World Cup Rewind: Oh Canada, Woe Austria

It was a good — many said great — week for the U.S. Ski Team. It was a bad — many said — weekend for the Austrians. It was a good weekend for the Canadians. It was a telling weekend for the future of World Cup ski racing. What it was most was some exceptional World Cup ski racing.
    Lindsey Kildow continued a streak of success at Lake Louise and brought back three more podium placings to the three she had already owned. The amazing Bode Miller won the Birds of Prey downhill and held significant leads in two more of the four events held at Beaver Creek.
    If it wasn’t for veteran Renate Goetschl, the weekend would have been a near washout for the Austrians. And the Canadian team embraced momentum gained early this season.

IT WAS A GOOD — many said great — week for the U.S. Ski Team. It was a bad — many said — weekend for the Austrians. It was a good weekend for the Canadians. It was a telling weekend for the future of World Cup ski racing. What it was most was some exceptional World Cup ski racing.
    Lindsey Kildow continued a streak of success at Lake Louise and brought back three more podium placings to the three she had already owned. She went 2-1-3 in a back-to-back downhill and then super G series and now leads the World Cup downhill standings by 51 points after two of nine have been held and two more canceled.
    The amazing Bode Miller won the Birds of Prey downhill and held significant leads in two more of the four events held at Beaver Creek. He doesn’t lead any standings, but he is still the one guy who is a solid threat to win any race any time.
    Ted Ligety took a podium in the GS at Beaver Creek, was second after first run of the slalom and made the top 10 of the combined to clearly demonstrate the U.S. men’s team is not the one gun posse some have thought. It is clear he will remain the force he established he could be with the Olympic combined medal last season.
    Steve Nyman added the sixth podium of the weekend — and season — for the Americans in the downhill, which is magnificent because it is his first Cup podium and even more incredible because it came on the beautifully challenging Birds of Prey. This result speaks volumes for his immediate future.
    Stacey Cook posted a fourth in the first Lake Louise DH for another exciting addition to the high-rent district of the scoring pool. Scott Macartney, Julia Mancuso and Marco Sullivan also posted top-10 finishes. It is easy to see why the folks who man the offices at the U.S. Ski Team were happy to a point approaching silliness. All is good for the U.S. team this week.
    If it wasn’t for veteran Renate Goetschl, the weekend would have been a near washout for the Austrians. Goetschl salvaged more than pride by winning the final race of the weekend, the Lake Louise super G, and placing second in the second of two downhills. But in Beaver Creek, where Austrian men had won 11 times since 1997 (without counting the World Championships of ’99) the lone podium placing was a third from Rainer Schoenfelder. The Red and White did put up 14 top 10 (men and women) for the seven races, which would be considered pretty good almost anywhere else. The Austrian press, however, will not be happy.
    The Canadian team embraced momentum gained early this season, showing more of its young potential with a pair of podium placings from first-time podium visitors Michael Janyk — in slalom no less — and Kelly VanderBeek. Veterans Thomas Grandi and Genevieve Simard added top-five finishes. This is what a coach likes to see — results spread nicely around the roster. For the season, the team has a half-dozen top fives from six different athletes. Go Maple Leafs.
    The World Cup took a public perception hit with the cancellation of five of the six races scheduled for next week. It is clear to World Cup fans that global warming is no longer a problem of the future. There is precious little snow in the postcard Alps, only some sleepless nights and a complete canvassing of the European theater searching for a site which could salvage one of the six events. Without that, said men’s FIS World Cup coordinator Guenter Hujara, “We can buy some wool, go home and make some Christmas socks.”
    There were also some artistically accomplished weekends from known stars — Aksel Lund Svindal comes immediately to mind. The World Cup overall leader won the combined and was second in the GS. Swiss Didier Cuche, at 32 considered the mainstay of his team, had a second and a fourth in DH and GS respectively. The Italian team got a boost from Massimiliano Blardone when he won an extremely competitive GS. And, on the women’s side, German Maria Riesch took another step toward stardom with a DH win.
    The excitement for longtime viewers, though, comes from the new faces, and no race produced a more amazing result that the men’s slalom. Swede Andre Myhrer just crushed the field for his first win. Janyk moved into the slalom standings lead with second place and Felix Neureuther placed third for Germany with his first podium. There’s a big red flag at the top of the pole folks — the changing of the guard is under way.
    We must wonder about a Swede after his or her first win, as the average number of wins among Swedes with any is 11.5. That average, of course, is skewed by some of the greatest skiers of all time, including THE best Ingemar Stenmark (86) and peppered by Pernilla Wiberg (24), Tomas Fogdoe, Fredrik Nyberg and Anja Paerson. That sets a pretty high standard.
    Among other skiers we noted was another young Swede: Jens Byggmark, 21, has two top 10’s in slalom this season and both came from way back in the pack. He was fifth from 35th at Beaver Creek and sixth from 34th at Levi. That should earn some better start positions for him.
Also we have got to mention Chimene (Chemmy) Alcott finishing in the top half of the scorers in both downhills and the super G at Lake Louise. To find that sort of consistency in DH from a Brit you’d have to search back to 1986 and Martin Bell. Oh, and Monaco won its first points, despite being a haven for World Cup ski racers for decades, when newly re-patrioted Alexandra Coletti finished 20th in the Lake Louise SG.
    Phew! Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 was a great weekend of racing.