So Far, Too Many Delays and a Blizzard of Laughs

NAGANO, Japan —  Top three jokes making the rounds here about Ross Rebagliati, the smokin’, tokin’, busted snowboarder from Canada:

“O Cannabis!”

“He was going for the gold, the Acapulco Gold.”

“Welcome to Fast Times at Nagano City.”

Of course, drug usage in sports, of any kind, is very serious business, not to be taken lightly, no laughing matter.

And did you hear the one about Rebagliati getting caught because they found crumpled Ding Dong and Doritos wrappers stuffed inside his snow boots?

The pressing question in Nagano was whether or not Rebagliati was at that rockin’ late-night hotel party that got Austrian snowboarder Martin Freinademetz thrown out of the Olympics. Smashed furniture, thrashed computer equipment--happens every time you throw a bunch of Austrian, Canadian, Italian and Danish snowboarders into the same hotel and instruct them to train “as you would at home” for the next day’s all-important competition.

So, if you were wondering, snowboarders in Nagano have come through with flying colors in living up and partying down to their Jeff Spicoli-goes-to-the-Olympics stereotype. Aloha, Mr. Hand.

When news of Rebagliati’s disqualification first broke, the international media was shocked, shocked, I tell you.

Because it was largely assumed that, in snowboarding, not getting caught rolling a joint before your run is grounds for disqualification.

While the Rebagliati controversy raged on, snowboarders here fired up the halfpipe competition, trying to get higher than everybody else.

(Is this sport a great addition to the Olympic program or what?)

The halfpipers waged their war for serious amplitude pelted by a persistent rain. A few of them may have even noticed. Over at Hakuba, it rained so hard, the men’s downhill had to be called off, again, for the third or the 14th time, possibly to be rescheduled for Salt Lake City in 2002.

Men’s downhill, the Pebble Beach of the Nagano Olympics.

Delayed on account of (choose your daily meteorological crisis) snow, fog, sleet, hail or freezing rain.

Thursday it was a combination of several of the above--hailstones as big as gravel, ambushing the course from behind a heavy blanket of fog, with intermittent freezing rain. Pity the four forerunners who were sentenced to test the conditions before the race was called. Alpine forerunners have the second-worst job at these Olympics, checking in right behind the forever abused cross-country skiers, who trudged through two more brutal events.

Kenya has a men’s cross-country ski team entered here--it’s the Jamaican bobsled team of 1998, already sponsored by Nike, which knows a cute, headline-grabbing story before it sees one.

To the surprise of no one, Henry Boit of Kenya plowed home in last place in the men’s 10-kilometer race, crossing the finish 20 minutes behind winner Bjorn Daehlie of Norway. Huffing and puffing and no doubt realizing how much easier long-distance running is when sleet is not hammering your face and long wooden planks are not strapped to your feet, Boit jogged the final stretch before collapsing in the arms of Daehlie, waiting at the finish to congratulate the rookie for the effort.

Daehlie set Olympic history in this event, winning his sixth gold medal to surpass Eric Heiden’s previous record for men of five Winter Olympic gold medals. He also tied Raisa Smetanina for most Winter Olympics medals won during a career with 10. Smetanina was also a cross-country skier, competing for the Soviet Union and Russia from 1976 through 1992.

And how did Daehlie feel about this momentous achievement?

“I felt terrible,” he said. “But I found out . . . that others also had a rough time of it. I took it a bit easy on the last downhill part. I was afraid of falling there.”

Daehlie figures to become the all-time medals leader on Saturday, when he competes in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle event.

In the other cross-country race, Russia’s Larissa Lazutina became the first double gold medalist of these Games when she won the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit competition. In all, Lazutina has won three medals in Nagano.

The United States doubled its medal total on Day 6 of the Games, adding bronze medals by halfpipers Shannon Dunn and Ross Powers to the gold medals earned by Picabo Street and Jonny Moseley.

Good day from the Winter Games of Nagano, the only place on earth where people believe marijuana improves athletic performance.