TORINO: Alpine: Fresh snow scrambles men's super G prospects

TORINO: Alpine: Fresh snow scrambles men’s super G prospects{mosimage}SESTRIERE, Italy – With two inches of fresh snow covering the men’s Olympic super G track on the day before the race and more on the way, waxing technicians will be up late seeking friction-reducing magic potions.

Early Friday, head U.S. men’s speed coach John McBride was on the race hill, which was enveloped in fog and heavy snow. “There’s been a change in the surface for sure,” said McBride. “This will get the service boys up to the challenge.”

Austrian Hermann Maier may lead the super G standings, but a layer of gooey, new snow on a relatively flat hill will certainly raise havoc with the status quo. McBride noted, “If it gets softer than it has been, that could be an advantage for the guys running early.”

If that is the case, all the top-seeded racers who run at the end of the top 30 starters, such as Daron Rahlves, could be in for a long day. Bode Miller, with a ranking of 27th in super G, will have an early start number, along with Steve Nyman, while Scott Macartney will be starting in the middle of the pack. If the snow gets cleared off the track and the rock-hard sub-surface re-emerges, the advantage goes back to the last starters.

The top three in the World Cup standings — Maier, Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway) and Hannes Reichelt (Austria) — still have to be considered the favorites, although Miller could grab his first medal of the Games. Others to watch include Erik Guay (Canada), who had been injured earlier, but has declared himself to be race-ready; Kjetil Andre Aamodt (Norway), who is also nursing an injury; and of course, Rahlves. He’s hungry for a medal after a disappointing downhill.

Austrian Michael Walchhofer will not be racing the super G, after having been bumped off the strong Austrian squad in favor of World Cup leader Benni Raich. It was a tough decision for Toni Giger, head coach of the Austrian team, since both had been on the World Cup super G podium this season. “It’s always difficult to make a decision like this,” said Giger. The decision was based on Raich’s being closer to the winning time in his best super G finish at Lake Louise.

As for dark horses, McBride said, “Watch out for Macartney.”