who best exemplified the ancient Greek ideal of the ‘whole man’ were selected to carry the torch for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games torch relay,” according to the IOC. Each torchbearer carried the torch multiple times on the 1,600-kilometer national leg of the relay route.

Constructed of bronzecolored leather and metal, the 1980 torch was 72.5 centimeters long. It was designed by Don McFarland and manufactured by Clean-

These join the vertical lines of the modified Ionic column on the left, which recalls the predecessors of the modern Olympic Games. The serration on the top of the column turns into the Olympic rings, making them look as if they are emerging from the top.

This serration symbolizes a double Olympic cauldron, to commemorate the games already held in Lake Placid in 1932.”

Lake Placid medals According to the IOC, “On the obverse, a hand holds the Olympic torch against a mountain background together with the Olympic rings and the text ‘XIII Olympic Winter Games.

“On the reverse, a pine branch with cones, the official emblem and the inscription ‘Lake Placid 1980.’”

Olympic flame According to the IOC, a 1980 torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, on Jan. 30, and the flame was carried by foot to Platanos, transported by coach to Andravida airport and by plane to Athens.

It was then flown to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, with a stopover in Shannon, Ireland, arriving on Jan. 31.

A “Welcome World We’re Ready” banner hangs outside the 1980 Fieldhouse on Feb. 12, 1980, during the Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid.

(Provided photo — Andy Flynn)

Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark races down Whiteface Mountain during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. He won gold medals in the slalom and giant slalom races. weld Turner. The fuel was liquid propane, and the burning time was 40 minutes.

During medal ceremonies on Mirror Lake, “The Olympic flame was present in the form of torches held by bearers lining the path leading to the pavilion built on the frozen surface of the lake,” according to the IOC. For the closing ceremony, the Olympic flame was burning in a cauldron suspended from the ceiling of 1980 rink. Toward the end of the ceremony, this flame was extinguished at the same time as the main cauldron flame at the show grounds.

1980 sports Alpine skiing Biathlon Bobsled Cross-country skiing Figure skating Ice hockey Luge Nordic combined Ski jumping Speedskating

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Olympic venues ¯ Olympic Speedskating Oval: Speedskating ¯ Olympic Center (1980 Fieldhouse, 1932 Arena): Figure skating, ice hockey, closing ceremony ¯ Olympic Ski Jumps (70- and 90-meter): Ski jumping, Nordic combined ¯ Mount Van Hoevenberg: Biathlon, bobsled, cross-country skiing, luge, Nordic combined ¯ Whiteface Mountain Ski Center: Alpine skiing ¯ North Elba Show Grounds: Opening ceremony

Medal ceremonies Medal ceremonies for figure skating and ice hockey were held at the Olympic Center. Medal ceremonies for the rest of the sports were held on Mirror Lake.

Participating countries Andorra Argentina Australia Austria

Belgium Bolivia Bulgaria Canada China Costa Rica Cyprus Czechoslovakia Finland France East Germany West Germany Great Britain Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Japan South Korea Lebanon Liechtenstein Mongolia Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland Romania Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland United States Yugoslavia

Former Howard Johnson’s owner remembers the 1980 Olympics (Editor’s note: This is a portion of the Feb. 13, 2015, conversation Lake Placid News Editor Andy Flynn had with Ron Butler at the Olympic Center with Lake Placid Olympic Museum Manager Alison Haas. He was 82 years old at the time and was the former owner of the Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Lake Placid. He spoke about his experiences during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.)

FLYNN: What were you doing before the Olympics, professionally?

BUTLER: I was running Howard Johnson’s, the hotel and the restaurant.

FLYNN: What did you do to prepare for the Olympics at the restaurant and the hotel?

BUTLER: We had a good staff because there were a lot of young people that wanted to be here during the Olympics and who lived in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. So it was no problem having staff.

Some people took off a year from college, and they had jobs for us.

And during the two weeks of the Olympic Games, everyone was paid time-and-a-half, so that certainly was an incentive. ...

We were open 24 hours a day, and we had all the ABC technical people stay with us. Some of them were here for six months because during that time there was no Inter-

PAGE 6

which, but by one of those so there was no gouging. You couldn’t get $300 a night or anything like that. ... The rates were capped at a certain amount.

FLYNN: There were a lot of workers that came from out of town for the Olympics. Did you have any of that?

BUTLER: No. All ours were local. They were all from Saranac Lake. They were all from Lake Placid.

Ron Butler

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn)

net, there was no wireless. Everything was cable, so everything had to be cabled on Whiteface Mountain, on Van Hoevenberg. All the venues had to be cabled. So that was a lot of work, and it took a lot of time.

We had a few people from Irving Trust, but mostly all our guests were from ABC, which was a good sale because they were there for a long period of time, for six months. ... And they were still here after the Olympics.

HAAS: Did you have to put a bid in?

BUTLER: The prices were all set by the Olympic Committee or the state of New York, I’m not sure

FLYNN: If you’re coming from Saranac Lake, you had to take a bus. How did you get your workers here?

BUTLER: They had no problem. They got here. It wasn’t a problem.

The health department came every single day, seven days a week.

FLYNN: What was it like to live in Lake Placid during the games?

BUTLER: We had a sticker on our car. We could drive any place we wanted to.

HAAS: Did you actually drive to different places?

BUTLER: Oh, yeah, sure. We drove all over. We were at the opening ceremonies, our family.

We were at the closing ceremonies.

We were at all the U.S. hockey games. It just happened that we

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

bought the right tickets. It was the luck of the draw, but we had tickets for the whole family.

FLYNN: Start with the opening ceremonies. What was it like taking the whole family?

BUTLER: It was cold! It wasn’t a problem. We drove down there.

And we had guests staying at our camp, and that was Mrs. Johnson.

That was Howard Johnson’s sister, and we provided accommodations for them. I got all the tickets for them, and when they got here, they decided that they were very comfortable at camp and the only place they were going to go, they were going to go to Howard Johnson’s and have dinner. So they came every night for dinner. They gave me all the tickets that I had gotten for them, and I gave them to the employees because they decided they weren’t going to go out in this cold. They went to the opening ceremonies. We drove them there, and, of course, we drove them back.

FLYNN: Did you do anything special for your workers? Did you throw any parties?

BUTLER: I didn’t give any parties for the workers. I gave them time-and-a-half for all the hours they worked during the Olympic period. ...

The other thing that I did was after the U.S.-Czech game, I invit-

LAKE PLACID NEWS

ed the U.S. team and the Czech team to come and have dinner. I can remember, we had roast loin of pork, which I knew was a big thing for the Czechs. And so we had the Czech team and the U.S. team, Herb Brooks and his assistant all up at the hotel and had dinner, and they drank a lot of beer. ...

We did a lot of parties. We did a huge party for the East Germans.

And of all the groups we did parties for, they were the only ones that paid cash. And I mean cash, hundred dollar bills. Everyone else was credit cards or “We’ll pay you later” or “Bill us.” ...

At that time, I had Rolf Schulte, who lives here in town. He was working for me, and he was very adept at cooking German food.

And we got all kinds of German food that normally you would not see here, like eels, that sort of thing. And the East Germans were thrilled.

FLYNN: Do you have any favorite memories from the games?

BUTLER: Of course, everybody’s favorite was the game against the Russians, and we were all there, the six of us, and we had great seats. It was on the corner by the goal when they scored the winning goal. The town was crazy.

Everybody was yelling and screaming. Personally, it was a great experience for myself and for my family.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

1980 Winter Olympics

Luge competition at Mount Van Hoevenberg

1980 U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks smiles during a press conference in the Lake Placid High School auditorium.

Operation of the shuttle bus system proved to be (Lake Placid News file photo) the biggest headache for organizers of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

(Lake Placid News file photo)

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Local Boy Scouts carry the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony. Todd Hayes, son of Sandy Here is a scene on the stretch of Main Street that Hayes, is on the far left, and Bill Borland, son of was closed to traffic during the 1980 Olympic Lee Borland, is in the middle.

Winter Games. The Palace Theatre is on the left.

(Provided photo — Sandy Hayes) (Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Ticket office on the lower end of Main Street

(Lake Placid News file photo)

Sue Cameron shares memories from the 1980 Winter Olympics (Editor’s note: This is a portion of the Feb. 26, 2015, conversation Lake Placid News Editor Andy Flynn had with Sue Cameron at the Olympic Center with Lake Placid Olympic Museum Manager Alison Haas. Cameron, who was 60 years old and the events manager at the Regional Office for Sustainable Tourism at the time, spoke about her experiences during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.)

FLYNN: Before the Olympics, what were you doing and where were you living?

CAMERON: Well, before the Olympics, I was living in Los Angeles. I was working at Universal Studios for MCA Television. I had a fantastic job which I absolutely loved, but everything was going on in Lake Placid, and it was killing me that the Olympics were coming to my hometown and I wasn’t there. So I opted to leave my wonderful job and move back to Lake Placid. It was in the fall of 1977.

FLYNN: Did you have a job lined up before you came back?

CAMERON: More or less. My brother Chris Ortloff and Steve Ortloff, my other brother, had a company by the name of Macromedia, which they published their book, “The Olympic Years,” under

Sue Cameron

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn)

that corporation. They also had an advertising agency which Chris ran here in Lake Placid. So I came back with the knowledge that if I couldn’t find a job right away, he would give me a job at the ad agency, which I ended up doing anyway and loved it.

FLYNN: What did you do to help prepare for the Olympics?

CAMERON: I volunteered. I wasn’t very involved with the Olympic things until probably 1979, when I started volunteering for some of the pre-Olympic events. And one of the events I volunteered for were the Alpine events at Whiteface.

FLYNN: Tell me about your volunteer experience during the Olympics.

CAMERON: Probably about three months before the Olympics, I kind of decided I’d had enough of the advertising world, and I gave up the job with my brother, which broke his heart, and went to work bartending at the Benchmark Restaurant on Saranac Avenue, which was a great job. It was a fun place to work during the Olympics.

But I also volunteered for Chris in ceremonies and awards, as he was chief of ceremonies and awards for the Olympic Organizing Committee. So I did a little of this and a little of that prior to the Olympics, and I helped with opening ceremonies during that whole day.

FLYNN: Tell me about that day.

CAMERON: That day was amazing. I remember arriving there early in the morning and being backstage with all the people that were going to be in the ceremony.

My one big memory for the day was at one point in the morning, Willie Davenport, who was an Olympic medalist at Mexico City and the Montreal Olympics in hurdles, I believe, the 110-meter hurdles, he was one of the Olympians performing in the opening ceremony. He was kind of a bit of a prima

donna, and he was very upset that there wasn’t any food behind the scenes that morning, and he was making a big stink about it.

So my brother tossed me the keys to his official Olympic vehicle and said, “Please, take him and get him something to eat.” So I escorted Willie Davenport to Howard Johnson’s, where we sat and had brunch ... and he was swarmed by people. So that was kind of exciting. Then we left there to go back to the opening ceremony and got stuck in traffic. And we almost missed it.

I was not going to be in the ceremony, but Willie Davenport was going to be in the ceremony. ... We dodged a lot of bullets that morning and got him back there just in the nick of time. And then I went into the stands. I had no role after that.

