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R.I.P. Bill Johnson
- SKIER-X
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- Lowell_Skoog
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I imagine there must be folks in the Mission Ridge ski community who knew him well.
This NPR story includes a video of his winning run in the 1984 Olympics:
www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/...l-johnson-dies-at-55
I found the following paragraph interesting in the NWTimes obit:
www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/sports/skiing...dies-at-55.html?_r=0
In 1979, Johnson received a scholarship to attend the Alpine Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. Wind tunnel tests there discovered that he had aerodynamic gifts that gave him a 3 to 5 percent advantage over anyone else who had taken the test. Most skiers have to work at “the tuck,” the position used by downhill skiers: torso hunched over bent knees, fists in front of the face, poles pointed straight back. But it seemed to come naturally to Johnson, who was compared to a gravity-powered rocket.
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- Donnelly_M
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- flowing alpy
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- SKIER-X
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- MW88888888
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He fit the times, in an age Rocky Stallone vs. The Russian. Such USA pride back then and I was full of it up to the gills. He says he's going to Russia (remember Sarajevo, Yugoslavia?) to win a gold - and he does it!
He will always be a hero to me.
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- ski2fly
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I recall the story of him keeping his skis in his room at the Olympics. And of cours winning WCDH and Olympics in Flexon Comps (Full Tilt, for the younger crowd)!I remember a story about his skis and technician. The skis had the best glide and prep and there was concern for there protection , so the tech kept them under high security . There was an unusual amount of attention focused on that pair. Can't remember the techs name but he played a major role in the final result. X
I loved the fact that he kicked arse over all those hoity-toity entitled Austrians and Swiss! RIP Bill.
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