Are: Svindal says Austrian men down but not out

ARE, Sweden — The unexpected power failure of the Austrian men’s team during these World Championships hasn’t elicited a lot of sympathy from other nations.
ARE, Sweden — The unexpected power failure of the Austrian men’s team during these World Championships hasn’t elicited a lot of sympathy from other nations.
    Benni Raich’s bronze in the super combined and Fritz Strobl’s silver in the super G are the team’s lone medals, and the squad’s performance in Wednesday’s giant slalom — where Hermann Maier was the top finisher in 21st place — is its worst ever in World Championships or Olympic competition. The Austrian women, meanwhile, have earned four medals thus far.
    “It’s nice to see no Austrians on the podium, that’s for sure,” said American Ted Ligety after Wednesday’s GS. The U.S. men also have failed to meet expectations with no medals in Are despite lofty ambitions for Bode Miller and Steven Nyman. Ligety will have his best chance in Saturday’s slalom.
    Asked after he won the men’s GS, Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal said it wouldn’t be good for the sport if Austria was dominating like days past, like the late 1990s when Maier was in top form. He added that expecting Austria to always be dominant would be casting aside the ambitions of other nations.
    Perhaps most poignantly, Svindal said he has seen a notable lack of surprising results from young Austrians this season on the World Cup.
    “It’s still the same guys and they aren’t really skiing their best, but there aren’t any new guys around to kick their ass, basically, in training,” Svindal said. “I don’t know, but I haven’t seen a young Austrian rip through a GS from a high start number in a while.”
    Svindal said the sport hasn’t passed by the likes of Maier and his veteran teammates on the Austrian team. As evidenced by the medals won by older racers like Didier Cuche and Bruno Kernen, both 34, and 37-year-old Patrik Jaerbyn, there is plenty of motivation left in their older legs.
    “I think they have the biggest team, it’s just a matter of … they’ll be back for sure,” said Svindal, altering his thought in mid-sentence. “I guess some people are worrying, but I don’t think they should worry too much because they have all the chance in the world to be the best nation.”
    Cuche, for his part, said he feels a little sorry for the Austrians’ woes at these worlds but added that “I think they had enough days in the past.”
    “I know it’s hard for the coaches and the team and for the athletes,” Cuche said. “Everybody who started today had 10 months of really hard training on the skis, in the weight room. I feel a bit sorry.”