WINTER OLYMPICS : Women’s Downhill Skiing : Not Even Switzerland’s Best Can Catch West Germany’s Kiehl

While the losers howled about the wind, Marina Kiehl, a West German racer with a reputation as a loner, separated herself from the pack and won the Olympic women’s downhill Friday on Mt. Allan.

Kiehl, skiing in the middle of the top-15 seeding, overtook Canada’s Karen Percy with a “wild, out-of-control” run of 1 minute 25.86 seconds, a time that also withstood the later assaults of two members of Switzerland’s vaunted women’s team--Michela Figini and Brigitte Oertli.

Oertli’s 1:26.61 knocked Percy out of the silver medal by one one-hundredth of a second and also pushed Swiss teammate Maria Walliser, who had come down earlier in 1:26.89, off the podium altogether, into fourth place.

Percy’s bronze was the host nation’s first medal after seven days of competition, and it touched off a noisy flag-waving celebration that almost overshadowed Kiehl’s conquest of the swaggering Swiss.

Figini, who won the Olympic downhill gold medal at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1984, complained about the wind, even though it had died down considerably from the day before, when the race had to be postponed.

“It was not fair; the course was not regular,” she said. “The wind was blowing the snow over the bumps, and you couldn’t see where to turn.”

Then, baring a claw and taking another swipe at Walliser, she said: “It makes no difference that I finished ninth, and Maria was fourth. In the Olympics, unless you are in the first three, it doesn’t matter. And maybe fourth place is worse because you are more disappointed that you came so close but didn’t win a medal.”

This sort of thing has been going on now since the last Olympics between these two unfriendly rivals, and when Oertli wiped out Walliser’s chances for a bronze medal, Figini made no attempt to stifle her laughter.

Walliser, a magazine cover girl with movie-star glamour, finished second to Figini in the Sarajevo downhill. Figini, who keeps her hair close-cropped as sort of a counterpoint statement, finished second to Walliser in the downhill at the 1987 World Alpine Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

And so it goes. Walliser, 24, won the World Cup overall title in 1986 and ’87. Figini, 21, won it in ’85 and is tied with teammate Vreni Schneider for the top spot this season.

Oertli, 25, who salvaged the silver for the Swiss, put the race in perspective when she said: “There was only a little wind today. I didn’t even think about it.”

And Kiehl zeroed in, saying in near-perfect English: “I thought all morning that there might not be a race, but when it started, I just concentrated on my run. The conditions were more or less the same for everyone. The ones who won (medals) didn’t worry about the wind. Only the ones who lost worried. It was a fair race, and I won.”

Officially, the wind was less than 10 m.p.h. on top at the start of the race, and it probably never gusted to more than 20 or 25 m.p.h. during the competition.

Kiehl, 23, admitted that she tried to hold her line on the steep upper part of the approximately 1 1/2-mile course. “But after making a couple of mistakes, I forgot about the line and just tried to let my skis go fast. It was really wild. I almost fell twice. I was out of control up there.”

In the finish area, holding a stuffed animal that she called “a devil,” Kiehl said she had felt ready for a big effort.

“I was sixth in the downhill at Sarajevo, then fourth at Crans-Montana,” she said. “I didn’t think about the gold medal, but I knew I could have a good run with a little luck. This little devil might have helped. It was given to me by a friend from Germany, who said it would be lucky for me.”

Kiehl started racing at the age of 6 and joined the West German team at 14. She won her first World Cup race at Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, in 1984. “I like Canada,” she said Friday.

According to some of the other West German racers, Kiehl tends to keep herself aloof, which is strange on a team noted for its cohesiveness and generally happy, upbeat spirit.

Said teammate Regine Mosenlechner: “Marina often stays by herself, and sometimes isn’t very easy to talk to.”

Asked about this trait, Kiehl said, “I think I’m a very happy girl, but skiing is my business. I am always concentrating very much when I am skiing and don’t like it if people come up to me and want something.

“When I am home (in Munich), I am relaxed.”

While Kiehl is starting to feel at home in Canada, too, Percy has known that feeling for 21 years. She lives just down the Trans-Canada Highway from here, in Banff, and a huge mob of family and friends cheered her on to the bronze medal.

“I think I know this mountain really well,” Percy said. “I hiked all over it last summer and feel right at home on it.

“I just wish that Laurie Graham had been able to finish higher. I’ve learned a lot from her.” Graham, who will be 28 on March 30, finished fifth in 1:26.99.

Next came the highest-placed Austrian, Petra Kronberger, who couldn’t quite compensate for the mishaps that befell teammates Sigrid Wolf and Anita Wachter. Both contenders missed gates and failed to finish.

They weren’t alone. Seven other racers, including Hilary Lindh of Juneau, Alaska, also fell or skied off the course. None was injured.

With Pam Fletcher out after breaking her right leg Thursday, only two Americans--both from California--finished the race. Edith Thys of Olympic Valley was 18th, 2.67 seconds behind the winner, and Kristin Krone of Truckee was 20th, another .60 of a second back.

Today, the women will ski in one of the two combined races--the downhill if the wind stays down, otherwise the slalom. Said Percy, who is scheduled to compete: “I can’t party tonight, but I hope everyone else in Canada does.”

They hardly needed encouraging.