Slalom, Women

The top slalom skiers in the world were considered to be the French Lafforgue sisters, Britt and Ingrid. Ingrid was World Cup champion and World Champion in 1970, but was injured early in 1971 and could not compete at Sapporo. Their father, Maurice Lafforgue, had skied at the 1936 Winter Olympics. Britt Lafforgue tied for the 1971 World Cup slalom title with Canadian Betsy Clifford, who did not compete in Sapporo, but who would win it outright in 1971-72. The first skier off in the first run was American Barbara Cochran, from the well-known skiing Cochran family of Vermont. Three of her siblings would also ski in the Olympics – Bob, Marilyn, and Lindy. Barbara Cochran posted 46.05 and waited. Britt Lafforgue had a run of 46.23 two skiers later, and France’s Danièle Debernard would move into second with 46.08. Disaster struck Lafforgue on the second run when she missed a gate and was disqualified. Debernard would lead the second run, with Barbara Cochran second, but the margin was only 1/100th of a second, and Cochran would win the gold medal by 0.02 seconds.