The World Cup According to Grande: An Impressive Day, USA!
Svindal, Miller and Weibrecht.
The Men’s Super-G ran today and it was a very interesting race. My info from Ted’s reports as to the hill being “horrible” was not far off. It became obvious that is was going to be an early number, like before 15, that would win or make a splash. Or it would take a supreme, excellent effort from a big time guy, like Svindal.
I am sitting here watching right now. Ted made some big mistakes, a huge one in the coaches’ turn. I set the GS there 2 years ago at the World Cup event and I will tell you it is VERY flat from there to the bottom. Ted also got pushed low in the fall-away section. Andrew got pushed very low there and I think that if he had been able to hold a tighter line there and onto the fall-away flat and down into the sewer section, he would have been much faster. Maybe even he would have won? Anyway, I love Andrew; he is a great skier and a lot of fun to work with. He understands what he is supposed to do, and over the last 2 years he has really done his work. In the gym, on the hill, it does not matter. He works hard and wants to be great. I could not be happier for anyone on the team.
Bode came down and into the lead. I am pretty blown away with the roughness of the course. I just saw Manny crash and it is a rattling SOB on the top. I think that the track definitely deteriorated later in the race. But before we go into the medals, we need to look at the results.
Svindal won by just under .30. It does not seem like much until you look at the rest of it. Weibrecht beat out 4th place Werner Heel by .02. Heel was .01 ahead of Guay. He was .05 ahead of Innerhofer. And on and on it went. Janka was .18 from a medal in 8th place. And I am sure that is what it is all about. On a hill that rough, a slowing snow surface, and to be that tight, it was pretty amazing. But when you watch the race then you have to respect Aksel even more. He took a course that was getting rutted, and slower on the bottom; and still won. It shows Aksel’s greatness. He puts himself in play every day, and then the hundies fall where they do. It is consistently great skiing and smart tactics rewarded on a regular basis. With all of that involved, Aksel really put it down. He made a statement. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He is a true professional, with total focus but always with a smile. He is friends with everyone, he wishes everyone well, he never questions his strength. He wakes up every day and goes to work. He is almost always the first athlete I saw every morning for 7 years on the World Cup. Warm up at 7 AM, first one there was Aksel. Inspection opens at 8, I guarantee he is one of the first ones inside the fences. Free ski training on the race hill? Aksel will be the first one in the arena, well right with Ted and Bode. It is amazing. His energy is very high, always. Aksel is the World Cup athlete who would be most described as the person you would like your son to grow up to be.
With all of that said, I just watched my friend Patrick “Swede”Jaerbyn crash hard after hooking a tip. It looked like he was knocked out when he was sliding. I hope he is ok, it was tough to watch.
Congrats to Aksel, Bode and especially Andrew. He even got mention on NBC as “Warhorse,” the name given to him by Mick “Mee-atch” Branch, a US Ski Team DH/SG Coach.
THE WOMEN’S SUPER-G
We are pretty impressed with Julia Mancuso so far. Her presence in a big event is always bigger than the others. To me, and I might be all alone in this, SG has always been her natural discipline. If you think about it, she is a Gold Medal winner in GS, a Silver medal winner in DH and a Silver in Kombi. She is likely the most natural young junior skier I have ever seen. When I first went to work in California, at Mammoth Mountain, she was a J3 at Squaw Valley. I had traveled some with her older sister, April, who was an excellent ski racer in her own right. We went to the Far West Championships which is a relatively meaningless race for the older kids while holding some bragging rights for the younger ones. We were at Alpine Meadows, near Tahoe City, California racing slalom. And Julia had no ranking to speak of so started in the back. The last kid from my club had already gone but I stuck around to see the new “phenom.” It is hard to take that seriously, like in any sport as you have to prove yourself no matter what. There is not elevator to the top. Anyway, I watched this skinny little kid just rip down the slalom. She wasn’t doing perfectly by any means. Even better she was just recovering and making it work on the fly. Like watching a street-ball game and watching a 13 year old drain three-pointers efortlessly. Like some kid drifting back to the wall in centerfield and just leaping over the wall with not effort to make a catch. Like watching an obviously superior athlete at tailback slash through the defense with a smoothness and calm you cannot describe. People don’t yell or scream, they just go silent. The same happened the first time I saw Julia ski. And now, after untold success at a young age, she has fought back to the top. So she gains even more respect. Julia starts number 1 tomorrow. By far the toughest position to start from in Super-g because if there is info to be had on any problems on course, she is oblivious to them. But also a great position in the current conditions. This situation reminds me of Diann Roffe-Steinrotter’s opportunity in 1994 in Norway. She won that race, by the way.
I think of today and I like the early numbers. Julia has the earliest. Her buddy Chemmy Alcott starts number 2 and Victoria Rebensburg starts 3. I think one of those 3 could make a splash in the standings at the end of the day. Maria Riesch at 12 is a contender and Liz Goergl can definitely record another medal starting at 16. Lindsey starts at 17, and with Aksel going 19 today I think it is definitely doable for her from there. Lindsey is the best Super-G skier in the world so she is still the favorite. Fabienne Suter of Switzerland is solid and Tina Maze can ski good Super-G too. She needs to get some help from the field and the snow, but she can compete. I will put Britt Janyk in the mix as well. Hometown girl with a lot of motivation and a very solid DH under her belt makes he a contender. But I don’t like her number at 25.
I see Lindsay getting her second gold in this one. I just don’t think anyone can beat her. After that, I think one of those 3 early girls grab a medal and I can only hope it is Jules. I also would thinks Maze makes a run for it as long as the course set it linked turns and not too much straight gliding.
Click here to go to Alpine Race Consulting
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
