The Word Cup According to Grande: The Women are done, the Men have Slalom tomorrow
I am not going to rip on Lindsey, ESPN and NBC seem like they are taking care of that. Calling her a disappearing act and other such nonsense. She has the rest of the World Cup season to think of and a couple of globes to win. I just think she should have pulled out of both tech races. I know it is not in her to quit or even be perceived as a quitter. But she likely should have pulled out of the Olympics after the Speed Events. It is also not my call. But I think itr would have been a good idea.
Beyond that, the Women raced slalom today. And it was won by Maria Riesch. Second was won by Marlies Schild and 3rd by Sarka Zahrobska (CZE). They are all great skiers and I respect all of them. But I do think the weather play a role and the girls ranked in the first 7 had huge advantage. I do want to go on the record that I think that Marlies is the best slalom skier in the world. I think Maria gets by with some questionable technique. But she is a very large girl and has a huge advantage on a flat hill on soft snow.
I think the race was a fair representation of the women’s slalom standings thus far and I am ok with that. But I want to point out a few things. First, I am very bummed out for Anne-Sophie Barthet of France. I think she has had a great year but did not live up to her promise today. Also to Nastasia Noens, also of France, who did not get it done but has also been solid all year. But I also want to talk about Sarah Schleper. She skied very well on run 1, and I thought she would make a move on run 2.She hit a hole in the pin at the bottom at a bad angle and barely stayed in. I wish she would have done better today but I want to say that if this was her last Olympics, that I totally respect her career and her effort and girls should look at her for how you go about it, no matter what the results.
I also thought I would give a little love to the Canadian girls. First, to Anna Goodman, who blew herself up earlier in the year and just started skiing again not long ago. She did a fantastic and very brave job to get back into it. To Brigitte Acton, who after Anna went down became the leader of the slalom group. And to Erin Mielzynski who just killed it to finish 20th. She was a NorAm skier at the beginning of the season and I would guess that it is no longer the case. Congratulations girls, sometimes you need to look at the process and not only the outcome….even in an outcome oriented event like the Olympics.
THE MEN RACE SLALOM TOMORROW
The Men’s slalom hill is very easy. The announcers on the hill will try to tell you otherwise but I have stood on it and it is a piece of cake. The bottom would be the toughest part . The announcers called it the steep pitch in the Kombi race but I am telling you it is the flattest hill the boys will race with the exception of Alta Badia for slalom. And I am not even sure of that because Alta Badia has a pitch on top and then runs out to the finish. Whistler is flat the whole way and then the “finish pitch” is moderate. It is not Wengen, or Kitzbuhel, or Schladming or Garmisch, or any of the other bad-ass slalom hills in the world. It is easy. And the snow is now soft because it is DUMPING in Whistler. Anyway, there was no free ski on the race hill today so that will tell you they are in damage control mode.
The course setters are Dusan Grasic (CAN) for run 1 and Christian Hoeflehner(AUT) for run 2. I normally do not like Dusan’s setting but he set a great course in Alta Badia this year on a similar hill. Hoefi is likely going to try to set to his boys’ liking which is about 10 meters and straight. Hirscher, Pranger, Herbst and Raich are the big boys in this race. And he will set tight distance, too much so for the hill? The nation of Austria is banking on them. The rest of the Olympics has been mostly a waste. For a bunch of years the Austrians have been the dominant team in all disciplines. Now they are struggling. Their home-country papers are ripping on them. The pressure could not be greater. So besides the 4 Austrians, who do we look at?
Julien Lizeroux can absolutely kill this hill. Watch out for the wild ones! Felix Neureuther, Matias Hargin, Razzoli, Ligety, Janyk. And on this hill, watch out for these guys: Julien Cousineau (CAN), Jim Cochran(USA) and Jens Byggmark(SWE) are really good. And on a flat hill look for more. When there is an easy hill, watch out for everyone. These guys are so good, they are so solid, that when you get on an easy hill it is a very close deal. Risk becomes the main issue. How much can I risk? How much can I straighten it out? How much can I lay it over and have the snow push back? Even on soft snow. I could go on forever with each guy…It is going to be close and I can’t wait for it.
TEAM USA: Ted is very good on easy hills and can get in there. So can Bode. They have so much speed as demonstrated in the Kombi event. Jimmy will be raging hard from his start position and Nolan Kasper is a rookie but he is a very solid slalom skier. He has scored on the big hills so I have to wonder about his speed on the flats. I think there can be 3 medal winners tomorrow from the USA if the execute on a high level.
TEAM CANADA: Janyk will be great on this hill. His home hill and it fits his style, big angles and long turns. Cousi has been doing great but he strikes me as a tight course guy. Trevor White and Brad Spence have been doing a great job and grew up in the ARCING slalom generation. Roll the skis up high and pressure hard. They are talented and need to dig deep.
My Podium: Lizeroux, Neureuther, Hargin. Sorry Austria, you are shut out!
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Greg “Grande” Needell grew up ski racing at Stratton Mountain,
Vermont. After graduating from SMS he skied for NCAA Division 1 St.
Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he was co-captain in 1986. Greg
returned to SMS to coach there for five years serving as the Head
Women’s Coach as well as the Head J2 Men’s Coach. He then moved to
Mission Ridge in Wenatchee, Washington in 1992 to become the Program
Director and Head Coach of the Mission Ridge Ski Club. In 1997, Greg
became the Head Coach at Mammoth Mountain, California.
In 2002 Needell was asked to join the U.S. Ski Team staff as a World
Cup SL and GS coach. From 2002 to 2008 Needell helped lead the U.S. Ski
Team Men to 43 wins, 105 podiums and 264 top ten finishes. Now at the
helm of Alpine Race Consulting, Needell offers his knowledge and
experience to clubs nationwide.
About the Author: Eric Williams
