A PROGRESS REPORT : Some Winter Stars Are Hot and Some Are Not

If the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway, were today, the timing would be right for some athletes but not for others. Times staff writer Randy Harvey provides some updates:

UP

* PICABO STREET (Alpine skiing) Sun Valley, Idaho--Named after a trout stream in her home state, Picabo (Peek-a-boo) is one of the offspring of an Age of Aquarius marriage. Her parents dropped out in 1967 by moving to Triumph, Ida., which at the time had a population of three. By the time she arrived, via a natural childbirth handled by her “ski bum” father, it was a boom town of 23. She finished second in the recent combined competition in the World Championships at Shizukuishi, Japan.

DOWN

* ALBERTO TOMBA (Alpine skiing) Italy--Once criticized for his playboy lifestyle, Tomba la Bomba is now bombing, according to the Italian press, because he is too absorbed by his relationship with a steady girlfriend, a former Miss Italy.

The winner of three gold medals in gated events in ’88 and ‘92, he has won only one World Cup race this season and withdrew from the giant slalom at the World Championships last week in Japan because of flu.

UP

* BRIAN BOITANO (Figure skating) Sunnyvale, Calif.--In the five years since he won the gold medal at Calgary, the gap between Boitano and the other men skaters has grown as wide as the bald spot between Dick Button’s ears.

If Boitano takes advantage of a new rule that allows professionals to return to Olympic competition, and indications are that he will, considering that he campaigned so hard for it, he would be favored to become the first male singles skater to win two gold medals in the sport since Button in ’48 and ’52.

DOWN

* KATARINA WITT (Figure skating) Germany--When Witt recently announced her comeback, the response from U.S. champion Nancy Kerrigan was, “Yeah, sure.” That was pretty much the unanimous response within the sport.

In the five years since she retired from serious competition, Witt’s professional routines have made her look more like a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader than a two-time Olympic champion. What music will she skate to, “Shake Your Booty?”

UP

* YE QIAOBO (Speedskating) China--In one news conference during last year’s Winter Olympics, she broke into tears while telling a compelling story about her disqualification from the ’88 Games because of a positive drug test. Speaking fluent English, she said the illegal substance was administered to her by coaches without her knowledge.

Accompanied by Chinese officials to her next news conference, she was not allowed to speak without an interpreter.

Second to Bonnie Blair in the 500 and the 1,000 meters at Albertville, France, Ye has won all five of this season’s World Cup races in the 500 meters and has beaten Blair once in the 1,000.

DOWN

* BONNIE BLAIR (Speedskating) Champaign, Ill.--Put an asterisk by this one. After her performances in the last two Olympics--three gold medals and a bronze--what other way could she go but down? But even if she has slipped, it is not exactly into oblivion. Although she has not won a World Cup 500-meter race this season, she is second in the overall standings. And she leads in the 1,000.

UP

* BRIAN SHIMER (Bobsled) Naples, Fla.--Teaming with the NFL’s Herschel

Walker, Shimer finished seventh in the two-man competition in the ’92 Winter Olympics. Now, he is teaming with a NASCAR star, Geoff Bodine, to prepare for ’94. Bodine will not ride in Shimer’s two-man sled, but he did design it at his own expense of $130,000. Shimer, a former Morehead State football player who did not begin driving until 1989, has not done too badly with his old sleds on this season’s World Cup circuit. With one race remaining, he is the leading four-man driver.

DOWN

* WOLFGANG HOPPE (Bobsled) Germany--With five medals in the last three Winter Olympics, including golds in the two-man and four-man competitions in ’84 at Sarajevo, Hoppe is considered one of his sport’s all-time great drivers. But, at 35, he has been passed by time . . . and the Swiss, the Austrians and even other Germans. A two-man sled driven by Christoph Langen punctuated its victory in the German championships by beating Hoppe again in last weekend’s World Championships at Igls, Austria.

UP

* EDDIE EDWARDS (Ski jumping) Britain--Granted, Eddie the Eagle barely knows which way is up, much less flies in that direction. The roofer from Bedford, England, became such a joke during the ’88 Winter Olympics that the International Olympic Committee urged all sports to impose stricter qualification standards. Chin up, Edwards insists he will be ready for ‘94, although he confesses he was set back by a recent spill in France. “I fell on my face,” he said. “That hurt.”

DOWN

* TONI NIEMINEN (Ski jumping) Finland--The golden boy of the ’92 Winter Olympics, Nieminen won the individual high hill and team jumping competition at 16. No winter competitor had ever won a gold medal at a younger age. But he has proven himself a normal teen-ager this year, falling in love with his first car. The Finns have dropped him from their team, complaining that he spends less time on skis than in the $50,000 Toyota provided by one of his sponsors.