SKIING : Southland Racers Fare Well at Disabled Event
American racers dominated the World Disabled Ski Championships, which ended this week at Winter Park, Colo., taking a total of 83 medals, more than twice the number earned by runner-up West Germany, which had 37.
Southland competitors contributed substantially to the U.S. team’s success--which included 35 gold medals to West Germany’s 16--in several divisions:
--Greg Evangelatos, 28, of Sherman Oaks, who is blind, earned a gold medal in the super-G and a bronze in the giant slalom, a performance that also netted him a gold in the combined.
--Dave Kiley, 36, of LaVerne, a paraplegic athlete who races on a monoski, came away with golds in the super-G and the slalom and a silver in the giant slalom.
--Greg Mannino, 27, of Yorba Linda, who had one leg amputated above the knee, got a couple of bronzes, in the super-G and the downhill, as West German Alexander Spitz swept all four events in this category--as expected.
--Cathy Gentile, 27, of Torrance, also an above-the-knee amputee, won the gold medal in the downhill when favored Diana Golden fell, then wound up with the combined gold by placing second in the super-G and the slalom and sixth in the giant slalom--as Golden won all three.
Most of the medalists in the world championships, which First Interstate Bank brought to the United States for the first time, are en route east for the weeklong Chap Stick U.S. Disabled Ski Championships, which begin Sunday at Stratton Mountain, Vt.
Evangelatos, who swept the gold medals in his division at last year’s nationals, will not be able to defend his titles, however. He broke his collarbone in a finish-line collision with his guide after winning the super-G at Winter Park and needs about three months’ healing time before resuming training for next season on Mt. Hood in Oregon.
Doctors permitted him to race in the giant slalom Tuesday, with one arm taped to his side, but only on the condition that he then take some time off.
“And I got the bronze,” Evangelatos said from Denver. “Not bad for a one-armed skier.”
Evangelatos, who lost his sight in a fireworks accident when he was 18, trains in Colorado during the winter and attends L.A. City College in the off-season. He is a volunteer worker with the Foundation for the Junior Blind’s summer camp program in Los Angeles.
“I try to be a role model for totally blind children, helping them to realize their recreational capabilities and to understand that they can make their dreams come true,” he said.
Kiley also works with the disabled, heading the wheelchair sports program at the Casa Colina rehabilitation center in Pomona. He is proficient in several sports and has only recently added skiing to his activities.
After winning a World Cup slalom Thursday at Geilo, Norway, Alberto Tomba told the Associated Press: “It’s Mother’s Day in Italy today, so I dedicate this victory to my mother and all women in Italy.”
Tomba, 23, who has apparently regained the form that earned him two gold medals in the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary, and the other male racers are scheduled to compete in a super-G today at Hemsedal, Norway, and in a slalom Monday at Salen, Sweden.
Incidentally, Tiger Shaw of Stowe, Vt., finished seventh at Geilo, two places ahead of Switzerland’s Pirmin Zurbriggen, who last weekend clinched his fourth World Cup overall title--equaling the record of Italian Gustavo Thoeni.
The women in the “White Circus” will race in a giant slalom today and a slalom Sunday at Stranda, Norway, where a heavy snowfall forced postponement of Friday’s scheduled downhill.
After a slalom Tuesday at Vemdalen, Sweden, and a giant slalom Wednesday at Klovsjo, Sweden, the women will join the men for the World Cup finals next weekend at Are, Sweden.
Skiing Notes
A special hourlong season finale of “Subaru Ski World” will be shown on ESPN Tuesday at 9 p.m., featuring “the best of the best” from Bob Beattie’s 15-week series. It will be repeated Wednesday at 7 p.m. . . . Colorado resorts, from Steamboat to Aspen, are up to their Rockies in powder after a series of midweek snowstorms.
Racers on the Women’s Pro Ski circuit will compete today and Sunday at Sierra Summit, in the Central Sierra east of Fresno. . . . The men on the U.S. Pro Tour will take a break from their Million Dollar Plymouth Super Series for a meet this weekend at Sugarbush, Vt., then will go to Niigata, Japan, next weekend. Bernhard Knauss of Austria tops the standings with 402 1/2 points, and American Phil Mahre is fifth with 337 1/2.
Bear Mountain, at Big Bear Lake, will stage the Jose Cuervo Games of Winter, a mixture of events, today, then hold the Chevrolet Truck All-American Ski Outing Sunday. . . . Connie Stevens’ celebrity races, produced by David Mirisch, are adding some glitz to the slopes at Jackson Hole, Wyo., this weekend.
