Downhill Racer Page #4

And after that we've got a week off.

- What?

- Till Thursday.

And after that we have a week off.

A whole week?

There's a lot of snow here.

- Lf you're coming down, I could stay on.

- I will try to, David.

- Thirty-three.

- Yes, sir.

Miss Stahl called twice.

Where's...

Hello, Mr Chappellet.

Nice to see you again. How are you?

- Welcome to Zurich.

- Carole isn't here, then?

No, she went home for Christmas.

She will be heartbroken.

Come on, sit down.

Tell me, did you ever try my skis?

Yeah, I was practising

on them last week.

They're... They're fine.

They are a little stiff for me,

but they are okay, though.

Let me get my designer

to come in here.

I'd like him to hear

exactly what you think.

Perhaps it could be remedied.

- Do you know when she will be back?

- Pardon?

Do you know when she'll be back?

Why, after Christmas.

- Are you alone in Zurich?

- Yeah.

You'll have lunch with me, huh?

No, no, I just stopped by to say hello.

Would you tell her that...

Yes, of course I will. But now lunch.

About the skis, you know, you say they...

They were too stiff.

Actually, we have tried that stiffness,

and we find it gives you

much more stability,

especially for the downhill.

Oh, one night I was supposed

to go out to a dance.

This was the youngest chick

I could find.

David!

Hello! What a surprise.

Yeah, I guess it is.

I waited for you in Megve.

But why, David? You knew

I had plans for Christmas, didn't you?

No, you didn't tell me that.

If I had known, I wouldn't have waited.

But I had to go home.

Every year it's the same thing.

Everybody was there.

- I didn't know.

- Oh, yeah?

I got a present for you. It's in the car.

Here.

- How long have you been in Wengen?

- One week. I'm here for holidays.

Did Machet tell you

I came by the office?

Oh, yes.

You know, he's really counting

on you for the Olympics, David.

Yeah, me and a few others.

Oh, no, he really feels

you have a good chance.

Aren't you going to open it?

- You like them?

- Yeah, they're great.

You know, I had such

a terrific Christmas this year.

My brother was Santa Claus.

We had so many presents

because everybody bought

funny presents to one another.

It was great.

We didn't have too much snow,

but, really, it doesn't matter because

we put cotton in between the windows

to make it look like it had been snowing

a lot outside and it was really great.

We had a fabulous Christmas party...

Okay, that's it for today. Let's wrap it up.

Okay.

Whatever you can handle, all right?

Don't...

Beat you to the bottom.

Hey, what the hell is that?

Hey!

I'll see you.

D.K., make yourself scarce, would you?

Yeah. See you later.

That was quite a stunt you pulled.

It was a real gem.

Seven years. You know, in seven years

I have never had a hot dog like you.

You take my best racer and pile him

into a stone wall just for the fun of it.

I didn't pile him into anything.

- Creech can look out for himself.

- You'd take a chance like that?

The day before the Lauberhorn?

Two weeks before the Olympics?

No thought, Chappellet.

- He didn't have to race, did he?

- No, he didn't.

- I thought he knew better.

- Did you speak to him already?

- Him?

- Creech.

- No. No, I haven't.

- Are you going to?

Don't you worry about

what I'm going to say to Creech.

I'm going to tell him

just exactly what I'm saying to you.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

Besides, he knows.

He knows what he did.

He knows how I feel.

Well, what did he do?

He bailed out on a course he'd been

running every year for five years.

So he fell over.

He can do that any time he races.

Nobody races unless I say so.

That's why I'm here.

That's why they made me the coach.

They did not send me over here

for the fun of it, Chappellet.

You know, it costs lots of money.

A lot of money.

That's why we have to train as a team.

That's why we have to race as a team.

We have to have a team, Chappellet.

A winning team.

And whether you like it or not,

I'm just as much a part

of that team as you are.

That's why they sent us here.

Some very important people.

The same people that bought you that

ticket to get you out of Idaho Springs.

What do they know about skiing?

The same people that's been

supporting you for the last three years.

People like me.

There's a whole world out there

that you know nothing about...

Well, you can't understand that,

can you?

What's there to understand?

I'm here because I ski and I ski fast.

That's all there is to it.

That is it, huh? Yeah, you ski fast.

You race, but you're reckless.

You rack up a lot.

No consistency.

That's what Creech has.

- It doesn't win a medal.

- It counts for a lot.

It comes from a certain

consideration for the sport.

A desire to learn.

That's something you never had.

You never had

any real education, did you?

All you ever had was your skis.

And that's not enough.

Wengen is so remote

that it doesn't get as big crowds

as the Hahnenkamm or the Kandahar.

But there's more than ordinary interest

centred in the Lauberhorn this year

because it falls two weeks

before the Winter Olympics.

So it becomes

a very tough dress rehearsal.

The results here are bound

to have a significant effect

on the Games themselves.

There's Johnny Creech.

He is in the gate now.

You know, doing well today

will certainly give him confidence

at the Olympics.

My leg. My leg.

Creech has fallen.

I hear it's not too bad.

About 50 pieces is all.

Yeah, not too bad.

- You'll get them next year.

- You mean four years from now?

I sure...

I sure wish...

How is it?

Isn't it

stupid?

I was telling Dave about

how we used to talk

about justice of sport.

The justice of sport, yes.

The sacrifice without end.

Well, what do you think

your chances are?

I don't know. I don't know.

At the moment, I...

- Do you feel physically fit for the race?

- Yeah, I feel good.

Well, this is it. How do you feel?

This is it.

What are your plans

after the Olympics?

This is it.

The long section on top is grippy snow.

It's not blowing on top any more.

It's all blown away.

It's very well,

the conditions are really good today.

Yes, the course is fine.

Will your wife

be watching the race today?

Sure, she will be there. All right.

Were you holding anything back

in the non-stop yesterday?

- Have you seen Johnny Creech?

- Yeah.

We are just a few moments now,

ladies and gentlemen,

from the start of the downhill.

And this is the event in alpine skiing.

You can see the size of the crowd

already gathered.

At the gate, you see the great Austrian

racer, Max Meier, number five.

There is Istel, number 13.

Others are still arriving.

And now into the gate,

Boyriven of France, number three.

Okay.

- Alec!

- Right.

Boyriven is down.

Right.

Max Meier, the Austrian

who's probably won more races

than any man in history,

but never yet an Olympic gold medal.

He's off!

Here he comes around the hairpin.

Looks a little icy here. Look at this.

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