TORINO: Day 3 preview: It's all downhill from here

By Published On: February 11th, 2006Comments Off on TORINO: Day 3 preview: It's all downhill from here

TORINO: Day 3 preview: It’s all downhill from here{mosimage}XX Olympic Winter Games
Day 3, Sunday, Feb. 12

WHAT YOU’LL SEE: The most-anticipated alpine event of the Games takes the stage at noon Torino time Sunday. Daron Rahlves, fastest in Thursday’s training, leads a half-dozen Grade-A contenders into the men’s downhill. Teammate Bode Miller has had a strong week of training, while the Austrians — Hermann Maier, Fritz Strobl and Michael Walchhofer — will be tough to keep off the podium. Want a dark horse? Try another Austrian, rising star Klaus Kroell, who has been rock-solid in the new year.

It’s a full slate elsewhere in the mountains, with halfpipe stud Shaun White leading a talented U.S. men’s snowboarding contingent. Jumpers finish off the normal-hill individual, which held qualifying Saturday, and cross-country, already with the cloud of a drug controversy hanging overhead, kicks off with the pursuit in Pragelato.

WHAT YOU WON’T SEE: American alpine skier Marco Sullivan, who failed to earn a start spot in the downhill when he was edged by teammate Scott Macartney in the last day of training. A knock on Sullivan? Hardly. It’s more a sign of how strong the U.S. team has become. Look for Sullivan to bounce back with plenty of World Cup remaining. And Vancouver 2010 could be his stage.

HERO WORSHIP: The way they trained this week, Rahlves and Miller should be plenty confident on downhill day. But win, lose or tumble into the A-netting, Austrian Maier has written a script worthy of legends. The fact that he’s still skiing at all is remarkable considering his horrific Nagano wipeout in 1998 and the motorcycle crash that nearly killed him. One look at the X-rays from that crash (check out his autobiography, “The Race of My Life”), and it’s clear why he’s worthy of hero worship. Sunday’s race will be his first Olympic start since wrapping up his second gold in the Japan Games.

THE PLACE TO BE: The finish stadium at the Sestriere downhill, where one lucky man will see his life change. For Rahlves, it could be a golden retirement gift.

FRIDAY FORECAST: After some glorious blue skies for training and opening day of competition, Sunday should be again be mostly sunny over the whole Olympic region. Temperatures ranging from -9 Celsius (16 F) to -1 C (30 F) in Sestriere.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “You know, if you’re not on the podium, it doesn’t really matter. There is not a lot of difference between fourth place and 20th. They are all the same place — not on the podium.”
– U.S. nordic combined skier Todd Lodwick (eighth Sunday), from the Steamboat Pilot

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About the Author: Pete Rugh