J2 Junior Olympics preview

USSA J2 Olympics 2008
From Walt Evans, USSA Jr. 2 Olympic Commissioner
I am very excited to introduce our 1991-92 year of birth alpine racers to the 2008 Junior 2 Olympic site. As a matter of fact, I am writing this brief introduction from Formigal, Spain, where the U.S. Ski Team is fielding a team of seven boys and seven girls in the FIS World Junior Ski Championships. Every one of these World Junior athletes has emerged from the USSA J2 Olympics over the past four years.  
    Our 2008 USA World Jr. Team includes combined winners from the Sugarloaf 2004 J2s: Katie Hartman, Team Summit and Max Hammer, Jackson Hole. The team also includes the 2005 Sun Valley combined champions: Tommy Ford, Mt. Bachelor and Julia Ford, Holderness School.

The Venue
Aspen, Colorado is one of the 3-4 classic resorts in North America that is famous for international alpine racing. Aspen was the first North American resort to host the FIS World Ski Championships in 1952 and has hosted international level alpine events since that time. Over the last decade Aspen has again climbed to the top of the prestigious World Cup league with their excellence in producing the annual Women’s World Cup events each November.
    An important athletic reason to compete at Aspen with our 15- and 16-year-old alpine skiers is for them to have many opportunities to compete at Aspen before they achieve the World Cup status. It is critical to rehearse on these major venues with our younger U.S. skiers so as they mature and have opportunity they are familiar and at home on the courses used in the World Cup.
    The USSA partnership with the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club and the Aspen Mountain Resort is a very exciting partnership. The energy of the AVSC staff and leadership coupled with the unbelievable competition venue will provide the 2008 J2 participants with a lifelong memory of this important championship event. We are excited to also inform you that the tentative plan is for Aspen to also host the 2009 USSA J2 Olympics.
    Aspen Resort is dedicating the famous “Ruthies Run/Americas Downhill” race arena to us for the week of the J2 Olympics. All events for both men and women will be hosted on the venue utilizing a common finish but variable start positions on the trail dependent on vertical drop requirements. As you review the enclosed aerial photo, the dotted line defines the track that we will use that proceeds of the Aztec Pitch. The Aspen Ski Club has been doing considerable work in preparing all of the security systems for this world class track.

The Race Organizing Committee (ROC)
Chairman of the ROC and Chief of Race: Jeff Kai, Alpine Director, AVSC
FIS Technical Delegate and Chairman of the Jury: Brad Ghent, FIS
USSA Jr. 2 Olympic Commissioner: Walt Evans, USSA
Race Administration and Communications: Thelma Hoessler, USSA

Team Captains
Western Region Jr. 2 Team: Jennifer Steilow, USSA Western Development Manager
Rocky/Central Region Jr. 2 Team: Terry DelliQuadri, USSA R/C Regional Director
Eastern Region Jr. Team: Bart Bradford, Eastern Region Development Coach

Athletes
The J2 Olympics is scheduled with the FIS as a National Junior Championship event. The event was endorsed as a compliment to the Junior Olympic program in the 2004 season. Athletes are selected to the J2 Olympics by membership on the USST or by their home regions. This event helps to focus development efforts on the top 15- and 16-year-olds in an effort to ensure sustained performance at the World Junior Championships.
    The top 80 U.S. men and 60 U.S. women will receive invitations to compete in the J2 Olympics. Qualification to the J2 Olympics requires that athletes be in the top 5 to 10 percent of the 15-16 year olds in the USA. Eligibility for the USA quota requires that the athletes hold a USA passport, are members in good standing of USSA, are inscribed with the FIS, are born in 1991 or 1992 and qualify through their regional systems as defined on in the USSA Alpine Competition Guide and the ussa.org Web site.
    The J2 Olympics includes a regions cup. This regions cup will be calculated like the FIS World Junior Championship nations cup where the top 10 finishers in each event are awarded place points. The region with the highest total place points at the end of the Championship will be awarded the regions cup.
    Invitations are also extended to other nations with specific quota restrictions.
    The accredited coaching and staff delegation from each region will not exceed 15 individuals.

Quotas
1.    USST Automatic
2.    World Junior Championship Team Automatic
3.    20 Men and 15 Women per Region
4.    20 Men and 15 Women reserved for Development. Development considerations should include first year J2 athletes as appropriate.

Partial list of the contenders: Mike Ankeny, Nick Daniels, Hunter Schleper, Keifer Christianson, Ben Morse
Kara Shaw, Delaney Ackerman, Rose Caston, Jenna Kantor, Maikella Bruce

Rewards and recognition
The USSA J2 Olympics is a marquee event for the U.S. Ski Team National Development System (NDS).
Results and video are carefully evaluated by the NDS coaches, D Team coaches and education directors in an effort to identify talent but to also identify physiological, technical and tactical trends in the Nation and also within geographic areas.
    The gold medalist in each discipline for both men and women will receive automatic entry status to the U.S. National Alpine Championships and an NDS travel grant to help underwrite the costs of the trip.
    Athletes placing in the top five will all receive invitations to the NDS camps in the spring and the fall.

Awards
The J2 Olympics is designed to be a mirror image and warm-up for the FIS Junior World Championships. Therefore awards are presented from first to sixth in each discipline for men and women. Additionally the classic alpine triple is calculated based on the lowest accumulated total of race points earned in slalom, giant slalom and downhill.
    The USSA J2 Olympics will be conducted on the America’s Downhill Course at Aspen, Colorado March 3-11, 2008. These winners are the future of the United States Ski Team and the future of the United States Olympic Movement.
    Watch the results at skiracing.com, ussa.org and livetiming.com.