We stepped in front of the crowd, and I looked up and saw the Stars and Stripes. All of a sudden I knew I would be performing for Uncle Sam in the Olympics. Right then, I don't believe I could have skated a straight line. This was really different. The Olympics really are something above and beyond-all those flags, the pretty uniforms, Russians smiling at Americans, Americans smiling at Russians, Australians dead serious for once in their lives, the band playing, the Alps almost hanging straight over our heads. It gets you. At least it got me.
—Hayes Alan Jenkins at Cortina
The...