THE OLYMPICS / WINTER GAMES AT ALBERTVILLE : This Time Around, Jansen’s Fall Comes After He Finishes : Speedskating: He drops to fourth place in 500 meters, .24 seconds behind Germany’s Mey, on a soft track.

Dan Jansen didn’t fall this time.

But he didn’t win the race. And he didn’t win a medal.

Ambushed by rain-softened ice, the world record-holder in the men’s 500-meter speedskating race, the hard-luck figure of the 1988 Games, was tromped again as he resumed his battle Saturday against his mightiest athletic foe, the Olympics.

Jansen finished fourth in Saturday’s 500, no better than when he was a bright-eyed youngster of 18 at Sarajevo in 1984.

But compared to Calgary, what happened here in the Savoy was nothing.

In Calgary, he chose to skate through his sorrow when his sister, Jane, died of leukemia the night before his first race. But he was badly distracted and fell, first in the 500, then, after a trip back to suburban Milwaukee for the funeral, four days later in the 1,000-meter event.

Saturday, he simply lost a race. He gave it his best shot and missed.

Jansen, skating in the second pair of the day, was timed in 37.46 seconds. His world record is 36.41, but he couldn’t muster a strong finishing kick here.

Then he watched as first, Junichi Inoue of Japan, then Uwe-Jens Mey of Germany and, finally, Toshiyuki Kuroiwa of Japan, put up better numbers.

Mey, with whom Jansen has been swapping victories and the record all season, finished in 37.14, winning the gold. Kuroiwa was second in 37.18, Inoue third in 37.26.

And yet, no one could find serious fault with Jansen’s race.

Coach Peter Mueller figured that Jansen’s lack of kick over the last 200 meters cost him.

“That’s been his strength all season,” Mueller said. “It just didn’t happen today. But that’s the Olympics. You only get one shot. At least he didn’t fall over this time.”

The kick was missing because of the soft ice, said Jansen’s brother Mike, also a speedskater.

“He’s a strength skater,” Mike Jansen said. “He’s so strong that when the ice is soft, he sinks right in. He’s got to have ice he can glide on.”

Jansen, who will skate again Tuesday in the 1,000, agreed.

“I think the main problem was that technically I’m wilder (than most other skaters),” he said. “I skate with power and glide. The ice wasn’t very conducive to that. But I have no excuses. The guys beat me and that was that. . . . I think I skated a solid race overall.”

He said he thought he had gone faster.

“I didn’t want to change the way I skate for the ice conditions, and maybe that hurt me a little. I was surprised when I looked at the clock and it was that slow. I knew it wouldn’t hold up. I’m surprised that I got fourth.

“The last 100 meters I was as relaxed as in some other races this year, and I thought it was solid enough for the low 37s. Going in, I thought I could have skated a 36, even in these conditions.

“If there was any hesitation at all, it was in the first half of the last turn. But I came out of it pretty smooth.

“I felt very good before the race. . . . I wasn’t nervous. I was really enjoying the crowd and the whole atmosphere.”

And not once, he said, did he think of four years ago.

“Falling was never on my mind,” he said. “Calgary wasn’t on my mind.”

Those things, though, have been on many other minds, and Jansen has done nearly daily replays, explaining his feelings then, his feelings now.

“I feel relieved that this is over,” he said. “I can’t say I’m disappointed. All along I said I was going to prepare myself 100% for today, and I did that. And then I went out and did the best I could.

“I guess I’m surprised, more than anything. I had a feeling in my gut that I was going to come out of this with a gold or silver medal but it didn’t happen. . . . I really thought that it was going to be me or Uwe today.”

Mey, the defending Olympic champion in this race, had thought so, too.

“I really felt for (Jansen),” he said. “He’s such a fine man who puts so much into his sport. He deserved better.”

Mey was called back to the starting line after a false start, and sometimes that psychs a skater into a moment’s hesitation on the restart. Not so in Mey’s case. He started quickly and smoothly the second time and turned in the fastest time for the first 100 meters.

“It was not really a problem for me,” he said. “I have raced so many 500s. I know how important it is to focus on getting a good first 100.

“I didn’t skate an especially good race. But it doesn’t bother me. It was good enough.”

So was Jansen’s, to those close to him.

Said his mother, Gerry: “He skated a good race. The conditions were not as good as we would have wanted for a person as big as he is, but I didn’t see any mistakes. He just skated. I’m glad it’s over.”

And Jansen’s teary-eyed wife, Robin, said: “I just wanted to make sure he stayed up.

“And you’ve got to keep in mind that nobody out there--the first-, second- or third-place finishers--beat his world-record time. He can skate under good conditions with the best in the world.

“But the last thing in the world he wants is for anyone to be sad. So I’m going to put a smile on my face.”