World Cup Rewind: In the eye of the storm

There had been exactly one technical race for the World Cup women since January, that night slalom at Zagreb, so there were many racers looking forward to the GS and slalom scheduled at Zwiesel, Germany.
    Maria Riesch, Germany’s brightest light this season, was particularly anxious to perform in front of her home audience, having skied out in the last German GS in late January. Austrian Elisabeth Goergl was hoping for a chance to make a small dent in the lead of Italian Denise Karbon in GS. Marlies Schild, Nicole Hosp, Tanja Poutiainen and Veronika Zuzulova all had some business to attend to in the form of the race for the slalom crown, and Hosp and Riesch both needed to gain some ground on overall leader Lindsey Vonn. Vonn herself hoped to show she could race some technical events as well to show these challengers she wouldn’t relinquish her lead easily.
    As it turns out, Emma was the big winner.
THERE HAD BEEN exactly one technical race for the World Cup women since January, that night slalom at Zagreb, so there were many racers looking forward to the GS and slalom scheduled at Zwiesel, Germany.
    Maria Riesch, Germany’s brightest light this season, was particularly anxious to perform in front of her home audience, having skied out in the last German GS in late January. Austrian Elisabeth Goergl was hoping for a chance to make a small dent in the lead of Italian Denise Karbon in GS. Marlies Schild, Nicole Hosp, Tanja Poutiainen and Veronika Zuzulova all had some business to attend to in the form of the race for the slalom crown, and Hosp and Riesch both needed to gain some ground on overall leader Lindsey Vonn. Vonn herself hoped to show she could race some technical events as well to show these challengers she wouldn’t relinquish her lead easily.
    As it turns out, Emma was the big winner.
    Emma, labeled a hurricane, ripped across Europe, derailing a bullet train, cutting power to tens of thousands and killing at least 13, mostly with falling trees. Zwiesel was directly in Emma’s path.
    The organizers made every effort, but in the end both races were canceled, and with time running out between now and the end of the season on March 15, they will not be made up. Winning by default is not the way any athlete wants to come out on top.
    Denise Karbon won the GS title when the cancellation was made official. So instead of the satisfaction of out-speeding an opponent to the beam, or even of racing comfortably with a minimum of risk and knowing she was the better athlete, Karbon found out she had won while watching television.
    “I wasn’t that happy to begin with,” she said. “ … I would have liked to clinch the title in the race. My preparations went really well over the last five weeks and I had my sights set on a good result in Zwiesel. Regrettably, however, the conditions were against us.”
    Marlies Schild is more likely to pick up her second straight slalom title now. If she finishes in the top 10 of the slalom finale in Bormio she cannot be beat. Nicole Hosp needs nine other skiers to finish behind her and in front of Schild to take that trophy. Poutiainen needs help from 18 other skiers. For both Hosp and Poutiainen the slalom title was going to be a long shot anyway. Now we’re talking long-range sharp-shooting abilities … and a lot of luck.
    The overall title is still very much in question. Vonn leads, but by just 54 points. Thanks to Emma, however, the advantage shifts to those better in downhill and combined, and she has the decided edge there.
    ‘‘In the end it plays out better for me, but I always want everyone to have an equal opportunity,’’ Vonn said. There are three speed events plus a combined remaining to be contested (two downhills, a combined and a super G) compared to two races in Hosp’s favored events (one slalom and one GS). Hosp and Riesch will needed to take as many chances as they can muster the courage for down the stretch. Vonn, most likely, need only ski within her comfort zone.

Miller takes charge in Kvitfjell
The men missed the wrath of Emma with a trio of speed races in Norway, one of them a makeup downhill from Val d’Isere. Bode Miller turned in perhaps his best weekend of racing this season, with a pair of second-place results and a win. He not only put distance between himself and the only two men capable of catching him for the overall title, Didier Cuche and Benjamin Raich, he got an added benefit from Cuche who made what he considered critical errors on-course. The result was Miller closed to within five points of Cuche for the downhill title as well.
    With momentum and one of his favorite downhill courses remaining on the DH schedule at Bormio, the table is tilted definitively in the American’s favor. Cuche needs to finish ahead of Miller in Bormio. He did not do that in Kvitfjell in any of the three races.
    Two of the three Kvitfjell races went to first-time winners. Italian Werner Heel won the opening downhill and Austrian Georg Streitberger won the closing super G. Heel wound up with his first two Cup podiums for the weekend, winning and placing third the next day. He was ninth in the super G, doubling his career top 10 placings. Streitberger’s previous best result had been sixth, and his SG win surprised him as much as anybody. Either Heel or Streitberger would have been happy with a top 10 finish. Wins were almost too much to bear.
    “I had a good feeling from top to bottom, but I really did not expect to win,” said Heel, who has a newfound appreciation for Norway. “It was a perfect day. It’s a nice location and nice people here. … Fantastic!”
    Streitberger said winning was a dream come true, and added that he did not think he made a single error. “I have a hard time believing I’m winning this race,” said Streitberger. “I felt comfortable on my skis today and achieved a solid run yet I didn’t expect to win this race today as I never [have] reached a podium so far.”

Raich against the wall; Cuche still holds key to super G title
For the defending overall champ, Benjamin Raich, the weekend was near disaster. He did not get a point in either downhill and was only 16th in the super G, dropping 245 points to Miller and 165 to Cuche. Pressure notwithstanding, his final stand has to start at   Kranjska Gora next weekend and carry through the Bormio finals.
    Cuche, too, may have felt some pressure. He placed well at Kvitfjell with two podiums, but not as well as Miller. He suffered from some poor light in the opening downhill, and produced his worst DH since the opener in November. In the second, he said, “I did a big mistake in the upper part of the course before the big jump. I knew it would be tough to win the race [after that]. I was able to remain focused and aggressive at the bottom, but … it was possible to ski that course faster. It’s good to be on the podium, but Miller is now very close to me in the downhill standings. The Finals will, for sure, be very special.”
    For sure they will.
    Cuche was third in the SG, behind Streitberger and Miller, but neither man threatens his lead in the super G standings, so the likable Swiss veteran has plenty left to shoot for. If he finishes in the top 20 of the finale SG in Bormio he will win the crown. And h
e does still lead the downhill standings no matter how small Miller has made the gap.
    It was a good, solid weekend of racing for the Canadian men as well.  Of the 30 available top 10 placings, Austrian and Switzerland had seven each. The Canadians had six; including a fourth and fifth in the downhills from Manuel Osborne-Paradis and a career-best fourth place SG result from 23 year old Robbie Dixon.
    Unlike Heel, or Streitberger, Dixon wasn’t all that surprised. “I’ll take the fourth place without a problem,” he said, adding, “It’s kind of tough but it shows I can improve from my results in the past and it’s looking good for next season.”
    For Miller, the future is now.
    “It has been a pretty good weekend even though I left 40 points behind, but I think I made the best of those three races,” Miller said. He said he’d been experiencing difficulty all season in super G, particularly in finding the right pair of skis and had decided, in direct contrast to previous seasons, to play it safe.
    “I wanted to make sure that I didn’t take too much risk today, and I didn’t,” he said. I didn’t take a lot of risk at all. … It’s a little bit tough to ski that way for me, but it is also good to be second. You can’t be too worried about it.”