Young speed racers put a spark into U.S. team

A couple of the U.S. Ski Team’s up-and-coming speed racers, Leanne Smith and Andrew Weibrecht, turned heads this week after breakthrough performances on the World Cup level.
    U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Jesse Hunt said Smith’s pair of top 25 finishes in her first World Cup races at Lake Louise coupled with Weibrecht’s thrilling 10th-place finish in the Birds of Prey downhill put a charge into the entire organization. One of the keys to keeping that charge electric, Hunt insisted, is making sure the team’s young racers are armed for success once the tour settles for the season in Europe.
ASPEN, Colo. — A couple of the U.S. Ski Team’s up-and-coming speed racers, Leanne Smith and Andrew Weibrecht, turned heads this week after breakthrough performances on the World Cup level.
    U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Jesse Hunt said Smith’s pair of top 25 finishes in her first World Cup races at Lake Louise coupled with Weibrecht’s thrilling 10th-place finish in the Birds of Prey downhill put a charge into the entire organization. One of the keys to keeping that charge electric, Hunt insisted, is making sure the team’s young racers are armed for success once the tour settles for the season in Europe.
    “Certainly it’s a testament to them as athletes that they can step into [the World Cup] arena and really do something,” Hunt said. “But I think we do have a really good formula right now in terms of how we’re developing these young athletes.
    “For example, in Lake Louise, Leanne has been on that track a couple of years now racing NorAms and then she gets in there, she knows the track, knows where to ski and then, boom, makes an impact at the World Cup and gives her confidence and now she’s off and running. … The key is to keep the momentum once we get on some new tracks and keep that confidence going.”
    Smith, who enjoyed some powder skiing Friday with the postponement of the downhill in Aspen, sports a laid-back attitude but is a fiery competitor. She likes to keep it loose around her teammates and she took that feeling into the downhill and super G events in Canada last week. Smith did admit she had some preconceived notions about the atmosphere on the World Cup.  
    “I was kind of like, these girls must be really intense as a whole because there’s press everywhere, people everywhere, fans, and you’re expected to do well,” she said. “But I just realized these people are regular, everyday people and that we all have something in common, we all like to ski race and we’ve all had success. … well, they’ve all had a lot of success.”
    Smith proved she belonged in Lake Louise, dispelling the notion that she may seize up on the sport’s highest level. Hunt said a number of young racers have succumbed to the mystique of the World Cup. “But certainly the ones that can get in there and take away that element of mystery from the World Cup, they’re the ones who move on,” Hunt said.
    Hunt said racers like Smith and Weibrecht will have to lean on the experience of their older teammates when dealing with the grind of living and racing in Europe for months at a time.
    “Physically and mentally, it’s a long season,” he said. “[Our athletes] can’t go home like the Europeans can. After they have a bad race and they’re tired they’ve gotta stay over there because coming back home is even more tiring than staying over there and working through it. It’s a tough grind for them and definitely more difficult for athletes outside of central Europe, no question about it. It’s a testament to our athletes that they’ve been able to manage it.”