Storms Over St. Moritz

The winter Olympics opened with a maximum of angry yammering and a minimum of friendly yodeling. First, everybody mumbled all the fine words about "amity and good will." Then they went on with their scrapping. The Swedes charged that the games were being run for the benefit of St. Moritz hotels and shops. The British, of all people, deplored the emphasis on afternoon tea. The steering wheel of a U.S. bobsled was tampered with, and shrieks of "Sabotage!" echoed through the Alps and re-echoed across U.S. sport pages. But all this was nothing beside the War over the Two American Hockey Teams.

Everyone who had a badge, a temper and a yen for authority took part. The U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation are supposed to pick the U.S. team jointly, but since they were backing rival teams, two teams were sent to Switzerland, neither properly accredited. At the peak of the bickering, stuff-shirted Avery Brundage, the U.S. Olympic chairman, issued a pompous communique announcing that "a great victory has been achieved . . ." but he proved to be the only one who thought so. The International Olympic Committee sided with Brundage. But the Swiss, who as hosts were in charge of the winter Olympics, sided with the other team. Result: hockey was ruled out of the 1948 Olympics.

That didn't stop the hockey games--far from it. One of the U.S. hockey teams beat Poland 23 to 4, and Italy by the unheard-of score of 31 to 1.

There were also a few events in which something like sportsmanship prevailed. Norway's Finn Helgesen set a new Olympic record of 43.1 seconds in the 500-meter skating race. Other winners:

P:Sweden's husky Martin Lundstroem, who plowed his way to victory in the 11.2-mile cross-country ski race. Nineteen of the first 20 to finish were Scandinavians; the first U.S. skier came in 65th. P:t]J Switzerland's Felix Endrich, 26, who zoomed down the perilous bobsled course (sometimes at close to 80 m.p.h.) to win the boblet (two-man sled) crown from his coach, Fritz Feierabend, 40.

At week's end, Sweden had run up an early team lead with 32 points. Behind it: Norway, 30 1/2; Finland, 21; Switzerland, 18; U.S., 14 1/4.

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