(Willie Davenport was a runner for the USA-1 four-man bobsled team during the 1980 Winter Olympics. He and teammate Jeff Gadley were the first black Americans to compete in the Olympic Winter Games.)

FLYNN: Tell me about your job during the Olympics.

CAMERON: Oh, what a fun place. The Benchmark Restaurant, like every other restaurant and bar in Lake Placid, was just wild during the Olympics. We had a lot of

ABC technical folks who were staying in the lodging properties around that area on Saranac Avenue who would come in every single night and eat and drink, plus a lot of tourists. It was a busy, busy place. And that, as a matter of fact, was where I was stuck during the U.S.-Russia hockey game. I was on the day shift that day, and no one would switch shifts with me. And I could have gotten a ticket to the game, but I couldn’t go because I was working.

FLYNN: Did you watch it on TV there?

CAMERON: We actually had it on live on Canadian television, so we were able to watch it live.

Everybody in Lake Placid, everybody in the North Country, could watch the game live.

My shift ended about 10 minutes before that hockey game ended, and I was really torn. I was back and forth. Should I run down there because I want to see everybody come out of the building when the game is over? But I don’t want to lose track of what’s going on in the game. ... Finally I waited and watched the whole game, and then a whole bunch of us ran out, ran down Main Street and ran into the crowd coming the opposite direction from the Olympic Center. It was pretty amazing.

The BEST Place to Watch the Games!

Your Year-Round Sports Headquarters • 32 Sony 4K HDTVs • New Video & Sound System • Giant Video Wall day, Satur 22nd ar y Febru versary Anni 40th Party ance D s 0 “8 til 7:30

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the ‘80 Olympics Saturday, February 22 ~ 7:30 til

Olympic Anniversary Special

FREE ORDER OF BONELESS WINGS with any entree Bring this ad to redeem!

(Valid 2/13-2/23/2020)

‘80s Dance Party “The Greatest Sports Moment of the 20th Century” - Sports Illustrated Cover $4 ~ Proceeds benefit Denny Allen Cardiac Foundation

Open Daily 11am-3am • Family-Friendly Dining • Take-Out Available • 518-523-4446 • 11 School Street • Lake Placid THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 7

1980 Winter Olympics

U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden wins 5 gold medals

(Editor’s note: The following is a portion of the story published in the Feb. 24, 1980, issue of the Lake Placid News.)

By LAURA VISCOME The impossible dream has become a living reality.

Eric Heiden has won five gold medals in Olympic speedskating. His final performance Saturday morning in the grueling 10,000-meter event earned him not only the Olympic gold but the Olympic and world records in this event.

That’s five medals and six records in nine days. Who could ask for anything more?

Heiden, 21 years old, of Madison, Wisconsin, skated in the second pairing. His opponent was Viktor (Lyoskin) of Russia, holder of the world record in this event.

Heiden cut six seconds off the world record with 400-meter lap times that were consistently close to 35.01 and 35.02 seconds. He posted a time of 14 minutes, 28:13 seconds in the 25-lap race.

1980 Olympic Winter Games mascot Roni raccoon skates on the ice.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

How 1980 mascot ‘Roni’ raccoon was named (Editor’s note: The following story was published in the Aug. 30, 1979, issue of the Lake Placid News.)

Recent reports from the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee have bemoaned the fact that the Olympic mascot — the raccoon — has not had the marketing appeal that had been hoped for. Unlike the well-known symbol of the Summer Games — the Russian bear “Misha” — the little raccoon was not well-known. After all, how could he become a household word without a name?

To alleviate the situation, the LPOOC, with the help of a supermarket chain in the Albany area, devised a contest to entice area youngsters 15 and under to use their imaginations to name the Olympic raccoon. After sorting through 400 entries, the little raccoon finally got its handle — “Roni.”

Tom Golonka, 12, of Guilderland, the winner of the contest, had some interesting reasons for his choice.

“I decided to pick an Indian name for the Olympic symbol because the original inhabitants of New York state, the site for the 1980 Winter Olympics, were the Iroquois,” Tom said.

The letter he wrote contained five alternate names, all based on Iroquois words, one of which was “Roni.”

According to Tom, the name comes from “atiron,” which means raccoon in the Iroquois tongue. He suggested it be shortened to Roni. His letter also contained a bibliography of the seven books about Indians that the studious youngster had used. Tom quoted from one of the books to explain his choice: “The Iroquois believed that game animals were among the good things placed on earth by the creator and were to be used carefully and respectfully. Animals were considered intelligent, conscious beings who inhabit the same spiritual world as humans.”

Before the first Europeans settled in the New World, the area that is now New York state was ruled by the Iroquois League — comprised of the Mohawk, the Cayuga, the Seneca, the Onondaga and the Oneida, Tom explained.

Since this was Iroquois territory, their word for raccoon would be the most appropriate name for the mascot, he argued.

Since the contest judges agreed with him, Tom will receive two tickets to the opening ceremonies in February’s games as his prize.

Eric Heiden’s five gold medals U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden won gold medals in the following races: 500 meters, 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.

Interview with Lake Placid Olympic Museum Lake Placid Olympic Museum Director Alison Haas interviewed Heiden in 2015 for a speedskating exhibit.

“When it comes to being the best of the best, not only do you have to have the physical attributes but you also have to have that mental toughness,” Heiden said. “... Looking back, I think a lot of it was sort of mental preparation where prior to going to sleep, I’m going to say just about every night, I used to rehearse races in my head. ... Your goal when you’re racing the clock is to cross that finish line with nothing left. If you can do that, you are successful. If you cross that finish line with something left in the gas tank, you did not skate a good race. If you blew up before you hit the finish line, again, you The Adirondack Daily Enterprise and Lake Placid did not skate a good race and you didn’t calculate the effort News produced the Daily Olympic Digest during that you were putting in. There’s something to step back and the 1980 Olympic Winter Games. learn from.”

Staff at the Olympic Village for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games began welcoming athletes during the last week of January. Located in Ray Brook, it was converted to the Federal Correctional Institution — a medium-security prison — after the Olympics. Needless to say, it was a secure place for athletes to sleep, recover and unwind during the games. It included a discotheque, movie theater, performing arts theater, game room, physical therapy room, elaborate medical facilities, two libraries, equipmentrepair rooms, hair salon, post office, bank and dining room seating 700 persons.

(Lake Placid News file photo)

The press center during the 1980 Winter Olympics was located at the Lake Placid High School.

(Lake Placid News file photo)

A living Roni raccoon from the Utica Zoo

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

PAGE 8

Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee President Rev. J. Bernard Fell, second from left, chats Athletes play pinball at the Olympic Village durat the Fieldhouse during the 1980 Olympics. ing the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

LAKE PLACID NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

1980 Winter Olympics

The U.S. hockey team celebrates on Feb. 22, 1980, during the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid after beating the Soviet Union team 4-3 in what became known as the “Miracle on Ice.” Two days later, the U.S. team beat Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

‘Miracle on Ice’ became an underdog story for the ages (This is the “Miracle on Ice” story the Lake Placid News printed in a special edition dated Sunday, Feb. 24, 1980.)

By STEPHEN J. ROBERTS In one of the greatest moments in United States Olympic history, Captain Mike Eruzione scored on a 30-foot shot exactly midway through the third period to vault the United States Olympic hockey team to a stunning 4-3 underdog triumph Friday night over the gold medal favorite Soviet Union squad.

With the score deadlocked at 33, the former Boston University star broke free in the middle of the Soviet zone and picked up a pass from Mark Pavelich. Breaking toward the goal, Eruzione used a Soviet defender to screen substitute goalie Vladimir Myshkin and score with a low shot on the stick side.

Pandemonium broke loose in the Olympic Ice Center, as the entire U.S. squad emptied the bench to pile on the 25-year-old Winthrop, Mass. native. The now familiar chant of “U.S.A.-U.S.A.” filled the 8,500-seat fieldhouse, which was packed to about 11,000.

Wild jubilant bands of fans roamed the Lake Placid streets after the game proclaiming the victory to the world. At Jimmy’s 21 on Main Street, the bar crowd stood and spontaneously sang the Star Spangled Banner as the last seconds ticked off the clock.

The win marked the first victory for an American hockey team over the Soviets in 20 years. In Squaw Valley in 1960, a similar scrapping, clawing, underdog U.S. team routed the Russians 9-4 to claim this country’s only hockey gold medal.

Just 13 days before, the two teams had a confrontation in Madison Square Garden and the Soviets pulled off a one-sided 10-3 win. At the time, U.S. coach Herb Brooks said the loss would help his team if they were fortunate enough to meet

the Russians in the Olympic medal round.

After the game, Brooks quietly summed up the meaning of the victory: “This moment was meant to be. We play as a family, we don’t have individual stars.”

President Jimmy Carter made a congratulatory phone call to the coach after the game, and invited the entire U.S. team to the White House Monday aboard Air Force One. Brooks said the team will gladly accept the honor of sharing a Coke with the president.

For the Soviets, it was their first loss since falling to Czechoslovakia, 5-4, in 1968, and only their sixth Olympic loss since 1956.

They outshot the Americans 3916, and had a clear edge in territorial play.

Russian Coach Viktor Tikhonov was tightlipped in defeat. He said: “The people in the Soviet Union will be upset by this.”

Hard-nosed defense and heavy body checking by the spirited U.S. players continually frustrated the usually precise Soviet passing game. Relying on only two sets of defensemen — because of the injury to Jack O’Callahan — Ken

Morrow and Mike Ramsey were a solid, often intimidating, wall in front of netminder Jim Craig, who was tested many times in the contest.

It was the sterling play of Craig that helped key the win as he staved off the relentless pressure of the Soviet attackers — who controlled the puck so well they often appeared to be on the power play.

The U.S. trailing 3-2 in the third period, Vladimir Krutov was sent to the penalty box for high sticking Neal Broten. With the penalty almost killed off, Dave Silk started out of his own end carrying the puck down the left side and slipped a pass to Mark Johnson. The 1979 collegiate player of the year, Johnson made no mistake as he directed the puck low into the net for his second goal, tying the game at 8:39.

But the impossible came just 1:21 later when Eruzione hammered Pavelich’s pass over the stick of a surprised and confused Myshkin.

A frustrated Soviet team came flying back, however, and managed to penetrate close enough to hit the top left goalpost. Craig was called

upon to make numerous stops in the U.S. net.

The U.S. players were eager and aggressive going into the game.

After Pavelich hit the post about six minutes into the first period, Vladimir Krutov staked the Soviets to a 1-0 lead at 9:12 when he deflected an offspeed slapshot from the defenseman Aleksei Kasatonov past Craig on the short side.

Drawing on the power of the partisan spectators, Buzz Schneider flew in over the blueline and blasted a 40-foot slapshot over the usually sure glove hand of Vladislav Tretiak. Schneider took a rink-wide pass from Pavelich and used defenseman Biljaletdinov as a screen to record his fifth goal of the tournament.

The Americans picked up the tempo of the game dramatically.

Action went from end to end, with heavy hitting by both teams.

