"Mother, I Did It!"

It seemed like the winter Olympics all over again. For the world championships, figure skaters had moved to the big ice stadium built by Adolf Hitler at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps. Colorado's Hayes Jenkins repeated his Cortina victory; when the women finished their school figures. Defending Champion Tenley Albright seemed to have a slight lead over Long Island's Carol Heiss, just as she had had in the Olympics. The "Skating Mothers" were still on hand, still complaining about accommodations, still intent on a family triumph.

"Mother!" moaned Carol when the early standings had her still skating in Tenley's shadow. "Now, now," soothed Mrs. Heiss, who had not come to Germany to lose. "It's not over yet." She was right. The official school-figure scores gave Carol a slight lead. When the free skating began, the title was up for grabs.

Poised and confident as she had been at Cortina, Tenley skated out to repeat her Olympic routine. In her gold wool jersey, she danced across the ice to the music of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. Satisfied with her performance, she said: "If that doesn't do it, I can't do it."

Later, Carol made her bid, her green costume and rhinestone choker glittering through a light snowfall. She, too, repeated her Olympic performance. As she whirled and leaped to the beat of Adolphe Adam's If I Were King, her near-flawless execution brought the chilled crowd to its feet. Even one of the judges broke into spontaneous applause. When the scores were announced, the 16-year-old trouper, after a long year of competition as an also-ran, was the world champion. "Mother," she cried, "I did it! I did it!"

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