Are: Hank's Handicap: Super combi

Super combi is a new-enough race format that history tells us precious little of who might succeed at this World Championships.
SUPER COMBI is a new-enough race format that history tells us precious little of who might succeed at this World Championships.
    With both the men and women on tap in some form of the format for the next race day of the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships, Feb. 8, there are no clear favorites. No skier — man or woman — has won two combined events this season. Three of the five who have won might indicate a slight edge to the tight gate skiers. The single run of downhill, single run of slalom format may finally have made combined a fair test.
    A couple of days ago Bode Miller said of the 2007 FIS worlds: “It’s going to be a challenging set of races because there are a lot of guys with a huge amount of speed,” adding, “At something like the World Championships, everyone has the gas pedal all the way to the floor. I think you’re going to see some surprise winners.”
    The men’s super G sure supported that contention. The men have run three super combis this season, with World Cup overall leader Aksel Svindal winning the first and slalom guys Ivica Kostelic and Mario Matt the next two. The women have completed two, with Marlies Schild and Julia Mancuso getting the wins.
    That short list doesn’t begin to account for contenders. Swiss mystery Marc Berthod leads the men’s combined standings and Austrians Romed Baumann and Rainer Schoenfelder are ranked fourth and fifth. Michaela Kirchgasser is second in the women’s standings with Mancuso third and Nicole Hosp and Sarka Zahrobska tied for fourth. Lindsey Kildow is 10 points behind them.
    In this discipline, sure things are far and few between. The closest to a sure thing would be Schild, who has been on the podium in both of her opportunities this season. But Matt came from 50th to win the Wengen combined; Baumann from 54th to finish second at Reiteralm behind Kostelic. The defending men’s combined champion is Benjamin Raich and he hasn’t done better than sixth so far this season. Mancuso and Hosp get mentioned in nearly any race they enter. And these are the popular favorites.
    There are others less popular to consider. Berthod has been second in combined twice this season and has that miracle slalom win propelling him. Kirchgasser is so excited to be entered in three events that she might pull an upset. Kostelic has been very good in combined since his silver at the Olympics. Zahrobska, overlooked by most pundits, was fifth in the 2005 title edition, and fifth in both the combined events this season.
    After placing 1-2-4 at Zauchensee, the American women (Mancuso, Kildow and Resi Stiegler, respectively) were talking about medal sweep potential. The Austrians walked the walk and did sweep the Reiteralm combined (Schild, Kirchgasser and Kathrin Zettel, respectively).
    Don’t underestimate momentum, either. Anja Paerson is always a threat to win — she won silver last go-around and looked strong in winning the super G. And Patrick Staudacher, well, he’s already proven that anything is possible.
    Paerson was near the top of downhill training (third, vaulting to first after some DQs), strengthening her case, but Mancuso was tight behind with Hosp, Zettel and Anne-Sophie Barthet of France all within striking distance. The dark-horse men’s counterpart to Barthet, based on men’s DH training, is Hans Olsson.