The Soviets took a 2-1 lead at 17:34 of the first when Sergei Makarov beat Craig over the glove side. The goal was a perfect execution of the 3-on-2 break, as Makarov skated into the U.S. zone, picked up the puck when his first shot was stopped and rammed his second attempt home.

The wind was knocked out of the Soviet machine with one second left to play in the first period. Skating towards the red line, Dave Christian, whose father played on the 1960 U.S. Olympic squad, let go with a slapshot that Tretiak played casually. The rebound rolled to Johnson and the University of Wisconsin All-American gathered in the puck pulled wide to the left and beat the confused Soviet goaltender.

Shocked and angered, the Soviets skated off. But with one second on the game clock, they had to send three players back to take a perfunctory face-off.

At the start of the second period, the Soviets pulled the normally stalwart Tretiak from the net in

favor of the younger Myshkin. At 27, Tretiak, considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world, has been with the Soviet national team since 1970, and was the backbone in the 1972 and 1976 gold medal victories.

The Russian team bounced back to recapture the lead at 2:18 of the second, when Alexandre Maltsev scooped up a bouncing puck in his equipment and carried it halfback style past two U.S. defenders and beat an outstretched Craig. John Harrington was off for the U.S. with a two-minute holding penalty.

After the Americans took the lead in the third, the crowd could smell a victory but with ten minutes left to play they had to stave off constant pressure by the Soviets. During one two-minute stretch of play, the U.S. couldn’t advance the puck past center ice.

From the bench Coach Brooks calmed his players: “Play your game, play your game.”

On defense, Morrow and Ramsey began to assert their physical strength as they cleared Soviet players from in front of the net.

Despite mounting heavy pressure, the Soviets played frustrated as they came up empty at the horn.

Brooks said the game was a case of the men against the boys, and the boys won. The U.S. game plan was to skate aggressively in the offensive zone and stack up the Russians in center ice.

After the game, Team Captain Eruzione summed up the last ten minutes after his go-ahead goal: “I was trying to tell people to relax, but I don’t think God could have come down to calm us down.”

The victory gives the U.S. three points in the round robin medal playoffs. The Soviets have the two points they started with in the tournament.

The U.S. will next face off against Finland at 11 a.m. Sunday, and a win assures them the first gold hockey medal in 20 years.

Proud to celebrate Lake Placid’s Olympic history

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 9

40th Anniversary

L

Welcome to the 40th anniversary celebration

ake Placid holds its place in Olympic history with great pride. Everyone who lives here knows someone connected to the event — athletes, volunteers, spectators. We continue to share our community with Olympic athletes — past, present and future.

It is with this pride and in honor of our legacy that an organization of community groups — Lake Placid Business Association, state Olympic Regional Development Authority, Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, New York Ski Educational Foundation — and other interested community members joined together to create a 10-day party to celebrate this milestone.

The event will look back to what solidified our place in Olympic history, but we will also look to our present and the many athletes from our region who have competed at the Olympic level or who currently are competing in locations around the world, not to mention those from other parts of the country and the world who compete and train here.

But equally as important are those who aspire to be Olympians and how they will carry this legacy forward for decades to come.

It is the importance of this legacy and its continuation that has spurred investment in our Olympic

venues to further solidify our place in history as the winter sports capital and to continue to nurture and develop the Olympic dreams of future generations.

It is our legacy that allows us to welcome large, international events like the 2023 Winter World University Games and other international sports competitions. These events enhance our community by making an investment in us that then allows us to make investments back to our communities.

The celebration will be filled with a lot of fun and informative events. There will be opportunities to meet with athletes from the past, the present and the future. There will be sales and promotions in our shops all over town as well as themed specials in many of our restaurants. There will also be opportunities to mingle with all of us who hold this legacy dear and work to keep it alive and well for another 40 years and beyond.

Please join us for one event or two events or all of them!

Lori Fitzgerald Chairperson Olympic 40th Anniversary Committee Lake Placid

Lake Placid’s cauldron from the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at the North Elba Show Grounds was restored for the 10th anniversary and continues to be used periodically during special events, particularly every four years to celebrate the Winter Olympics wherever they’re being held around the globe. The cauldron will be lit during the 40th anniversary opening ceremony, starting at 5:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14.

(Enterprise/News photo — Chris Knight)

Thanks to the 40th anniversary sponsors SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSORS

OFFICIAL OUTFITTER

PAGE 10

FLAME SPONSORS

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

40th Anniversary

Schedule of Events Interact with past, present and future bobsled athletes. Hear their stories, and learn about the sport, with photo opportunities and an autograph session. Noon. Lamy Lodge, Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Free. ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free.

Thursday, Feb. 13 ¯ Lake Placid Olympic Museum exhibit opening: “Totally ’80” exhibit with a 40th birthday party for 1980 Olympic Winter Games mascot Roni raccoon, 6:30 p.m., Olympic Center. Free.

Friday, Feb. 14 ¯ Dale of Norway Trunk Show: Includes a commemorative 40th anniversary design, all day, Ruthie’s Run. Free. ¯ American Cup Short-Track Speedskating: Watch the precision and excitement of international short-track speedskating, noon - 5 p.m., Olympic Center. Admission cost. ¯ Torch Run and Parade: Join past Olympians, 1980 volunteers and local youth organizations, as well as original 1980 torch runners in this festive parade down Saranac Avenue, Main Street and along Cascade Road to the North Elba Show Grounds. 5 p.m. Free. ¯ Opening Ceremony: Includes the 1980 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony speech by the late J. Bernard Fell, lighting of the 1980 cauldron and fireworks. 5:45 p.m., North Elba Show Grounds.

Free.

Saturday, Feb. 15 ¯ Dale of Norway Trunk Show: Includes a commemorative 40th anniversary design, all day, Ruthie’s Run. Free. ¯ Skate With Your Heart: Free skate with opportunities to donate to the R. Dennis Allen Cardiac Prevention Fund, 10 a.m. - noon, 1980 Rink at the Olympic Center. ¯ Learn to Curl: Learn the basics of curling with the Lake Placid Curling Club on the Mirror Lake ice at the municipal beach house, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Free. ¯ Meet the Luge Athletes: Interact with past, present and future USA Luge athletes. Hear their stories, and learn about the sport, with photo opportunities and an autograph session. Noon. Lamy Lodge, Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Free. ¯ American Cup Short-Track Speedskating: Watch the precision and excitement of international short-track speedskating, 12:30-9 p.m., Olympic Center. Admission cost. ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ 1980 Memories: Share memories of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, 7-9 p.m., Cabin Grill, Hotel North Woods. Free.

Sunday, Feb. 16 ¯ Dale of Norway Trunk Show: Includes a commemorative 40th anniversary design, all day, Ruthie’s Run. Free. ¯ American Cup Short-Track Speedskating: Watch the precision and excitement of international short-track speedskating, 8:30 a.m.

- 5 p.m., Olympic Center. Admission cost. ¯ Discover Biathlon: Learn about this winter sports from local Olympic biathlete Tim Burke. 1 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Friday, Feb. 21

p.m. Olympic Sports Complex, Mount Van Hoevenberg. Free. ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ Trivia Night: Test your knowledge of 1980s trivia with the Lake Placid Rotary Club. 7 p.m. Lake Placid Conference Center. Free.

Monday, Feb. 17 ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ Lake Placid’s Olympic Legacy, an Athlete’s Perspective: Listen to stories from past, present and future Olympic athletes: Buzz Schneider, 1980 gold medalist, ice hockey; Gordy Sheer, 1992 silver medalist, luge; Erin Hamlin, 2014 bronze medalist, luge; Tim Burke, four-time Olympian, biathlon; Van Ledger, 2020 Youth Olympic Games athlete, biathlon; Maddy Cohen, 2020 Youth Olympic Games athlete, monobob. 7 p.m.

Lake Placid Center for the Arts.

Free.

Tuesday, Feb. 18 ¯ Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer Skatea-Thon: 3-5 p.m., Olympic Speedskating Oval. Learn more about this fundraiser at www.mysk8.org/ LakePlacidNY2020. ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s

Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ Dream On: 40th Anniversary Skating Gala: Join members of the 1980 figure skating team for a multimedia presentation and discussion. Live performances by Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc, along with U.S. champion Ryan Bradley, U.S. ice dance champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates and the Skating Club of Lake Placid. 8 p.m. Olympic Center.

Admission cost.

Wednesday, Feb. 19 ¯ Last Chair at Whiteface with Olympians Andrew Weibrecht and Thomas Vonn: Take a run or two with Olympic Alpine ski racers Andrew Weibrecht and Thomas Vonn. Then join them at the Cloudspin Lounge for refreshments music from the 1980s. 2:30 p.m.

Whiteface Mountain Ski Center.

Free. ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ “Miracle” movie: Watch the Disney movie “Miracle” about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. 7 p.m. Palace Theatre. Free admission and popcorn.

Thursday, Feb. 20 ¯ Meet the Bobsled Athletes:

¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ 1980s Family Fun Party: DJ, dancing, games, Skyride and elevator to the top of the 120-meter ski jump tower, fireworks. 7 p.m.

Olympic Jumping Complex.

Admission cost.

Saturday, Feb. 22 ¯ Olympic-themed Arts & Crafts with Dan Jansen: Enjoy arts, crafts and games and hear stories from and meet Olympic speedskater Dan Jansen. 10 a.m. - noon.

Lake Placid Public Library. Free. ¯ Meet the Skeleton Athletes: Interact with past, present and future skeleton athletes. Hear their stories, and learn about the sport, with photo opportunities and an autograph session. Noon. Lamy Lodge, Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Free. ¯ Book signing: With Mike Burgess, author of “A Long Shot to Glory: How Lake Placid Saved the Winter Olympics and Restored the Nation’s Pride” and “Keeper of the Olympic Flame: Lake Placid’s Jack Shea vs. Avery Brundage and the Nazi Olympics.” 1-3 p.m. Bookstore Plus. ¯ Vintage 1980 Wine Tasting: 2-4 p.m. Terry Robards’ Wine & Spirits. ¯ Book signing: With Wayne Coffey, author of “The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team.” 3-5 p.m.

Bookstore Plus. ¯ Fun Zone: 4-6 p.m., Mid’s Park, Main Street. Free. ¯ Dan Jansen — Perseverance and Perspective: Meet four-time Olympian and 1994 gold medal speedskater Dan Jansen, and hear his inspirational story. 7 p.m. High Peaks Resort. Free.

Sunday, Feb. 23

¯ Lake Placid Baptist Church Special 40th Anniversary Service: “Olympic Beginnings, the Birth of a Church.” A team from several Southern Baptist churches volunteered during the 1980 Olympics. Some stayed and started the Lake Placid Baptist Church.

10:15 a.m. Lake Placid Baptist Church. Free. ¯ 1980 Olympic Artifacts & Storytelling: The Lake Placid Olympic Museum invites Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee members, former employLake Placid Olympic Museum Director Alison Haas shows off a commemo- ees, volunteers and community rative ski boot mug from the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, which is in the members to share stories about collection. The museum will host a 1980 Olympic Artifact & Storytelling their experiences during the 1980 event at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23 at the Lake Placid Conference Center. Olympic Winter Games. People are People — including members of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Com- encouraged to bring one artifact mittee, former employees and volunteers — are invited to share memories from the 1980 games and tell stoof their 1980 Olympic experience or bring one artifact from the games and ries about it. 6:30 p.m. Lake Placid tell a story about it.

