Are: Great Britain's downhiller speeds for home

Great Britain’s Finlay Mickel might have downhill skied all the way back to Edinburgh if it hadn’t been for a rescheduled plane ticket and a reassuring phone call from his wife.
ARE, Sweden — Great Britain’s Finlay Mickel might have downhill skied all the way back to Edinburgh if it hadn’t been for a rescheduled plane ticket and a reassuring phone call from his wife.
    Timing was everything for Mickel, who was set to do his best in the men’s downhill Saturday at the World Championships and then book it back home minutes after the race.
    But then the weather got in the way and the downhill was postponed 24 hours.
    With the kind of pressure Mickel was under, he’s lucky to have made it down the treacherous run Sunday in one piece, let alone punch in a top-30 result in the race.
    Why?
    “My wife is due today [Sunday],” Mickel said.
    That’s right. “Britain’s No. 1 downhill skier” was scheduled to be a first-time father on Sunday.
    “She said to me last night, ‘I’ll keep my legs crossed, so don’t worry about it. It’ll be OK,’ ” Mickel said after his run.
    He had made up his mind to ski in his specialty, the downhill, in Are for the World Championships. But that didn’t make the decision any less agonizing.
    “I was speaking with my dad about his experiences when he was born. He never saw his father until he was a year-and-a-half old because he was in the war effort,” Mickel said. “But it’s more doable now. Two generations ago you weren’t expected to be there and now it’s a done thing for the man to be there during the birth process.”
    Mickel, whose best finish in the downhill so far this season was 13th in Val Gardena, Italy, completed Sunday’s downhill in 1 minute, 47.45 seconds, putting him in 26th place.
    He wasn’t thrilled with his run. He wanted to be in the top 15, but he made some mistakes and couldn’t get ‘home’ out of his head.
    “I knew it was going to be a tough day because that cloud kept coming in and out. I made quite a few mistakes… I should have driven harder in the middle section. I lost too much time there,” he said.
    “Having the added pressure of what’s going on at home just isn’t that comfortable. It just weighs heavy on your mind.”
    It helped having his father and brother in Are, who both flew in two days ago, he said. The tall and lanky Scot was going to watch the top 30 racers come down and then sprint to Trondheim for a direct plane ride to Edinburgh.
    He was set to be home about six hours after his race.
    So what do he and wife, Daca, plan to name their son?
    “We haven’t picked out a name yet. We have a couple options,” he beamed.
    How about Are?