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Headline RSS FeedMancuso rebounds for 8th place in delayed GS; Vail's Schleper finishes 14th
February 25, 2010 —
WHISTLER CREEKSIDE, BC – Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) rebounded well from Wednesday's unfortunate restart, carving Thursday's third-fastest run to move up from 18th to eighth in giant slalom.
"Today was definitely about going out there and doing the best I can," Mancuso said. "Given the circumstances yesterday I really had nothing to use and I found a hidden piece of energy to go and lay one down."
The 2006 gold medalist in GS said she understood the decision to flag her off the course the day before, and she was more than content with her overall experience at these Games.
"I know it all comes down to safety first and you have to respect the decision made by everyone working on the hill to make it fun and safe for everyone," she said.
"I couldn't have asked for anything more. I mean, I haven't been on the podium for two years and then to come in here and take two silver medals is incredible, and then to be a part of a team that had an amazing Olympics is special. It's really perfect."
Mancuso made up almost a full second on first-run leader Elisabeth Goergl of Austria, who won bronze in a time .41 faster. Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg won gold.
"I feel like this was another stepping stone in my career, and I'm healthy, and I know how to stay healthy and I'm going to use all of this momentum to go into the next season and the next years to come with a little more confidence," Mancuso said. "Really the confidence was lost when I had (a back) injury, and I feel confident now and I have the results and I have the two medals to go into the next races and the next years and stay on top."
Mancuso was also happy that teammate Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) found another solid run to finish where she started the day, in 14th.
"I'm so proud of her," Mancuso said of the four-time Olympian. "We had a moment, and just to be able to come back from injuries and have had a two-year-old, for her to go out and be 14th today, that was awesome."
In her first Olympics, Megan McJames (Park City, UT) finished 32nd and gained invaluable race experience, even if she didn't get the result she wanted.
"It wasn't what I was hoping for and I know I can be faster, but I took my first Olympic run yesterday and my second today and I've learned from each one," McJames said. "Tomorrow I've got to take all of that and just go as fast as I can. I'm really excited to be able to have a second race at the Olympics so I'll have to move all that energy into the slalom."
Friday's first slalom run is slated for 10 a.m. PT, with the second going off at 1 p.m. Schleper, with a World Cup win in slalom to her credit, will join McJames among the starters for the U.S.
"Of course I'm shooting for the podium, it's the only reason that we race in the Olympics," Schleper said. "It's all or nothing, fourth place doesn't matter so I'm going to go as hard as I can and ski as hard as I can and see what happens. I can't do anything besides that."
Downhill gold medalist Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) will race Friday after breaking her pinkie finger in the crash that occurred while teammate Mancuso was on course Wednesday. Filling out the roster for Team USA will be Hailey Duke (Boise, ID), making her Olympic debut.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
Whistler Creekside – Feb. 24
Women's Giant Slalom, First Run
Gold – Viktoria Rebensburg, Germany, 2:27.11
Silver – Tina Maze, Slovenia, 2:27.15
Bronze – Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 2:27.25
4. Fabienne Suter, Switzerland, 2:27.52
5. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 2:27.53
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8. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 2:27.66
14. Sarah Schleper, Vail, CO, 2:28.36
32. Megan McJames, Park City, UT, 2:32.98
DNF 1 – Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO
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Vail's Schleper turns in top American result in first run of Olympic giant slalom
February 25, 2010 —
WHISTLER CREEKSIDE, BC (Feb. 24) – Wednesday's second giant slalom run was rescheduled to Thursday morning because of dense fog and falling snow. Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) is 14th and Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) 18th after the first run, in which Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) spun out and crashed, injuring her finger and ending her race.
The 2006 Olympic champion in giant slalom, Mancuso had already begun her run when Vonn spun out on a right-hand turn and got tangled up in the netting. Mancuso was flagged off, took a snowmobile ride up to the top, and had to start again in worsened conditions.
"It was the worst possible thing that could happen," Mancuso said. "I had been looking forward to defending my Olympic title for a long time. I was focused and ready, and then I had to regroup and try again."
Mancuso finished the make-up run 1.30 back of first-round leader Elisabeth Goergl of Austria, leaving her with a lot of ground to make up Thursday.
"Ski racing can be totally unpredictable and frustrating like it was today," Mancuso said. "The only thing I can do now is go out and attack tomorrow like I was in the first run today."
Vonn suffered a non-displaced fracture of the proximal phalanx of the small finger on her right hand, according to U.S. Olympic Team Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jim Moeller. A decision about her participation in Friday's slalom has not been made.
"The course is breaking up at the bottom," Vonn said. "I got a little bit too inside and lost my outside ski. My knee came up and hit my chin. I got all tangled up and hit the fence."
The downhill gold medalist had been the fastest until the point of her crash, starting right after Goergl went into the lead. Vonn has never reached a podium in a World Cup giant slalom, her weakest discipline.
"I can only keep smiling, because I know I was skiing well and sometimes you go down when you're attacking," Vonn said. "At this point, I just hope that my finger's OK so I can still race on Friday."
Schleper is just 1.07 back and will start 17th on Thursday. She said she's capable of a more aggressive approach, and that's what you're likely to see tomorrow.
"I would have liked to arc a couple more turns for sure, and I would have liked to have been a little closer," Schleper said. "It's going to be tough to fight for a medal from where I'm at. But I'm going to give it my best shot and really put it all on the line in the next run."