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn) Conference Center. Free. ¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 11

1980 Winter Olympics (Editor’s note: Here is a small portion of Linda Lumsden’s story on the opening ceremony for the 1980 Winter Olympics in the Feb. 17, 1980, issue of the Lake Placid News.)

By LINDA LUMSDEN LAKE PLACID — The XIII Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid Wednesday (Feb. 13, 1980) with a spectacular celebration of sound and color splashed against the majestic canvas of the snow-dusted Adirondack Mountains.

Some 23,000 well-bundled persons cheered their approval as the polychromatic circus of hot-air balloons, parachutists, marching bands, racing pigeons, ice skaters, firecrackers, fluttering banners and the flaming Olympic cauldron welcomed 1,359 international athletes to the hamlet, button-popping proud that 30 years after embarking on its single-minded quest it is making good its awesome pledge to host the world.

“We’ll be prouder if we can say here we not only contributed to peace in the world,” the Rev. J. Bernard Fell, president of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee, told the crowd on a cold clear afternoon during a two-hour ceremony officially opened by Vice President Walter F. Mondale. ... The crowd stood to cheer the American team, as hosts the last to be introduced, while its members waved their Stetson cowboy hats in greetings to the stands. ...Over the hill appeared the Olympic flame, carried by Charles Kerr, 44, of Arizona, one of 52 runners who carried the torch here 780 miles from Yorktown, Virginia.

The crowd roared as Mr. Kerr approached the tower ... where the flame, lit in Greece Jan. 30, will burn through Feb. Torch runner Charles Kerr, of Arizona, holds his torch high after lighting the cauldron Feb. 13, 1980, during the opening ceremony of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid.

24.

(Provided photo — Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

YOUR EXCLUSIVE HEADQUARTERS for 40 th Anniversary Apparel Main Street • Lake Placid, NY

BearEssentialsApparel.com

Guiding you on the path to better health for over a century, whether you’re a world-class athlete or a regular citizen.

Adirondack Health is the Official Hospital of the Lake Placid Olympic & Paralympic Training Center. Our medical experts are trusted to give care to some of the best athletes in the world.

But even if you’re not out there competing in the snow and winning medals, we make it our goal to give every patient excellent care.

We are compassionate caregivers who are dedicated to guiding our Adirondack community to better health.

Make an appointment at 518-897-APPT (2778). adirondackhealth.org

PAGE 12

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Olympic Legacy

1980 Olympics after-use planning leads to creation of ORDA The Lake Placid News archives show that creating an after-use plan for the sports venues used during the XIII Olympic Winter Games in February 1980 was a process that took more than a year to put into action.

Members of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee knew they had to figure out what to do with the facilities, yet it was the debt incurred from the games that eventually put a plan into place and created the state Olympic Regional Development Authority.

Jan. 10, 1980 Lake Placid News

town Supervisor Jack Shea.

He said the North Elba Park District will be the main agency responsible for running the facilities.

He did not specify how the committee will persuade state officials who operate Whiteface Mountain and the bobsled and luge runs to relinquish control over those stateowned facilities.

“The feeling is something should be done for the youth of America,” Shea said.

LPOOC officials had assured residents during planning for the games that the facilities would be self-sustaining after the Olympics.

Aug. 28, 1980 Lake Placid News

Town adopts after-use plan The North Elba Town Board Tuesday adopted an Olympic sports facilities afteruse plan, considered to be a crucial first step toward winning state and federal funding for operating the facilities.

The plan calls for establishing a North Elba Advisory Committee for afteruse with two charges: lobbying to create a state commission to help win government funding for running the facilities; and winning designation of Lake Placid as the eastern winter sports training center from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

But the plan goes far beyond the town’s original intentions to focus on the Olympic training center designation as the key to insuring that the facilities be financially selfsupporting.

It calls for using the venues for recreational sports, beginning and intermediate sports training camps and clinics, concerts, plays and conventions, and sports competitions as well as for training Olympic athletes.

The afteruse committee, which will include representatives from North Elba, Lake Placid, the Lake Placid Central School and the state, will meet after the Olympics with the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee task force, which drew up the plan, according to

Pratt to head committee Raymond Pratt of Lake Placid was retained last week by New York State Olympic Facilities Study Committee’s interim subcommittee as coordinator of its after-use study.

DEC Commissioner and Olympic Facilities Committee Chairman Robert F. Flacke made the announcement on Aug. 21.

The venues involved in the afteruse study include the Mount Van Hoevenberg Recreation Complex and Whiteface Mountain Ski Center, both operated by the state of New York; and the Olympic Center, Olympic ski jumps and Olympic Speedskating Oval, owned and operated by the town of North Elba and Lake Placid Central School District.

Pratt was a former Lake Placid high School teacher and was sports director for the LPOOC from May 1978 to July 1980.

July 9, 1981 Lake Placid News Carey signs ORDA legislation

By STEPHEN J. ROBERTS Beginning a new era in North Elba sports history, Gov. Hugh L.

Area school children watch World Cup bobsled action in 2016 at the Olympic Sports Complex sliding track at Mount Van Hoevenberg, operated by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority.

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn)

Carey signed legislation Tuesday (July 7) creating an Olympic Regional Development Authority.

The ceremonious bill signing at the base of Intervales ski jumps marked the end of 50 years of sports management by the North Elba Park District.

Operation, promotion and management of all the facilities used during the 1980 Winter Olympics will fall under the auspices of the new authority.

Along with giving the authority management responsibilities, the legislation also opens the way for the state to make available about $6 million to pay off the remaining debts of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee. Current estimates place that debt at between $6 and $8.5 million.

Under terms of the new law, the Olympic Ice Center complex, speedskating oval and ski jumps at Intervales will be transferred from

control of the North Elba Park District to ORDA. Since the authority was first proposed by the governor last January (1981), the town and state have worked through several drafts of legislation.

Although the bill was passed by the state Legislature last Friday, several major road blocks had to be ironed out in 11th hour negotiations led by state Sen. Ronald B. Stafford of Peru.

At the bill signing, North Elba Supervisor Jack Shea reflected: “This is a time to weep and a time to rejoice. I weep because historically we are pulling a curtain on the North Elba Park District. The old order changes and gives way to the new. These are new facilities with new expenses that may be too great for our park district.

“We have never denied our expertise but at the same time we recognize the power of the state of

New York to come in and make these facilities work for the economic good of the North Country.”

Mr. Shea said he expects the North Elba Town Board to give approval to the development authority.

Carey has announced that he will appoint Environmental Conservation Commissioner Robert F. Flacke as chairman of the authority.

“Now with the legislation we sign today,” Carey said tuesday, “New York stands ready to preserve and promote the remarkable facilities that were built for the 1980 Olympics.” ... The authority will be responsible for development of a comprehensive program of activities for the Olympic facilities. ... The state facilities at Mount Van Hoevenberg and Whiteface Mountain will also come under the jurisdiction of the authority.

Denny Allen remembers his role during the 1980 Olympics

By ANDY FLYNN Editor, Lake Placid News

play.

FLYNN: During an event, what would you be doing?

ALLEN: During an event, it would mostly be the ice, making sure the ice was made on time. If it was snowing, we’d have to keep the track cleaned.

(Editor’s note: This is a portion of the Feb. 9, 2015, conversation Lake Placid News Editor Andy Flynn had with Denny Allen at the Olympic Center with Lake Placid Olympic Museum Manager Alison Haas. Allen, who was 60 years old and the general manager of the Olympic Center at the time, spoke about his experiences during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

Allen died on Feb. 1, 2019.)

FLYNN: What were you doing before the Olympics?

ALLEN: I went to high school here. I went away to school at St. Lawrence. I graduated from St. Lawrence, came back and worked as a carpenter at the federal prison when it was being built. And halfway through that job, I was given an opportunity to work for Ray Pratt in the sports department of the Olympics, and I was administrative assistant in charge of ice events.

FLYNN: What did you do to help prepare for the Olympics?

ALLEN: As administrative assistant for all the ice sports, I took care of all the little details. For instance, making sure there were enough hockey pucks for the event, housing, transportation, who was going where, any minute detail.

That was my job.

FLYNN: When were you hired for that?

ALLEN: It was the fall of ’78.

Denny Allen

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn)

FLYNN: What exactly did you do during the Olympics?

ALLEN: During the Olympics, I was the manager of the speedskating oval. I represented the organizing committee’s interests in what was going on at the oval. The schedule was pretty much set. We just had to make sure things went right in the area of the event, the ice, the timing, the locker rooms, that type of thing.

FLYNN: Specifically, what would you have to do?

ALLEN: Make sure the venue opened on time, all the teams got what they needed for practice, practice ice, make sure the ice was good, deal with any problems they had, the pre-games along with the games, just detail-oriented stuff. I wasn’t really involved too much with the spectator end of things. I was more involved in the field of

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

HAAS: Was there anything that happened during one of the events that you had to make a quick repair to the ice?

ALLEN: No, we were pretty lucky as I remember. I think one day it snowed fairly hard, but once the race started, they wouldn’t really let you fool with the track because it might give somebody an advantage.

The one thing I do remember, I think Eric Heiden had won four gold medals, and I think the last race was maybe the 10,000-meter.

It was the longest race. And in that corner by the town hall on one of his laps, he almost fell. I mean, you could hear, there’s so much tension — was he gonna do this, was he gonna get five gold medals — and he just somehow caught an edge and slipped a little. And the place just gasped. But he, being the athlete he was, he didn’t even miss a beat, but everybody else’s heart stopped. But he just motored through it.

There was no real rain or drastic changes in the weather.

FLYNN: At that gasp moment, what was going through your mind?

ALLEN: I was panicking,

because I knew what was at stake.

It was just a nanosecond. I mean if you weren’t watching and you weren’t right there looking at him, you wouldn’t have noticed it. But those people in that corner in front of the town hall certainly noticed it, and I’m sure he remembers it.

FLYNN: At that venue, what was the highlight during the Olympics?

ALLEN: I think the highlight was Eric Heiden. ... You won’t ever see that again because there are so many specialists. He raced every race, and he won every race.

You won’t find that today or in the future, I don’t think. He’s just a dynamic guy. He would hang out in the zamboni garage rather than hang out in the locker room area.

He was very much to himself and kept very quiet. He was focused, let’s say.

FLYNN: Did you have any interaction with him?

ALLEN: To say hello and stuff, nothing too fancy.

FLYNN: Your work day during the Olympics, what was it like?

ALLEN: It started like at 4 in the morning, and this guy Nick ... every day he brought in this schnapps and like at 4 in the morning we’d have to have a drink of that before we started work. And this stuff was like lighter fluid, and that got your day going. It usually went until probably 9-10 at night.

FLYNN: Aside from your work day, what was life like for you?

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

ALLEN: It was pretty much just work. My wife and I, we got moved out of the apartment we were in, and we stayed with some friends near the oval on McLenathen Avenue or somewhere, an apartment down there, so it was pretty easy for me. I could walk back and forth to work. You know, but you had to plan ahead, you know, with your grocery shopping, that type of stuff.

