Are: Cook missed top 15 by a blink

The curly-haired 22-year-old was a bit heartbroken Sunday after her run. Stacey Cook made it to her first World Championships and was gunning to make a top-15 finish in the downhill.

ARE, Sweden — The curly-haired 22-year-old was a bit heartbroken Sunday after her run.
    Stacey Cook made it to her first World Championships and was gunning to make a top-15 finish in the downhill.
    Cook missed her goal by only a tenth of a second, but it seemed like a lifetime to the young U.S. Ski Team member whose voice cracked slightly when talking about her 16th-place finish.
    “My goal was the top 15 and I’m bummed that I didn’t get in there,” Cook said. “It is my first world champs, so I have to look at it realistically.”
    But it still stings when you’re so close and can’t quite grasp your goal. Her plight could have been the material for a decent country song — which happens to be “Cookie’s” favorite kind of music.
    First time at championships.
    Only raced in one event.
    Final training run canceled.
    Missed top 15 by a blink.
    “I came into this season skiing the best I ever have and I don’t think I’ve skied to my ability this year so far,” she admitted, then mustered, “But it’s all right.”
    By the end of 2006, Cook had scored World Cup points in three disciplines, qualified for the World Cup Finals and performed on winter sports’ biggest stage, the Olympics in Torino, Italy.
    “This whole experience has been really fun up here, and Are has been an awesome place. I’ll just learn from this and take it into the future,” she said.
    The third day of downhill training for the women was canceled Saturday because of weather, dealing Cook a bad hand. Many of the women had an extra day on the downhill course because they had raced in the super combined.
    “My first two [training] runs were kind of conservative, so if I had had the opportunity to just go out and charge on one more run, I think I would have been that much more comfortable today [Sunday],” she said.
    “Maybe I would have made up that one-tenth to be in the top 15.”
    Cook seems like the kind of focused competitor who you’d want on your team. Just 10 seconds after lamenting some of her mistakes, saying she felt a little out of control on her run, she gushed over her teammates, happy that Lindsey Kildow was finally getting what she’s worked so hard for — medals.
    When the interview was wrapping up, Cook’s face had eased slightly and her competitive optimism was seeping out. Sometimes it’s difficult at such a young age to see past the present, but not for this smart Cookie.
    “Now I have a (worlds) under my belt. I think a lot of it is getting used to nerves and big-event situations,” she said. “Every time you go on course, you just get a little more comfortable with it and figure out what to do to ski faster next time.”