Adelboden to get underway with Olympic tension on the rise

In the best of circumstances, January is a tense time for skiers looking to make their bid for the Olympic Games. In 2022, tension is wound tighter than a bridge cable. First, there is one fewer week to qualify. Historically, the deadline was the weekend after Kitzbuehel. This year, the bidding will conclude Jan. 17 after the races in Wengen, SUI. That means one more giant slalom, one super G, and two slalom and downhill races — all while running the Covid gauntlet.

Then, there is the larger matter of the new Olympic criteria, which has reduced team sizes internationally and looks like it might have particularly stark implications for the U.S. men. Though all teams stand a reasonable chance to grow through a very complicated and ill understood reallocation process, the U.S. men’s team is currently six. Historically, teams could field as many as 14 of a single gender, but are now limited to a maximum of 11 per gender. While there is hope that the U.S. will expand beyond six, nothing is guaranteed. I’m hearing the same angst from my broadcasting colleagues around the world and their respective countries. This will be a central theme in the weeks to come, like Germany and its six spots or mighty Austria and its nine. 

Only the Swiss are guaranteed 11, but as their star Marco Odermatt told me a couple of weeks ago, nothing Olympic begins to compare to the pressure placed on him when he races in Adelboden. (Whether the 24-year-old phenom even registers stress is another question altogether.) There might be some debate as to whether Alta Badia or Adelboden is the most hallowed giant slalom on the circuit, but there is no such confusion in Switzerland. It has been a staple on the Word Cup since its inception in 1967, when Jean-Claude Killy became the inaugural victor.

The track, the Chuenisbargli, is a character unto itself. It is a patchwork of cow pastures with more pitches, lunges and curves than the Jimmy Hendrix Museum. As for the experience, it’s unlike any other training or race venue in the world, one where so many GS greats were able to win only once: Michael Von Gruenigen, Ted Ligety, Aksel Lund Svindal, Alberto Tomba and Karl Schranz to name a few. Yet, every year it draws as many as 40,000 Swiss fans hoping this will be their year. (Due to Covid, this year they will limit the crowd to 13,000.)

No Swiss man has won the giant slalom since 2008 when Marc Berthod and his Swiss teammate Daniel Albrecht finished 1-2. Since that day, no Swiss had even reached the podium until Odermatt finished third last year. The next day, his teammate, Loic Meillard also reached the podium on that rare double-GS weekend. Odermatt has won three of the four giant slalom races this year, and there can be little doubt as to what the Swiss will expect in 2022.

On paper, his chief rival is Alexi Pinturault, who launched his 2021 campaign for the GS title after winning back-to-back races on the Chuenisbargli last year. Pinturault admitted to fatigue in the weeks before Christmas, either the result overtraining in the off season or a vestige of the effort he put in last year to win the overall — he couldn’t say. He bounced back after Christmas with a podium place in slalom, but, unlike Odermatt, joined the ranks of those caught up on the Zagreb hustle this last week when the men’s slalom was postponed from Jan. 5 to Jan. 6. So, while Odermatt and many GS specialists were resting and training, favorites like Pinturault, Henrik Kristoffersen, Mani Feller, Loic Meillard, Zan Kranjec and Filip Zubcic were largely idling in snowless Croatia until today, Friday.

The U.S. will continue to hang its hopes on the ascendent River Radamus, who now sits eighth in the giant slalom standings just two points from sixth. That alone is noteworthy, but it is even more impressive after watching him crash in the opening run of the two giant slalom races in Alta Badia, ITA. Hobbled by serious shin bang, Radamus skied through pain for three more runs to finish sixth the first day and 10th the next.

Tommy Ford has been working his way toward race speed but in the end has opted not to start in Adelboden, where he was so badly injured last year. After some back and forth, Ryan Cochran-Siegle will also pass on the giant slalom to get in some super G training for the upcoming rip of speed races, which will include a super G and four downhill races between Jan. 11 and Jan. 22. 

Those in the start for the U.S. include Brian McLaughlin, Bridger Gile, and George Steffy, all of whom have had at least two trips down the fabled track. Luke Winters, who has specialized in slalom in recent years, will have his first go at Adelboden. It will be his first World Cup GS start in over two years, and only his third on the World Cup.