Traveling, I had all kinds of passes that I could go anywhere, but it was such a hassle. I can remember I went to the opening ceremonies, and I drove down and I ended up coming back with a pickup truck filled with people. Literally 25 people in the back of the pickup because they couldn’t get a ride. You had to plan ahead, any movement you made, any shopping you wanted to do, you had to be aware because it was hard to move around just to do your day-to-day stuff.

FLYNN: How did the 1980 games change your life?

ALLEN: It opened up a lot of friendships. It opened up a whole different world to me. Prior to that, the Olympics was something you saw on TV. You didn’t realize quite the amount of work that went into that. And it gave me a wordly view that I didn’t have before that of a lot of things, of politics, of people. This Olympics was a melting pot, and I think it exposed a lot of people to a lot of people from different walks of life, with different interests, and it was a growing experience for sure.

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 13

Olympic Legacy

New York state invests millions in the Olympic venues

By ELIZABETH IZZO Staff Writer Enterprise/News LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid’s Olympic sports venues are in a state of change not seen since before the arrival of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.

With millions of dollars in funding committed by the state in the last few years — and another $147 million proposed recently as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2020-21 Executive Budget proposal — every local facility managed by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority is in the process of being revitalized.

Those updates, officials say, will set up the area to retain and expand upon its status as an internationally recognized winter sports hub.

“I think the goal is really clear,” said Jim McKenna, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Lake Placid. “That goal is now 100 years old.”

The first time Lake Placid hosted an international sporting event was in February 1920 for speedskating. The focus right now is on preparations for the 2023 World University Games, an event second only in size to the Olympics.

“The opportunities the World University Games have brought to our region ... it’s unusual for venues to be updated without an Olympics coming to town,” McKenna said. “As we look beyond those, the opportunities for other international sporting events is very clear.”

Asked if he thought it’s possible that Lake Placid could land a third Olympic Games in the future, North Elba town Supervisor Jay Rand, a former Olympic ski jumper who served on the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1980 games, said, “Nothing is impossible.”

“I think if people are serious about having an Olympics here, you’d have to work with Glens Falls, Albany and downstate somewhat, and divide it up,” Rand said, noting that the games have grown in size significantly since Lake Placid last hosted.

“My feeling is that what we’re doing now with World Cups, World Championships and national competitions ...

I think that’s, to be honest, what’s most important.”

Olympic Center, Olympic Speedskating Oval The Olympic Center hosts a variety of figure skating and hockey events each year.

It serves as a venue for both local youth teams and pro-

vibrant facility year-round,” Pratt said. “We think the offseason will be very busy there, as will the in-season.

Between pass holders and visitors, the winters are going to be just as vibrant as the summer.”

The sliding track continues to be used for international competition such as World Cup races for bobsled, skeleton and luge.

Lake Placid’s Jack Lawrence speeds down the 90-meter hill on Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Olympic Ski Jumping Complex. fessional teams to practice.

This April, the center will host the International Skating Union World Synchronized Skating Championships for the first time.

The 1932 arena was the first piece of the modern Olympic Center complex to be built. The rink hosted the first indoor figure skating and hockey competitions in the history of the Winter Olympics. The Olympic Speedskating Oval was constructed in 1929, also ahead of the 1932 Olympics.

The Olympic Center complex expanded in 1977 in the leadup to the 1980 Olympic Winter Games with a new Fieldhouse. The USA Rink and what’s now called the 1980 Rink in the Herb Brooks Arena were built at the same time — as were offices, a smaller practice rink, a cafeteria, locker rooms and space that would later be occupied by the Lake Placid Hall of Fame and the Lake Placid Olympic Museum. The 400-meter oval was also rebuilt in advance of the 1980 Olympics.

The Olympic Center expanded yet again in 2008, when the Lussi Rink was demolished and replaced with the 90,000-square-foot Conference Center, a project that received a total of $22 million in state funding under then-Gov. George Pataki’s administration and opened in 2011.

With more state investment under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, ORDA is gearing up for another large-scale project at the Olympic Center. This upcoming project, expected to cost upward of $100 million, will reshape the look of the facility while modernizing its amenities. Construction will be broken up into nine phases, according to ORDA CEO Michael Pratt.

The first phase of the project includes the construction of an underground “spectator tunnel” connecting the ice rink complex to the oval. It is

Whiteface Mountain Ski Center, Wilmington

(Enterprise/News file photo)

PAGE 14

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

expected to be complete this December.

The next eight phases may include the construction of a parking garage on a piece of land currently used by teachers and staff of the Lake Placid Middle-High School for parking, an outdoor deck overlooking Main Street, space for a sports bar and restaurant, full replacement of the oval and installation of new refrigeration units, expansion of the Lake Placid Olympic Museum and improvements to the 1932 and 1980 arenas as well as the USA Rink.

Pratt said ORDA will be “actively working toward completion” of the projects by late summer or early fall 2022.

“With the enhancements and modernizations at the Olympic Center, what we targeted were our programs, our ability to manage ice better, new locker rooms, better our customers’ experiences with better food service and kiosks and bathrooms,” Pratt said. “It’s not a lot of bells and whistles, it’s more programmatic in our customers’ usage.”

Mount Van Hoevenberg The Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Hoevenberg boasts a biathlon range, cross-country ski trails and a track for bobsled, luge and skeleton.

The first event hosted at what’s now the Olympic Sports Complex was a fourmile “ski-running” competition on Feb. 22, 1921.

That race was organized by the Lake Placid Club, an exclusive members-only resort around which the modern village of Lake Placid was built. The Lake Placid Club was established

by Melvil Dewey, the creator of the Dewey Decimal System. His son, Godfrey Dewey, was president of the III Olympic Winter Games Committee Mount Van Hoevenberg didn’t host any of the 1932 Nordic ski races. The Nordic

combined event was held at the Intervales site, now called the Olympic Jumping Complex, with the ski races taking place in what is now the Sentinel Range Wilderness Area.

Mount Van Hoevenberg did host bobsled events in 1932. Designed by Stanislaus Sentzytsky of Germany, construction of the bobsled run began in 1930. It was later demolished and replaced with an updated run for the 1980 Olympics. A separate track for luge was also constructed ahead of the 1980 games, then demolished ahead of the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games and replaced with a combined bobsled, skeleton and luge track. Pratt said ORDA has recently completed improvements on refrigeration systems at the sliding track.

Cross-country ski trails were added to the complex in 1967 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which operated the facility until ORDA took over in the early 1980s. The trails have been expanded over time. ORDA plans to add 5 kilometers of new trail systems as part of its ongoing construction project.

The biathlon range was constructed ahead of the 1980 games, and it was replaced in the 1990s for athletes to use while training for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

It is expected to be rebuilt closer to the sliding track ahead of the 2023 Winter World University Games.

The construction of a new three-story, 30,000-squarefoot base lodge, which will serve as a joint building with USA Bobsled and Skeleton, is currently underway. The lodge will have amenities for hikers, biathletes and Nordic ski enthusiasts. A mountain coaster ride is also being built to attract visitors, as is the construction of a new 8million-gallon snowmaking reservoir for the ski center.

“What we’re trying to accomplish is to have a

A new Mount Van Hoevenberg lodge goes up.

(Enterprise/News photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

Olympic Jumping Complex The Olympic Jumping Complex serves not only as a hub for professional athletes to train and compete but as a place for local kids to try their hand at the sport of ski jumping.

Rand, a 1968 Olympic ski jumper who also coaches as part of the New York Ski Educational Foundation’s ski jumping program, said modernizing the facility is critical to keeping those programs going.

“It’s so important to have these base programs,” Rand said. “If you don’t have those base programs in the base facilities, in a sport like ski jumping, you won’t be able to keep those things being used on a daily basis.”

Like the other ORDAmanaged venues, the Olympic Jumping Complex recently underwent some upgrades. New refrigerated frost rail systems with LED lighting were installed on the 90- and 120-meter jump inruns, a new gondola system was installed and a glass-enclosed elevator was renovated.

Regrading of the landing hills is scheduled to start this summer, and a new zipline for visitors is still in the works and expected to be completed this summer.

The 90- and 120-meter jumps currently on site were built for the 1980 Olympic Winter Games — though they were graded at 70 and 90 meters at the time.

Rand was the first person to use the 120-meter jump.

“When I was up top doing that, they were still working on it,” Rand said. “There were these guys putting the siding on, steelworkers.

These guys — they said, ‘Man, you are crazy.’

They’re the ones who were hanging off the side with hundreds of feet below them.”

The first 35-meter jump at the complex was built in 1921. The first jumping meet was held there on Feb. 21 that year. Six years later, the jump was extended to 60 meters.

The complex also includes smaller ski jumps and a freestyle training pool for the summer. World Cup events have been held here for

freestyle aerials skiers.

The base lodge was also expanded during the winter of 2016-17.

Whiteface Mountain Whiteface Mountain Ski Center has seen a number of updates recently.

In the last two years, the Base Lodge, Bear Den Lodge and Porcupine Lodge have all been rebuilt. An elevator to the mountain’s summit was rehabilitated and reopened in May after being closed for reconstruction since 2017. ORDA has also made some improvements to buildings atop Whiteface, updated the electrical system and widened or expanded some trails.

ORDA plans to replace the Cloudsplitter gondola at Whiteface this year, for the first time since the system was installed in 1999, and the authority is looking to replace the roof over the roundhouse building.

In January, as part of his State of the State address, Cuomo proposed $14 million be allocated to rebuild the Mid-Station Lodge after it was destroyed by fire on Nov. 30, 2018.

The state’s first try at a ski center in Wilmington was on Marble Mountain in the late 1940s, but issues with wind along the mountainside prompted the state to relocate the ski area to the current site in 1957.

Continuing the legacy ORDA was established after the 1980 Olympic Winter Games to manage state-owned sports venues.

As the authority plows forward with construction projects at each of its venues, ORDA Marketing and Sales Director Scott Christiansen said the ultimate goal is to connect visitors with the Olympic legacy.

“The idea is to ultimately bring the tourists as close to the Olympic training, and to the Olympic theme, as possible,” he said.

Bringing visitors in to watch professional athletes train and compete, and offering them recreational opportunities at the same time, is what will help Lake Placid stand apart as it competes with other sports hubs for large events, he said.

“That’s ultimately what makes us unique compared to other places in the world,” Christiansen said.

But it’s not just tourists who will benefit, according to Rand.

“I think kids growing up ... they’ll have it made here,” he said. “If they want to be a top athlete and they have the opportunity to get into the programs, that’s what it’s all about.”

Conceptual drawing of upgraded Olympic Center

LAKE PLACID NEWS

(Artwork courtesy of ORDA)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Olympic Legacy

List of local Winter Olympians ... so far By the Enterprise/News staff

The first gold medal awarded in the first Olympic Winter Games went to someone from Lake Placid — Charles Jewtraw in 1924 in Chamonix, France — and residents of Lake Placid and surrounding towns have competed in every Winter Olympics since, plus a handful of Summer Olympics.

