USST stars hit the Big Apple

USST stars hit the Big Apple{mosimage}(New York City) Some of the largest names in recent U.S. Olympic and Paralympic history gathered in Manhattan today to kick off Visa USA’s marketing campaign leading up to the 2006 Torino Winter Games. The meeting was more than a rare photo op that featured Bode Miller, figure skater Michelle Kwan, speed skater Derek Parra and hockey player Cammi Granato sitting within several feet of one another; it was a chance for Visa to announce its individual sponsorship of the 15 athletes in the room nine of whom represent the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team.

Although Visa has had contracts with some of the 2006 Olympic hopefuls for several years, ‘It was the first time we were able to get everyone together in one place’ said Michael Rolnick, Director of Corporate Relations for Visa.

Together, the 15 athletes were responsible for winning 11 Olympic and Paralympic medals in Salt Lake and Nagano.

Besides World Cup overall champion Miller, the other USST athletes included world championship double-bronze medalist Julia Mancuso, 2002 national super G champion Marco Sullivan, 2003 World Cup moguls champion Travis Cabral, 2001 national aerials champion Emily Cook, snowboard cross champions Lindsey Jacobellis and Seth Wescott, 2003 nordic combined sprint world champion, Johnny Spillane, and 2005 overall World Cup sit-ski champion Laurie Stephens.

During their stay in Manhattan, the athletes were treated to free financial advice, optional media training and a performance of the Broadway show ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.’ Nine of them also appeared on NBC’s Today show this morning. (Kwan announced her intentions to compete in Turin on the show, and under pressure to do the same from hosts Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, as well as the other athletes and crowd who chanted his name, Miller eventually answered ‘alright’ and was greeted with cheers.)

Before the skiers and snowboarders flew home to resume training for the next nine months, Ski Racing caught up with some of them to discuss their summer plans.

TRAVIS CABRAL: ‘I’m making my second film, ‘Shadow in the Trees’ which will premiere in September 2005. Shooting is done. We’re almost done with out first edit, which is 3 ½ hours long but we’re going to try to cut it to 1 hour, 45. It’s about a 19-year-old boy whose father mysteriously disappears in the woods. My friend from elementary school [Chris Smith] wrote it. I’m producing it. We hope to raise more than $20,000 for a child or a family who seriously needs financial help. Our first film, ‘Déjà vu’ raised $5,000 for a kid with cancer who had surgery and is in remission. I’ve been interested in film since I was 13. I used to make my own promo reels to show sponsors.’

EMILY COOK: ‘For us, Olympic qualifiers start this summer with a World Cup in Mt. Buller, Australia. For me, that’s the biggest priority. I’m also in a mentorship program. I work with Sammy Palmer. She’s 14 and started aerials last year. She was a complete natural and an incredible twister. I truly believe she’s the future of women’s aerials.’

LINDSEY JACOBELLIS: ‘I took my vacation in April [surfing in Mexico]. But I can’t sit around because it drives me crazy so I’ll be into wake surfing which is not the same as wakeboarding. In wake surfing, you’re on a short rope behind a boat. The boat goes in a very slow circle. Your goal is to get rid of the rope, catch the wave, and generate your own speed by pumping. My brother Ben and I go on Lake Lillinonah, in Connecticut, about 15 minutes from our house.’

BODE MILLER: ‘I’ll be teaching at my family’s tennis camp [in New Hapshire]. It’ll be broken up by sponsor commitments, but I vacation these days at home. I like to play sports when nobody’s watching.’

MARCO SULLIVAN: ‘Julia Mancuso and I are training in Maui in June and July.’

JULIA MANCUSO: ‘My dad has a place there and Scott Sanchez, an ex-ski racer who’s married to [5-time world champion windsurfer] Rhonda Smith-Sanchez, has a private gym where we train. He’s got a vibration plate, which a company developed for Alberto Tomba and is supposed to engage your nervous system. You stand on it and do squats while it shakes. It helps your body learn to use more of your muscles and increases muscle memory.’

SULLIVAN: ‘There’s a men’s camp in July so I’ll have to go back, but sports science gives us a program and has faith that we’ll follow it.’

MANCUSO: ‘I also surf and kite-surf. In Maui, the big waves are in the winter and the big wind is in the summer so that’s why I picked up kite surfing. I can’t say it translates directly to skiing but it helps you learn more about your motor skills and any time you learn a new sport, it improves your ability to adapt. I grew up doing tons of sports and it really helped me be a really athletic skier and that’s one of my strengths. I can sometimes get away with what others can’t.’

JOHNNY SPILLANE: ‘I had a back injury that kept me out of the second half of last season. I’ve been rehabbing that and making sure I’m completely recovered. In April, I went fly fishing with my younger brother so I already took my vacation. I also mentor a ski jumper who I see almost every day on the Park City ramp in the summer.’

SETH WESCOTT: Surfing is definitely my passion. It’s the only other sport besides snowboarding that I’ve traveled for. (I went for 24 days straight last summer in Costa Rica.) I was in the water off the coast of Maine on Monday and I’ll be surfing as soon as I get home tonight. I was skateboarding from a young age and after snowboarding, surfing was the last in the continuum of board sports to try to master. Also, of the three, surfing has the only environment that isn’t static. Even in snowboarding, the mountain just sits there.