Aspen: More confident Kildow ready to shine

ASPEN, Colorado — When Lindsey Kildow walked into the press room Friday for an informal chat with the media at the Aspen Winternational, she seemed confident and calm knowing the pending questions on everybody’s mind weren’t going to be easy to answer.
ASPEN, Colorado — When Lindsey Kildow walked into the press room Friday for an informal chat with the media at the Aspen Winternational, she seemed confident and calm knowing the pending questions on everybody’s mind weren’t going to be easy to answer.
    Coming off a season filled with expectations to represent the U.S. women’s team proudly and pressure to heal quickly from various injuries, Kildow seems to have the World Cup in the palm of her hands.
    “You mature every year,” Kildow said of the importance of her experiences last season. “Having another Olympics under my belt has helped a lot. I didn’t get the results that I wanted, which was a bit disappointing but mentally I was 100 percent there. I think that was really important for me because I still tend to put pressure on myself. To have that practice for next time around for my mental game, I feel like I can execute everything that I need. I’m now more confident in myself with the experiences I have.” 
    Although disappointed after the Sölden race cancellation, Kildow is feeling a sense of relief to be on home turf. “It’s really awesome to be racing [in Aspen]," she said. "This is my fourth or fifth season racing on this hill. Just being in the U.S. is so much better.” 
    Even though racing so close to home can add on some extra pressures to an already nerve-racking event, Kildow has valuable experience and helpful insight to share with some of the newcomers to the U.S. team.
    “It’s always tough because you want to perform well for your home country,” Kildow said. “But it’s the first race. You just have to take it as another race and forget about all the expectations.”
    Although the U.S. women’s team has fallen short of results in past years, Kildow has high hopes for the season. “I think we are going to do awesome,” Kildow said of the new team. “There are a lot of new girls especially on the technical team like Jess [Kelley], Megan [McJames], Caitlin Ciccone, Katie Hitchcock. But [for the new girls] it’s their first season racing full time on the World Cup. So I expect to get some top-30 results, top 15 hopefully. And Julia [Mancuso] and I are skiing really well.” 
    Kildow also expressed some disappointment and sentiment toward the weakened field this season due to widespread injury, but she alluded to the great opportunity it will bring for newcomers on the circuit.
    Expectations, although downplayed for now, still seem to be set high as Kildow strives for a top 10 in the slalom.
    When asked what she missed most about the United States, Kildow responded promptly with a snicker: French toast and the accessibility of laundry.
    “It’s impossible to get your laundry done in Europe so I bring five humungous duffle bags with two months worth of underwear and socks — all that good stuff.”