THE OLYMPICS / WINTER GAMES AT ALBERTVILLE : ALPINE PREVIEW : U.S. Hopes It Won’t Be Repeat of Calgary

In a couple of ways, the Alpine skiing events in the Winter Olympics starting next Saturday figure to be a reprise of Calgary, 1988.

The couple in this case, linked athletically but in no way romantically, are Alberto Tomba of Italy and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland. They have two things in common--Olympic gold medals in the slalom and giant slalom that were draped around their necks four years ago. With each, there’s definitely room for two more, and if either or both can repeat that performance, it would be the first Alpine golden double-double in consecutive Winter Games.

Among those trying to prevent such an occurrence will be the U.S. ski team, which is hoping for a return to the good old days of Sarajevo, 1984. Forget ‘88, they beg you.

It was in Yugoslavia that American skiers earned five medals, including golds by Bill Johnson in the men’s downhill, Phil Mahre in the men’s slalom and Debbie Armstrong in the women’s giant slalom. Phil’s twin, Steve, added a silver in the slalom, and Christin Cooper did the same behind Armstrong. All in all, this was quite a nifty showing.

Then came the calamity in Canada. Medals? You gotta be kiddin’. Top-10 finishes? Oh yes, there was one: the ninth place by Edith Thys of Squaw Valley in the women’s super-G. And that, fellow Americans, was the highlight of 10 Alpine events spread over 16 days.

So, will the U.S. Ski Team at Albertville resemble the one that sizzled at Sarajevo or the one that collapsed at Calgary? Probably, the answer is some place in between.

First, there’s AJ Kitt of Rochester, N.Y., who has been first, second and fourth in World Cup downhills this season. A medal of some color is more or less expected. After him, however, American men are strictly longshots.

The U.S. women’s squad has a bit more depth, especially in the giant slalom, where Diann Roffe of Potsdam, N.Y.; Eva Twardokens of Santa Cruz, and Julie Parisien of Auburn, Me., are capable of placing in the top three. Parisien is also one of the world’s best slalom skiers. More improbable but possible, would be medal performances by Thys, who is back for another try in the super-G, and either Hilary Lindh of Juneau, Alaska, or Kristin Krone of Truckee, Calif., in the downhill.

Other favorites, in addition to Tomba and Schneider, are, among the men, Franz Heinzer of Switzerland in the downhill, Stefan Eberharter of Austria in the super-G and Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg in the combined; and of the women, Katja Seizinger of Germany in the downhill, Carole Merle of France in the super-G and Petra Kronberger of Austria in the combined. This does not take into account Paul Accola of Switzerland or Sabine Ginther of Austria, each of whom could strike gold in more than one race.

A look at the Olympic Alpine program, event by event:

MEN

DOWNHILL, SUNDAY

This has often been a two-nation battle between the Swiss and the Austrians, and could be again this time, with Kitt a possible wild-card medalist for the United States. There’s only one problem: The race on the new Bellevarde course at Val d’Isere has more turns than Kitt, a flat-out speed merchant, likes to make during a two-mile run. This may also impact Heinzer and his teammate, Daniel Mahrer, as well as Austrians Leonhard Stock and Helmut Hoeflehner. However, Germany’s Markus Wasmeier and another Austrian, Guenther Mader, should benefit from the added technical difficulties because they’re also super-G skiers who like to turn a lot.

SUPER-G, FEB. 16

Eberharter won this race in the 1991 World Alpine Championships, but he will face stiff competition from Wasmeier, Mader and three Swiss--Accola, Heinzer and Marco Hangl--as well as Franck Piccard, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, who will be skiing in front of his countrymen.

GIANT SLALOM, FEB. 18

Accola, the current World Cup overall leader this season with 1,370 points to Tomba’s 1,060, will be the Italian star’s chief rival. Other threats will come from Wasmeier, Girardelli and two Norwegians, Ole Christian Furuseth and Didrik Marksten, who upset Tomba in the final pre-Olympic giant slalom Sunday at St. Gervais, France.

SLALOM, FEB. 22

It will be Tomba vs. Accola again, with Girardelli and Furuseth poised for surprises. A remote possibility for a medal is Matt Grosjean of Steamboat Springs, Colo., who has the potential but looks more like a contender for the Winter Games at Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.

COMBINED, FEB. 10-11

Girardelli, four-time World Cup overall champion, seems to be peaking just in time for the Olympics and is that rare racer who can handle the downhill and the slalom with equal ease. His principal opponents will be Eberharter, Mader and Accola.

WOMEN

DOWNHILL, FEB. 15

Seizinger has won two of the five World Cup downhills this season, and teammate Miriam Vogt has scored consistently high in all of them. But Kronberger, a two-time World Cup overall champion, and Ginther, winner of Saturday’s race at Grindelwald, Switzerland, will be right on their heels. Swiss stars Heidi Zurbriggen and Chantal Bournissen also should contend.

SUPER-G, FEB. 17

Merle, skiing for the glory and honor of the home country, will be the target for Seizinger, Switzerland’s Heidi Zeller and Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni, among others.

GIANT SLALOM, FEB. 19

This should be a highly competitive race, with Schneider, the World Cup over champion in 1989 facing challenges by Merle, Compagnoni, Roffe and Twardokens.

SLALOM, FEB. 20

Schneider, who has fallen behind Kronberger in the World Cup standings, 813 points to 751, should be sufficiently irritated by her poor showing in Sunday’s race at Grindelwald, Switzerland, to handle Spain’s Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa, New Zealand’s Annelise Coberger and Parisien of the U.S.

COMBINED, FEB. 12-13

This event will be up for grabs among Kronberger, Merle, Ginther and Seizinger--and anyone else who might get lucky enough to finish high in both of these races while not being great in either one.