The following list of local Olympians was provided by the Lake Placid Olympic Museum, with some recent additions by the Lake Placid News and Adirondack Daily Enterprise, such as adding 2018 local Olympians: Adams, Arthur — *bobsled, d, 1932 Ashworth, Jeanne — speedskating, d, 1960, 1964, 1968 Bailey, Lowell — biathlon, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 Barile, Joseph — luge, 1988 Baumgartner, Floyd — bobsled, d, 1964 Belknap, Stuart — sled dog racing, d, 1932 Benham, Reginald — bobsled, d, 1964 Benham, Stanley — bobsled, d, 1952 Bialis, Valentine — speedskating, d, 1924, 1928, 1932 Bickford, James — bobsled, d, 1936, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1956 Biesemeyer, Tommy — Alpine skiing, 2018 Brennan, Peter — bobsled, 1976 Brown, Ivan — bobsled, d, 1936, 1940 Bryant, Percy — bobsled, d, 1932 Burke, Tim — biathlon, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 Butler, Charles “Tom” — bobsled, 1956 Carron, Schuyler — bobsled, d, 1948 Colby, Casey — ski jump, 1998 Cook, Annelies — biathlon, 2014 Crowley, Robert — bobsled, 1968 D’Amico, William — bobsled, 1948 Deitz, Milford — *speedskating, 1932 Demong, Bill — Nordic combined, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 Devlin, Arthur — ski jump, d, 1948, 1952, 1956 Dewey, Godfrey — *bobsled, d, 1928 Dupree, Donald Sr. — bobsled, 1948 Dupree, William — bobsled, 1948 Duprey, Philip — bobsled, 1968, 1972, 1976 Fee, John — luge, 1976, 1980 Flagg, Monroe — *bobsled, d, 1956 Fortune, Fred — bobsled, d, 1948, 1952 Frenette, Peter — ski jump, 2010, 2014 Frisbee, E. Peter — bobsled, 1976 Grant, Daniel — bobsled, 1976 Grimmette, Mark — luge, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 Haponski, Maura Jo — luge, 1976 Hayes, Todd — bobsled, 2002, 2006 Heidt, Adam — luge, 1998, 2002 Helmer, John — bobsled, d, 1952 Hickey, James — bobsled, 1968, 1972 Hickey, Robert — bobsled, 1980, 1984 Hickey, William — bobsled, 1964, 1968 Hollrock, William — bobsled, 1976 Homberger, Henry — bobsled, d, 1932 Horton, Edmund — bobsled, d, 1932 Hoye, Hal — bobsled, 1984, 1988 Jacques, Donald — bobsled, 1956 Jewtraw, Charles — speedskating, d, 1924 Johnson, Haley — biathlon, 2010 Jost, Jeffrey — bobsled, 1980, 1984

Andrew Weibrecht of Lake Placid shows off the silver medal he won Feb. 16, 2014, in the super-G Alpine ski race during the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

Kelly, Karen — figure skating, 1994 Kelly, Patrick — speedskating, 1992, 1994 Kennedy, Duncan — luge, 1988, 1992, 1994 Kent, Terry — rowing, 1984, 1988, 1992 Kilbourne, Andrea — hockey, 2002 Lamb, Joseph — *Nordic combined, 1972 Lamy, James — bobsled, d, 1956, 1964 LaTour, Tuffield — bobsled, d, 1948 Lawrence, Richard — bobsled, d, 1936 Linney, Robert — bobsled, d, 1940 Luce, Michael — bobsled, 1968 Lussi, Craig — Nordic combined, 1960 MacKenzie, Ronald — *bobsled, d, 1936 Maher, Steven — luge, 1988 Martin, Leo — bobsled, d, 1948 Martin, Robert — bobsled, d, 1936, 1940 Mazdzer, Chris — luge, 2010, 2014, 2018 McKellan, Gordon — figure skating, 1972 McKillip, Lawrence — bobsled, d, 1956, 1964 Meconi, Joseph — bobsled, 1948, 1952 Merkel, Crawford — bobsled, d, 1936 Miller, Hubert — bobsled, d, 1952, 1956 Miller, Lloyd — *bobsled, 1956 Miron, Lucien — bobsled, d, 1948 Monahan, Matt — bobsled, d, 1940

Morgan, James — bobsled, d, 1976 Mulholland, John — *bobsled, 1972 Myler, Cammy — luge, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998 Napier, John — bobsled, 2010 Nardiello, Timothy — luge, 1984, 1988 Page, James — Nordic combined, 1964 Pandolph, Charles — bobsled, d, 1964 Rand, Jay — ski jump, 1968 Reidl, Theresa — luge, 1984 Retrosi, Samantha — luge, 2006 Rogers, Neil “Bob” — bobsled, d, 1964 Rosser, Robert — biathlon, 1998 Rossi, Ronald — luge, 1984 Roy, Matt — bobsled, 1988 Rushlaw, Brent — bobsled, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988 Savage, Paul — bobsled, 1964, 1968 Scott, Joseph — bobsled, 1952 Sears, Dexter — dogsled, d, 1932 Sears, Peter — hockey, 1972 Shea, Jack — speedskating, d, 1932 Shea, James — Nordic skiing and combined, 1964 Shea, Jimmy — skeleton, 2002 Sheer, Gordy — luge, 1992, 1994, 1998 Sheffield, Gary — *bobsled, d, 1964, 1968 Shene, John — bobsled, d, 1936

Snow, Shirley “Bucky” — *bobsled, 1964 Stevens, Curtis P. — bobsled, d, 1932, 1940 Stevens, F. Paul — bobsled, d, 1932 Stevens, J. Hubert — bobsled, d, 1932, 1936, 1940 Stevens, Raymond F. — *bobsled, d, 1932 Stowe, William — rowing, 1964 Tavares, Laurie — luge, 1994 Tavares, William — luge, 1992 Terwillegar, Erica — luge, 1988, 1992 Tyler, Francis — bobsled, d, 1936, 1940, 1948 Tyler, James — bobsled, 1984 Tyler, Joseph — bobsled, 1980 Varno, Hugh — *bobsled, 1936, 1940 Washbond, Alan — bobsled, d, 1936, 1940 Washbond, Waightman — bobsled, d, 1948, 1956 Weibrecht, Andrew — Alpine skiing, 2010, 2014, 2018 Wells, Aubrey — bobsled, 1940 Whisher, Floyd — bobsled, d, 1952 Wilson, Joe Pete — Nordic skiing, d, 1960 Zayonc, Miroslav — luge, 1988 * = alternate d = deceased Note: 1940 Olympics were canceled due to World War II.

Jim Shea Jr., who grew up in Lake Placid, won the Four-time Olympic biathlete Lowell Bailey, of Five-time Olympic Nordic combined skier Bill gold medal in skeleton Feb. 20, 2002, during the Lake Placid, competes during the 2014 Olympic Demong, of Vermontville, jumps during the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. He won Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

(Enterprise/News photo — Chris Knight) gold and silver medals in 2010 in Vancouver.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

(Enterprise/News photo — Chris Knight)

Saranac Lake’s Andrea Kilbourne-Hill walks in a parade in 2018 in Saranac Lake to honor local Olympians, past and present. She won an Olympic silver medal in hockey during the 2002 games.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Four-time Olympic biathlete Tim Burke, who grew up in Paul Smiths, poses after a parade in 2018 in Saranac Lake to honor local Olympians, past and present.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

Three-time Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer, who grew up in Saranac Lake, shows off the silver medal he won during the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

(Photo provided)

PAGE 15

Olympic Legacy

Training programs groom young athletes, aspiring Olympians

By LOU REUTER Senior Sports Writer Enterprise/News LAKE PLACID — In a way, 1980 was just the beginning.

Following the second Olympics, the 1980 Winter Games, that Lake Placid hosted, the region has grown into a training ground for elite athletes to shine on the world stage.

Skiers, both Alpine and Nordic, luge athletes, bobsledders, skaters, biathletes and others by the dozens have been able to utilize the programs, facilities, coaches and other support mechanisms in the Olympic Region for decades to rise to the level of the world’s best in their respective sports.

Programs such as the New York Ski Education Foundation, Lake Placid’s pee wee bobsledding, speedskating and figure skating clubs have all assumed important roles in finding, developing and nurturing young athletes in their quest to reach the top levels of sport, with the ultimate goals becoming Olympians — and better yet, Olympic medalists and champions.

With the venues that are operated and maintained by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority undergoing dramatic overhauls, hopes are that Lake Placid and surrounding communities will continue to be a haven for winter sports athletes for years to come.

Just the fact that the 400meter speedskating oval built for the 1980 Winter Olympics still exists in the middle of the village and has been used since its construction played a major role in the career of Olympian Trevor Marsicano.

Marsicano was born in Schenectady and first became involved in speedskating as a short-track racer in Saratoga Springs. With one of America’s few longtrack venues, located just a couple hours drive to the north, Marsicano shifted his focus to that sport during his early teens. He went on to win an Olympic silver medal in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Games, and now as a 30-year-old, he’s giving back as a coach in Lake Placid.

“The oval and the (Lake Placid) speedskating club brought me up here,” Marsicano said. “If the oval wasn’t

The USA Luge doubles team of Duncan Segger (Lake Placid), left, and Dana Kellogg (Chesterfield, Massachusetts) finish a run during the World Cup in Sigulda, Latvia, held Jan. 25-26. It was their first World Cup for the national team after moving up from the junior circuit. They finished 20th. here, I probably wouldn’t have pursued long track. In short track, I was always right on the bubble.”

After sustaining a severe inner thigh injury in shorttrack racing, Marsicano was given the suggestion to try the much safer long-track discipline, and it was off to Lake Placid. He said that with the Olympic Training Center located in the village, becoming a long-track athlete was made more affordable than other sites, including Milwaukee and Salt Lake City, where housing expenses alone make pursuing an Olympic dream much more difficult.

Marsicano said with new improvements, including refrigeration, planned for the oval, he’d love to see the sport gain in popularity, especially among younger athletes.

“With the upgrades and the training center right here, Lake Placid can very easily become a hub for speedskating,” he said. “There isn’t a huge pool of speedskaters in the United States, but the interest is still there, and modernizing the oval should attract more speedskaters.”

Whether it’s soaring off Lake Placid’s two massive jumping towers, racing

NYSEF skier Sonja Toishi stands on top of the podium after winning the giant slalom race Jan. 20 at the Sugarbush Resort at Mount Ellen in Vermont.

(Photo provided)

PAGE 16

(Provided photo — Mareks Ga inovskis)

down the slopes at Whiteface Mountain or traversing the trails and shooting at targets at the new range being built at Mount Van Hoevenberg, the Olympic Region expects to continue to be a haven for elite Alpine and Nordic skiers for years to come.

Founded in 1973 and expanded following Lake Placid’s 1980 Winter Games, NYSEF has been one of America’s pipelines for Olympic athletes for decades. The program covers traditional winter sports of ski jumping, cross country, Alpine and biathlon, and has more recently moved into instruction and training in freestyle disciplines.