Megan McJames (Park City, UT) finished just outside the top group in 31st. The second run begins at 9:30 a.m. PT on Thursday.
American men shut out in giant slalom; Vail's Vonn, Schleper go for gold in GS
February 23, 2010 —
WHISTLER CREEKSIDE – For the first time at the Vancouver Winter Olympics no American climbed on the podium at an Alpine skiing event Tuesday. Switzerland's Carlo Janka won the gold in the giant slalom as Bode Miller skied out in the first run and Ted Ligety struggled to finish ninth.
Still, Americans have won eight of 21 medals awarded in men's and women's events at Whistler Creekside, and both Miller and Ligety get another shot in Saturday's final men's event, the slalom.
Wednesday morning marks a change of gears for U.S. women as double 2010 Olympic medalists Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) gear up for giant slalom at Whistler Creekside along with Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) and Megan McJames (Park City, UT).
Schleper is competing in her fourth Olympic Games and is the top-ranked American giant slalom skier. Her best result came at Torino in 2006 when she finished 10th in the slalom.
Mancuso is the defending Olympic champion in giant slalom and will be sporting a specially made speed suit to honor her 2006 gold. For Vonn, it will be an opportunity to chase her first big race podium in the discipline. She has finished as high as fourth on the World Cup, but has yet to climb into the top 3.
The start will mark the fourth Olympic Games for Schleper, who missed two successive seasons following the 2006 Olympic Winter Games – the first to a torn ACL and the second to the birth of her son Lasse, who turned two last month.
It is the first Olympic race for McJames, who trained in Jackson Hole, WY with the women's technical program before arriving in Vancouver.
First run is set for 10 a.m. PT with a second run to follow at 1:15.
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Miller owns the Bodium with gold in men's super combined
February 21, 2010 —
WHISTLER CREEKSIDE, BC – If Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) had any questions left to answer about his big-race abilities, he doesn't anymore. Miller shredded Sunday's slalom leg of the super combined to earn his first Olympic gold medal and record fifth overall.
"When I passed the line, I did my normal thing and stood for a second and I was like 'That was unbelievable, I can't ask for anything more,'" Miller said. "For my first Olympic gold, it was absolutely perfect."
Exhausted from a training crash in slalom, an ailing ankle and medals festivities, Miller said he got a rush of inspiration before his second run, in which he zipped past Croatia's Ivica Kostelic by .33 seconds for gold.
"Within 10 seconds before the race, I started to get that bouncy feeling where everything hones in," he said. "I started to get the shivers a little bit and that energy. That's what I've had in all the races leading up until now and I knew it was what I needed in the slalom."
Miller's five medals have come in four different disciplines. He received two silvers in Salt Lake – giant slalom and traditional two-run slalom combined – and has scooped up an Olympic Neapolitan in Vancouver with downhill bronze, super G silver, and super combined gold. The men's giant slalom is set for Tuesday, and slalom will conclude the alpine schedule Saturday.
Miller was seventh, .76 seconds behind Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal after the downhill, gaining an early advantage on the winning split but losing time in the latter half.
"I thought Bode put down a good run in the downhill," said U.S. Head Coach Sasha Rearick. "He had to fight to get some time (back), which I thought was good. So he just goes out there and skis like he can, he doesn't have to think about it too much, just go as hard as you can."
The U.S. Team went 1-2-3 in the slalom, with Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) coming from 15th to fifth with the day's fastest second run, followed by a sensational performance from Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA), who crashed into the netting in Saturday's training but bounced back to finish 10th in his Olympic debut with the second fastest slalom of the day.
"He got up and he said, 'I'm going, for sure,'" Rearick said of Brandenburg. "He was just battling through some pains. He put down a solid run (in the downhill), and in the slalom, it was fantastic."
Miller had to dig deep for his slalom, the day's third fastest.
"It was completely fast on the bottom," Miller said. "On that last pitch, my legs started to feel wobbly, and it didn't even feel like I was looking at the gates anymore.
"I knew I had a great run going, but I don't know how I got those last 15 gates through the finish. It was just willpower. My legs were completely shot. On a run like that, you're functioning on inspiration and willpower. It's not muscle or anything deliberate, it's things you're drawing up from somewhere else."
Ligety, the 2006 combined gold medalist in Torino, was almost perfect in slalom, recovering well from a mistake near the finish. He said he wasn't thrilled to finish just outside the medals, but he can take something from this success going forward.
"I had a great slalom run and I feel like I skied well, and I definitely felt like I had more speed there too," he said. "I'm happy with that, and it gives me confidence for the slalom.
"Giant slalom is really my big focus here because I feel like that's my best medal chance. I haven't been on the podium for a while in the combined and only had one podium in the super G, so to really expect a podium out of those was a little bit of a stretch."
Ligety said Miller is "tailor-made" for the super combined.
"He's one of the best downhill skiers in the world, and he shows moments of brilliance in slalom, and he did that today."
Super G bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) capped an impressive result for the U.S. Team with yet another strong slalom to land 11th.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
Whistler Creekside, BC – Feb. 21
Men's Super Combined
Gold – Bode Miller, Franconia, NH, 2:44.92
Silver – Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 2:45.25
Bronze – Silvan Zurbriggen, Switzerland, 2:45.32
4. Carlo Janka, Switzerland, 2:45.54
5. Ted Ligety, Park City, UT, 2:45.82
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10. Will Brandenburg, Spokane, WA, 2:47.06
11. Andrew Weibrecht, Lake Placid, NY, 2:47.58
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