European Report: Muehlegg considers comeback; Schild will race slaloms

European Report: Muehlegg considers comeback; Schild will race slaloms{mosimage}Johann Muehlegg — the German cross-country skier who raced under the Spanish flag at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games — is already eyeing a comeback.

Muehlegg won three gold medals in Salt Lake City, but failed doping tests for the banned blood-booster NESP and was forced to return one of his golds (in the 50km freestyle race) and serve a two-year racing ban.

The ban officially ended Wednesday and Muehlegg is already taking steps to return to the Spanish team with eyes on a comeback in time the 2006 Olympic Games in Italy.

“We understand that he’s served his sanction and he deserves our support,” said Guillermo Jiménez, director of Spain’s sports federation on the Spanish wire service EFE. “We will study what will be his program to reintegrate himself into the Spanish team.”

But many are wondering if the German national will be welcomed back into the Spanish fold so easily. Muehlegg’s Olympic medals were the first for the Spanish team and quickly earned him the nickname “Juanito” in the Spanish press.

After his victory, he had an audience with Spain’s king, but his fame quickly faded following the positive doping test. The fiasco quickly prompted a joke: “Juanito won the medals, but Johann failed the doping tests.”

Muehlegg, however, maintains his innocence and says he wants to make a comeback.

“I am happy because today I have completed the sanction. It’s been hard and it feels like it’s been 50 years,” Muehlegg said. “I want to return to win for Spain. Physically I am strong and now I have to calmly plan my return.”

>> Schild confirms she’ll start

Austrian slalom specialist Marlies Schild confirmed she will race in this weekend’s slalom races in Levi, Finland. The 22-year-old injured her left knee in training before the Region Arber races in Germany and underwent surgery to repair ligament damage.

“I’ve been training since Saturday and I feel good on the skis,” she told Austrian radio ORF. “I believe I am strong enough to race without fearing to injury the knee. I believe I can do it.”

Despite the break in action, Schild is still in second place in the season-long slalom standings.

>> Gerg still has hope

Hilde Gerg says there’s still hope in the race for the World Cup downhill title. The German veteran is second in the downhill standings, 63 points behind leader Renate Goetschl of Austria.

“Taking one of the globes is theoretical at best, but I will try,” she told the German wire service SID. “I will give it my best shot, naturally, but Goetschl is skiing very well. I have to have a perfect race to try to overtake her.”

Gerg will skip the Levi races to prepare for the World Cup finals next month.

>> Davos to make Olympic bid

The Swiss town of Davos — best known for hosting the annual World Economic Forum — is set to a bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The bid, which still must be endorsed by the Swiss Olympic Committee, would involve several regional ski resorts, including Flims/Laax, Lenzerheide, Klosters and Coire.

Davos faces competition from a host of other towns. Annecy, France, Harbin, China, Pyeongchang, South Korea, Norway’s Tromso, the Bulgarian capital Sofia and Quebec City have also signaled their intention to bid for the 2014 Games.

St. Moritz is the only Swiss venue to have ever staged the Olympics, hosting them in 1928 and 1948, but Swiss bids have had little success recently. Sion was a favorite for the 2006 Games but lost surprisingly to Turin, Italy. Bern withdrew from the race for the 2010 Games a month after the IOC had accepted its bid, along with those of Vancouver (the eventual winner), Salzburg in Austria and Pyeongchang.

>> Seer contemplating retirement

Florian Seer — the 1995 junior world slalom champion — is facing retirement, according to a report in the Austrian paper Der Standard.

Seer, 27, has struggled with injuries and has never been able to live up to his promise. He posted three top-10 results in the 2000-01 season, but injuries have kept him sidelined for much of the following seasons.

He did not qualify in his two World Cup starts this season and he’s been paying his own bills in an effort to get back onto the national team.

“Before my surgery I was 12th in the world and I thought I was on the road to victory,” he said. “But now I cannot get into the top 30 so I don’t know if I have a sporting future anymore. I cannot carry on like this.”