Hundreds of athletes have gone through NYSEF programs over the years. Some have been drawn to the area while others are homegrown heroes, including Olympic medalists Bill Demong and Andrew Weibrecht and World Champion Lowell Bailey, who all grew up in the Tri-Lakes and have recently retired from competition.

Moving from the jumps, slopes and trails, another lasting legacy with a bright future is Lake Placid’s world-renowned sliding track at Mount Van Hoevenberg. The first track at the venue was built in 1930 for Lake Placid’s 1932 Olympics, and during the 1980 Winter Games, the venue had two tracks, one for luge and the other for

bobsledding. There is now a single combined bobsled, skeleton and luge run at the site. Since its completion in 2000, it’s been the track where a slew of American Olympians and World Cup sliding stars were first introduced to the sport.

Homegrown athletes such as Olympic luge medalists Chris Mazdzer of Saranac Lake and Remsen’s Erin Hamlin got their start racing on Mount Van Hoevenberg’s mile-long track. Lake Placid’s Jim Shea Jr. clinched a berth on the U.S. Olympic skeleton team on that track before winning a gold medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Sliders from across the planet have flocked to the run over the years to train.

The track annually hosts World Cup sliding events, and numerous World Championships have been held there.

Perhaps the most legendary sports venue in Lake Placid is the Olympic Center. Although many of the skaters who now gather there on a year-round basis weren’t even born when Lake Placid’s last Winter Games took place, the “Miracle on Ice” legend lives on.

The building, with its three rinks, is a skating mecca that plays host to significant hockey and figure skating events.

With refrigeration and other major improvements ongoing, the Olympic Jump-

From the left, Evan Nichols, Tate Frantz and Henry Johnstone pause for a photo before heading up the 120-meter jump for training on Jan. 9.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

ing Complex expects to be on par with similar venues around the world. The Olympic Sports Complex at the base of Mount Van Hoevenberg will soon feature a modern biathlon range, a huge system of Nordic ski trails and a brandnew, massive lodge in the hopes of hosting world-class competitions.

The Olympic Speedskating Oval is also leaping into the future with the latest in refrigeration technology in order to have great ice for longer stretches during the winter season.

Simply stated, Lake Placid picked up the ball following the 1980 Winter Olympics, ran with it and plans to keep running well into the future.

NYSEF alumni Everett Sapp, Henry McGrew, Karl Schulz, Scott Schulz and Bryce Hartman pose for a photo in their college uniforms after racing Jan. 25 in Craftsbury, Vermont.

(Photo provided)

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center is located on Old Military Road in Lake Placid and hosts athletes training for the Summer and Winter Olympics.

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

(Enterprise/News photo — Andy Flynn)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Olympic Legacy

Lake Placid hosts Paralympic sports training, competition

By MORGAN RYAN Sports Editor Enterprise/News LAKE PLACID — Kim Seevers has noticed a big difference in the decorations adorning the walls of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid. She said there had always been Paralympic photos around, but not nearly as many as there are now.

“They definitely made the effort this time to recognize the Paralympians and their achievements,” said Seevers, who is the United States Bobsled and Skeleton ParaSport Development Committee chair. “For the bobsled and skeleton men and women to be walking down the hall on their way to their room, to see all that exposure is motivation. Because (they know) the Alpine ski team had to start somewhere, the snowboard team had to start somewhere.”

As the Paralympic movement has grown worldwide in recent years, Lake Placid’s role has increased along with it. In addition to para-bobsled and para-skeleton, the training center and state Olympic Regional Development Authority have held camps and events for para-archery, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, para-Alpine skiing and sled hockey athletes over the years.

Lake Placid has emerged as the primary training center for para-bobsled and para-skeleton as the sport seeks inclusion to the Paralympic Games, which take place every four years in the same cities and venues as the Olympic Games. The Paralympic Winter Games currently consists of Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing (biathlon and cross-country), sled hockey, snowboarding and wheelchair curling, but those involved with USA Bobsled and Skeleton are optimistic that para-bobsled is in line for approval for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina, Italy. The formal decision will be made this summer during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The training center and ORDA venues host five para-bobsled and para-skeleton camps per year. These camps provide ice time, coaching and video review at

From the right, Spain’s Israel Blanco, Christopher Stewart of Switzerland and American bobsledder Christ Rasmussen are ready for their second runs during the 2019 IBSF Para-Bobsled World Championships at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

Mount Van Hoevenberg’s Olympic sliding complex.

The one-person monobob sleds are supplied by ORDA and USABS. The athletes are also given access to the training center’s many resources, such as strength and conditioning training, nutrition guidance and mental preparation strategies.

The financial grants for these camps are provided by the Veterans Affairs-Adaptive Sports Grant. The next camp is set to begin Jan. 28 and culminates with competition at the Empire State Winter Games.

“Just the atmosphere of Lake Placid and how much they embrace the Olympic spirit and now the Paralympic spirit is better than anything we could replicate anywhere else,” Seevers said. “Being in the training center and being surrounded by all the Olympic history is really cool.”

The U.S. para-sliding program is made up of several layers: the national — international team competes around the world at World Cups and in the World Championships; the national

team — domestic competes mostly in the U.S.; and the grassroots athletes are in the development stage. Park City, Utah, also has a sliding facility, which has not been available for much of this season.

“The camps (in Lake Placid) have been very successful in identifying potential athletes for us that would be involved in para-bobsleighing,” said John Rosen, USABS interim CEO. “Lake Placid has been a fabulous and supportive venue for us in the development of these programs. We are extremely grateful for and encouraged by the local community in support of these. We expect to continue these camps regularly as they continue to develop.”

The U.S. para-bobsled and para-skeleton team competes in between eight and 10 World Cup events throughout the season — mostly in Europe — against competition from up to 18 other countries. Lake Placid is hosting a World Cup event Feb. 2 to 7, with the World Championships scheduled for March 20-25 in Lille-

technology,” Eileen Carey, director of U.S. Paralympics Nordic skiing wrote in an email. “This has been very helpful for our developing sit skiers especially. While there is good training possible on roller skis for standing skiers, it is impossible to recreate the feeling of snow in the maneuvering of a sit ski. This makes it critical that we find accessible, affordable options to get on snow in order to develop the skills needed on the race course. The ability to combine this with shooting is important for the development of the sport at a competitive level in our country, and ORDA has been a great partner in this effort.”

Para-cross-country skiing made its debut at the first Winter Paralympics in 1976 in Sweden, while parabiathlon first appeared in 1988 in Innsbruck, Austria.

“Our ability to perform at the highest level depends on having world class training environments,” Carey wrote.

“For Paralympic sports, this includes all the same facilities and resources that are key on the Olympic side, as well as local hosts willing to go the extra mile to ensure accessibility for all athletes.

In Lake Placid we are fortunate to have both.”

hammer, Norway. The 2019 and para-skeleton, neither of World Championships were which has an international competition circuit. held in Lake Placid.

Will Castillo, a resident of Para Nordic sports Orlando, Florida, who lost Empire State Although the U.S. parahis leg in an IED attack Winter Games while serving in Iraq, is the Nordic ski program is based The annual Empire State highest-ranked American on in Bozeman, Montana, and the World Cup tour at No. 7. spends much of the winter Winter Games — held from Teammate Frederick Evans traveling on the World Cup Jan. 30 to Feb. 2 in the Lake is 15th, and Tammy Lan- circuit, Lake Placid has Placid area — have also deen is 17th. Castillo won emerged as an important embraced para-sports and the bronze medal at a World training venue for the cross- have become a major sportCup event in Oberhof, Ger- country skiing and biathlon ing event for adaptive sports.

This year’s list of sports teams. many, in December.

“For the last several sea- includes: adaptive Alpine, All nine of the athletes on the U.S. international team sons, we have depended on adaptive biathlon, adaptive early access to snow and skicross, adaptive snoware injured veterans.

Para-bobsled first made an biathlon training through the board cross, adaptive hockey appeal to get into the 2022 Snow Factory snow-making and adaptive bobsled.

Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China, and was granted preliminary approval but ultimately not included, according to Rosen. Since then, international para-bobsled and paraskeleton have grown in popularity and met a series of criteria — including an international World Cup circuit and World Championships — to bolster its inclusion credentials.

Seevers said seated monobob will most likely be the first para-bobsled disci- American para-bobsledder Rick Evans competes pline to be approved for the in a World Cup event in Oberhof, Germany, in Paralympics. Other disci- December.

(Provided photo — Girts Kehris) plines are para-bobsled push

Mike Kamson, of Philadelphia, right, crosses the finish line of Nordic sit-ski Para-bobsledders prepare to take a run during the 2019 Para-Bobsled race along with a cross-country skier during the Empire State Winter World Championships at the Olympic Sports Complex at Mount Van Games in 2012.

Hoevenberg.

(Enterprise/News photo — Mike Lynch)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 17

Olympic Legacy

Fans relive ‘Miracle on Ice’ game through fantasy camp (Editor’s note: This is a portion of the story that ran in the April 12, 2019, issue of the Lake Placid News.)

By ANDY FLYNN Editor, Lake Placid News LAKE PLACID — It was Wednesday, April 3, 2019, and 51-year-old Mark Strbiak was sitting on the far end of the bench just before the third period of the goldmedal game at the fifth annual Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp. His team was in the lead.

This is where miracles happen. The other team could come from behind and win the gold, just as the U.S. hockey team did in this arena during the 1980 Winter Olympics when they beat the Soviet Union and then Finland for the gold. Victory wasn’t assured for Strbiak and his team. Would they lose, or would they hang on to the lead like the 1980 team did in the last 10 minutes and beat their opponent?

“Great moments are born from great opportunity, and that’s what you have here tonight, boys.”

Actor Kurt Russell’s voice came out of the Olympic Center speakers, his image portraying 1980 head coach Herb Brooks in the 2004 Disney movie “Miracle” shown on the screen of the scoreboard over the ice. This was the speech Brooks gave in the locker room before the Feb. 22, 1980 game against the Soviets.

“That’s what you’ve earned here tonight,” Russell continued. “One game. If we played them 10 times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight we skate with them. Tonight we stay with them, and we shut them down because we can. Tonight we are the greatest hockey team in the world.”

Some fantasy campers looked up at the screen and watched the speech. Others sat or stood patiently.

“You were born to be hockey players, every one of you. You were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done. It’s over. I’m sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw ’em. This is your time. Now go out there and take it.”

Strbiak’s wife, Heather, sat in a red arena seat and cried.

“I remember watching the game with my dad (John Allen), and my dad died four years later (of pancreatic cancer),” Heather said on the ice next to her husband after he won a gold medal with

1980 U.S. hockey team players Jim Craig, left, and Rob McClanahan chat before the gold-medal game during the 2017 Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid.

(Enterprise/News photos — Andy Flynn)

Mike Ramsey’s team. “So whenever I’m here, I think about my dad, and I think about how much he would love being here and how much he would love to be a part of it. Every time I see that speech, every time I see these guys, it reminds me of that.”

The Strbiaks live in Renton, Washington, outside of Seattle. Mark’s been to the fantasy camp before.

“It was a good year,” Heather said.

“Yeah, it was a good year,” Mark added.

“This is his fifth year.”

“The best one yet.”

What would Herb Brooks think?

