|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
U.S. skiers thrive in big events
ST. ANTON, Austria -- What is it about the U.S. ski team and major international competitions? Daron Rahlves' stunning victory on Tuesday in the Super G, the first men's race at the Alpine World Ski Championships, extends a long tradition of excellence by U.S. racers at major events. Here's some history: Remember Bill Johnson winning the downhill at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics? He only won three other races in his career, but for one glorious day the reformed petty thief beat the best in the world. Then he disappeared as fast as a melting snowflake. The Super G wasn't held back then. Olympic competition only included six races, and the Yanks won three of them. Debbie Armstrong (giant slalom) and Phil Mahre (slalom) also triumphed. After his victory, Phil congratulated his brother Steve on finishing second. Then he called home to find out that his wife had given birth at about the same time he crossed the finish line. Then he carried the U.S. flag at the closing ceremonies a few hours later. Not a dull day. Yes, Americans did well at those Olympics, and other examples abound. Remember the pundits who compared U.S. skiers to cows shortly before the Lillehammer Games in '94? That was just before Tommy Moe and Diann Roffe won gold medals in the first two races there. Roffe was also a world champion. So were Tamara McKinney, Picabo Street and Hilary Lindh. Street also won the Super G at the '98 Nagano Olympics. Why mention this lengthy roster of champions? Consider how many World Cup overall champs the U.S. has had since those triumphs in '84 ... not a one. Street is the only American to so much as to crack the top five in the last 16 years, which she did with a fifth-place finish in 1995. Rahlves was the top-ranked U.S. male last year, pulling in at No. 20. And looking at leaders in cumulative World Cup points in individual events over the last 16 years? Street is the only U.S. athlete to have been ranked No. 1 in a single event, the downhill, over the course of a season (1994 and '95). So why is the United States capable of producing one-race wonders when it is incapable of challenging the Austrians and Swiss over the course of a season? "We definitely rise to the occasion in big races," says Rahlves. "We just do the right things when the race comes up. It's easier for us, 'cause we can just think about skiing. Hermann Maier's skiing in front of his home fans and how many people does he have to please? How many are people he knows?" Rahlves isn't overstating things. Maier finished third here, behind Rahlves and another Austrian, Stefan Eberharter. A check of a random newsstand in St. Anton revealed Maier on the cover of eight magazines and on the front page, not just the sports section, of five newspapers. The official Hermann Maier fan club was out in force, many members wearing Maier masks or carrying Maier flags. The unofficial Hermann Maier fan club, the one he doesn't sanction but which claims to have more members, was here as well, faces painted red and white by the dozens and glistening against the snow. Maier was the lead on the local news. Later during the same broadcast there was a five-minute profile on him. Then there was a synopsis of the Austrian team's chances and another feature about the dueling Hermann Maier fan clubs. And Rahlves? "A few press talked to me during the week," he said. "Besides that I ate, trained and went to sleep." Even Rahlves' family stayed behind. His forever-young father, Dennis, a team-rodeo competitor, had to rope a few legs at an event in Arizona. "It isn't easy, what Hermann goes through over here," says Rahlves. "He's a cool customer, but it's gotta be hard. I can go through the U.S. and nobody knows who I am. When you magnify everything at a world championship, sometimes it's easier to be an unknown." Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers Olympic sports for tha magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com. Look for periodic reports from St. Anton over the next two weeks.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