As for Herb Brooks’s take on the Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp, he’s not around to ask. He died in 2003, and the 1980 arena was named after him a couple of years later for the 25th anniversary of the 1980 Winter Olympics.

1980 player Dave Christian said he thinks Brooks would enjoy the camp.

“He would be here right in the middle of it. He never got tired of growing the game and teaching and talking hockey, and he would do it in any setting. He would have a great time visiting with campers.”

1980 player Rob McClanahan, on the other hand, thinks Brooks may not be as cozy with the campers as Christian believes.

“I think he would probably be proud of it,” McClanahan said. “I can’t say that he would be here, and if he were here, he may be here for a brief appearance.”

McClanahan explained that Brooks never wanted the

limelight.

“Herbie never shook our hands after we won the gold medal. He walked out. We won the game against the Finns, Herbie walked off the bench. We beat the Soviets, Herbie walked off the bench.

That just wasn’t his MO, it wasn’t his makeup. ... Everything that he did was for a reason. He had a purpose for everything he did. ... He wasn’t comfortable really in a public forum.”

“Miracle” family grows bigger every year There was a lot of talk about “family” during the MOI Fantasy Camp in 2019, held from March 31 to April 3. Not just family members attending the camp together — like the three father-andson duos, Matt and Warren Ikawa, Jim and Michael Flanagan and Ed and Roger Brandt — but the family of 1980 players and now the growing fantasy camp family — players and campers.

“We try to think of every single little detail with this camp,” said fantasy camp co-director Katie Million, “but one of the things that we could never plan for was the friendships and camaraderie that came out of this camp. These guys, besides this camp, now they get together around the country in different locations just so that the campers can see each other.”

There have also been a number of friendships that have formed between campers and 1980 players.

“Actually, John Harrington and I have become pretty good friends because we share the same birth date, May 24th, though he’s 10 years younger than I am,” said Stanley Rumbough, 71,

of Greenwich, Connecticut.

“So we call each other on the birthday, and he called when he found out that my mother had passed.”

The Flanagans Jim Flanagan, 58, of Lloyd Harbor, New York, on the north shore of Long Island, is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network. He’s been playing hockey since he was a kid, mostly street hockey, and started playing ice hockey when he was in junior high school. Then he played club hockey during and after college.

His son Michael, 23, had recently graduated from Marist College with degrees in psychology and criminal justice. He started playing ice hockey as a high school senior six years ago and played deck and road hockey when he was younger.

So why the fantasy camp?

“Michael had graduated and this time next year he might be working somewhere, so it was a great opportunity for the two of us to kind of connect and do something as father and son,” Jim said. “Hopefully we’ll still be able to do it for years to come. It’s so much fun to be able to do something that I remember as a kid, and Michael has obviously heard about it over the years but wasn’t alive when it happened in 1980.”

Born in 1960, Jim was in college at the time of the 1980 Winter Olympics, age 19 going on 20. He’s about the same age as some of the 1980 players.

“I was actually working in a shoe store on Long Island at Thom McAn when the game was being played,”

Jim said. “I remember them announcing it at the mall.

There was no internet. You couldn’t check your phone. ... So we were just listening to it on the radio and making announcements at the end of the periods in the mall.”

While Jim lived through that era, Michael had to learn about the Miracle on Ice the way most young people do today.

“I feel like I learned most of it from the Disney movie,” Michael said, adding that he’s learned even more through firsthand accounts from the 1980 players. “I love their stories.

You really hear it in-depth, and it seems much more personal than the Disney movie did.”

Coming into camp, Jim’s expectations weren’t lofty.

He had no dreams of winning a gold medal. He actually won a bronze with Bill Baker’s Dirty Dozen.

“My expectations were just to meet the guys and have a great time,” Jim said.

“That’s what is fun about it.

We’re here to play hockey, but we’re not playing NHL or Olympic hockey. We’re a bunch of guys that love the game and want to just get to know the guys and learn and hear the stories.”

Fantasy camp “We love the fact that they want to come here and skate and compete in this environment,” Christian said about the fantasy camp. “We owe this camp to the campers that come back and those firsttime campers who want to experience Lake Placid.

What a great little community.”

Christian said he likes the camaraderie the most.

“The camaraderie with the guys, the teammates, and the camaraderie with all the campers. ... Until they kick me out and tell me I can’t come back, I’m coming every year.”

The first MOI Fantasy Camp was held in 2015 shortly after the team’s 35th anniversary reunion at Lake Placid’s Olympic Center. In all, 45 campers attended in 2019 — down from 64 the previous year — from Sunday to Wednesday. All games were played Tuesday and Wednesday in the Herb Brooks Arena’s 1980 Rink.

Thirteen of the 19 surviving members of 1980 hockey team participated in the camp in 2019: Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Mike Eruzione, John Harrington, Steve Janaszak, Mark Johnson, Rob McClanahan, Ken Morrow, Mike Ramsey, Buzz Schnei-

der, Eric Strobel and Mark Wells.

Living teammates who did not attend were Steve Christoff, Jim Craig, Jack O’Callahan, Mark Pavelich, Dave Silk and Phil Verchota.

Defenseman Bob Suter died of a heart attack in September 2014, and his jersey was retired to the Olympic Center rafters at the beginning of the 35th anniversary reunion in February 2015.

In addition, three other non-players from the 1980 team were in attendance during this year’s camp: assistant coach Craig Patrick, team doctor George Nagobads and head athletic trainer Gary “Smitty” Smith.

The co-directors of the camp again were state Olympic Regional Development Authority Events Director Jeff Potter and former ORDA employee Katie Million, who traveled from Minnesota, where she was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s vice president and Women’s League commissioner at the time. She is currently the director of women’s national team programs for USA Hockey.

One season in three days For the most part, the fantasy camp is treated like a real professional hockey season, only boiled down to three days of intensity.

Campers skated on the Olympic Center ice Monday morning so members of the 1980 U.S. hockey team could evaluate their skills.

The Olympians then conducted a draft Monday afternoon, selecting players to fill four teams: Red, White, Blue and Gold. After the teams were filled, had their team meetings, and named their teams, the players participated in practice time on the ice.

Team Red was coached by Bill Baker and Steve Janaszak. Team White was coached by Ken Morrow, Rob McClanahan and Buzz Schneider. Team Blue was coached by Mike Eruzione, Mark Johnson and Neal Broten. Team Gold was coached by Mike Ramsey, Dave Christian and John Harrington.

Teams played three games each, Tuesday morning and afternoon and Wednesday morning, before moving on to either the Bronze Game or the Gold Game Wednesday afternoon. Team Gold won the gold, Team White won the silver, and Team Red won the bronze. A medal ceremony was held afterward before the official fantasy camp photo was taken on the ice.

1980 Olympian Buzz Schneider waits his turn to Linda Koenig chats with Dave Christian and John 1980 U.S.Olympic hockey team gold medalist play during the 2016 Miracle on Ice Fantasy Harrington after the gold-medal game during the Mark Johnson hits the Olympic Center ice during Camp.

2019 Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp. the 2017 Miracle on Ice Fantasy Camp.

PAGE 18

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

PAGE 19

Olympic Legacy

The 19 surviving members of the U.S. hockey team who won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid appear on stage in the Feb. 21, 2015, “Relive the Miracle” reunion at the Herb Brooks Arena. Todd Walsh, center, was the master of ceremonies. From left are Jim Craig, John Harrington, Phil Verchota, Buzz Schneider, Rob McClanahan, Dave Christian, Mike Eruzione, Eric Strobel, Jack O’Callahan, Mark Pavelich, Walsh, Mark Wells, Steve Christoff, Mark Johnson, Neal Broten, Dave Silk, Bill Baker, Mike Ramsey, Ken Morrow and Steve Janaszak.

(Enterprise/News photo — Lou Reuter)

Lake Placid celebrated 35th ‘Miracle on Ice’ anniversary in 2015 (Editor’s note: This is a portion of the story that ran in the Feb. 27, 2015, issue of the Lake Placid News.)

By ANDY FLYNN Editor, Lake Placid News LAKE PLACID — All the surviving members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team celebrated the 35th anniversary of the famed Miracle on Ice game against the Soviet Union on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Olympic Center.

It was Miracle on Ice Weekend in the Olympic Village, as proclaimed by village Mayor Craig Randall and town of North Elba Supervisor Roby Politi. The celebration was held a day before the actual anniversary, Feb. 22, when the underdog U.S. team beat the powerful Soviet Union 4-3 before winning the gold medal game two days later against Finland.

The community welcomed 19 of the 20 players Saturday in an all-day affair that culminated with the “Relive the Miracle”

PAGE 20

reunion in the evening at the Herb Brooks Arena, named after their coach, who died in a single-car accident in 2003. Defenseman Bob Suter died of a heart attack in September 2014.

During an afternoon press conference, team captain Mike Eruzione — who scored the winning goal against the Soviets — said the reunion was bittersweet because Suter would not be on stage with the rest of the team.

“Bobby was a great player and a great person,” Eruzione said. “We all realize that at some point we’re going to move on. But nobody thought that Bobby at 57 would not be with us. He was a special teammate, a special person and clearly will be missed. We’ll be kind of sad when we see the jersey up there.”

Suter’s jersey — No. 20 — was raised to the rafters later that night.

Fifteen of the players attended the press conference in the Lake Placid Conference Center, and they were welcomed by emcee

Todd Walsh, of Fox Sports Arizona.

The players at the press conference were Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Dave Christian, Steve Christoff, Mike Eruzione, Steve Janaszek, Rob McClanahan, Ken Morrow, Mark Pavelich, Mike Ramsey, Buzz Schneider, Dave Silk, Eric Strobel, Phil Verchota and Mark Wells. On stage with the players were the reunion’s organizer, Jeff Holbrook of Potentia Athletic Partners, and state Olympic Regional Development Authority CEO Ted Blazer. The remaining four players — Jim Craig, John Harrington, Mark Johnson and Jack O’Callahan — joined them for the evening program.

The “Relive the Miracle” program was organized into several sections to explore the historic hockey game: “The Journey,” “The Steps,” “The Miracle” and “The Gold.”

Walsh interviewed the players throughout the evening, including O’Callahan, who he asked about Coach Brooks.

“He’s been quoted as being like a psychologist disguised as a hockey coach, but he

¯ 40TH ANNIVERSARY - 1980 WINTER OLYMPICS ¯

LAKE PLACID NEWS

also said, ‘I asked this team to do things that I never asked any team to do,’” Walsh said.

“So what was the psychological side of Herb Brooks, and how did you cope with it?”

“I think one of the great things about Herbie was that he took time to get to know each player,” O’Callahan said. “He did it personally, but he also did it analytically with the psychological test he would do with us. Herb treated me differently than he treated David Silk or than he treated Mike Ramsey or Neal Broten. So as a coach I really think he did take the time to get to know the inner workings of each player. We all had different relationships with him, but ultimately the way it turned out after a seven-month period with him and seven Olympic games here in Lake Placid, I think all of us would agree that it was probably one of the greatest development years of our lives as players. A lot of us ended up in the National Hockey League playing years later, and I don’t think as many of us would have had it not been for that time spent with Herbie.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020