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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS EDITION // DAY 6
TODAY Gates open, 8 a.m., followed by live pre-show, Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek. Men’s downhill, 11 a.m., Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek. Ladies’ alpine combined downhill training, 1:30 p.m., Redtail Finish Stadium, Beaver Creek. Medals Ceremony, 6:30 p.m., Championships Plaza (Solaris), Vail. O.A.R. free concert, following Medals Ceremony, Championships Plaza (Solaris), Vail.
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Tina Maze, of Slovenia, powers through a turn in the Liberty Jump section of the women’s Raptor downhill course during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Friday at Beaver Creek. the gold medal with a time of 1Vail minute, seconds. Liz Leeds Vail Maze Valley took 2015 home World Championship #10.qxp_Liz Leeds Valley 45.89 2015 World 10 x 3.5 1/29/15 3:58 PM Page 1
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Maze conquers the downhill Vonn off the podium in fifth, while Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Austria’s Anna Fenninger go 1-2. A24
DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Slovenia’s Tina Maze, center, celebrates winning gold in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill alongside silver medalist Anna Fenninger, of Austria, left, and bronze medalist Lara Gut, of Switzerland, during the medals ceremony Friday at Championships Plaza in Vail Village. Hometown favorite Lindsey Vonn finished in fifth place.
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Vol. XXXIV, Issue 236
B1 A23 A24 A21
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WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM
Tina Maze, of Slovenia, flies through the Banshee Bank section of the Raptor racecourse during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill in Beaver Creek on Friday. Maze won with a time of 1 minute, 45.89 seconds.
Maze and Fenninger flip places; Vonn 5th Slovenian nips Austrian in downhill for eighth World Cup gold medal By Shauna Farnell Special to the Daily
BEAVER CREEK — After her silver-medal performance in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championship super-G race, Tina Maze finished 0.03 seconds behind gold medalist Anna Fenninger, but in Friday’s downhill, the hundredths fell in the favor of the Slovenian. Whipping down the steep, turny course, Maze said she made a mistake but still managed to win the gold medal, edging out Fenninger by 0.02 seconds. “I realized I love this hill,” Maze said after the race. “I didn’t understand it at first — the timing, the waves, the bumps … then it was much easier for me. I was on the start watching Anna. I knew she would be the one to beat. It was hard to ski. I was sure I (wouldn’t) be able to win because I made a mistake coming on the last flat before the jump. I thought, ‘Yeah, this is not going to be enough.’ Without mistakes, it would be better, but at the end, it’s gold.” It is the eighth World Championships medal for Maze, her third gold. She also
FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALS COUNT Gold Silver Bronze TOTAL Austria
2
1
0
3
Slovenia
1
1
0
2
Canada
0
1
0
1
France
0
0
1
1
Switzerland 0
0
1
1
U.S.A.
0
1
1
0
has four Olympic medals — two gold — under her belt. At the age of 31, she is the oldest female World Champion in alpine skiing. “I don’t feel old,” Maze said, mentioning that earlier this week she told someone she was 16. “I don’t feel old at all. I was never injured. That’s my big thing.” Maze is the only all-discipline racer in
JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Lara Gut, of Switzerland, stays low around a turn while negotiating the Liberty Jump section of the Raptor racecourse during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Friday in Beaver Creek. Gut finished third with a time of 1 minute, 46.23 seconds. these World Championships who stands a very good chance of winning five medals. “Of course it’s in my mind, but thinking
about it makes no sense,” she said. “You
WOMEN’S DOWNHILL, A32
The Vail Daily
20 15
| Saturday, February 7, 2015 | A25
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
This is really not going as planned for the hosts Americans’ lack of depth exposed BEAVER CREEK — Well, that didn’t go as planned. That bronze medal Lindsey Vonn won during Tuesday’s super-G at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships here at the Beav’ is starting to look better and better. Lindsey finished fifth in downhill? This is not Chris Freud what we all On Preps envisioned when Beaver Creek and Vail got the Worlds in 2010. We were thinking that this would be the Vonn throw-down, the triumphant return of the prodigal daughter. The wind blew her gold-medal chances away on Tuesday, a chance occurrence. Wind explains 14-hundredths of a second, the differential between bronze and gold medals in the super-G. What was interesting on Tuesday is that Vonn was able to make up time, nearly a half-second, on the lower half of the course. On Friday, the winds were calm, and Vonn was even with Slovenia’s Tina Maze, the eventual winner, at the push-off interval and 5-hundredths ahead after The Runway, the end of the gliding of the upper portion of the course. Between The Apex and The Gauntlet, Vonn lost 0.95 seconds and was not a factor for the rest of the run. She had, for her, a bad run, which was still good for fifth.
THREE MEDALS TOPS? Making pronouncements about Vonn or any athlete’s career based on two races isn’t useful. Her career is not over. In fact, she’s still the favorite to win the World Cup globes in downhill and super-G — the World Championships do not count toward those competitions. This was not Vonn’s last shot at Worlds. Not only will she be racing in the combined on Monday and the GS later next week, but Vonn has already said she will be competing through the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. That would seem to indicate her road will go through St. Moritz, Switzerland, for the 2017 edition of this gala event. What is starting to become clear is that the Americans, as a whole, still don’t stack up against the best in the world of skiing. The Americans have one bronze medal in two of their best chances to hit the podium with women’s super-G and downhill and have only two more bankable shots at Worlds — men’s GS (Ted Ligety)
TOWNSEND BESSENT | TOWNSEND@VAILDAILY.COM
Lindsey Vonn powers through the Banshee Bank section of the Raptor racecourse during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill. Vonn had an off day, to which she is entitled, but American medal hopes took a hit in the process. and women’s slalom (Mikaela Shiffrin). Sure, Travis Ganong or Steve Nyman can put one down today in the men’s downhill, and the combined can be blown wide open. And, yes, I heard your muttering of “What about Shiffrin in the GS?” That could happen, too. But there’s now a realistic chance that the U.S. could leave here with only three medals if Ligety and Shiffrin do their stuff in their strengths. The thing is that for the United States to be a factor in the medal count, everything has to go right. The Americans beat the Austrians in gold medals in Schladming, Austria, at the 2013 Worlds when Ligety went off, winning the super-G, combined and GS, while Shiffrin, of course, took the slalom. Ligety wasn’t going to win three golds again because he’s not a cyborg. The last guy, before Ligety, to win three golds at Worlds was Jean-Claude Killy in 1968. That’s glorious company for Ted, but it also was 45 years between triple golds. (If you’re wondering, from 1948-1980, the Winter Olympics doubled as the World Championships.)
NO INSURANCE POLICY The best insurance when things don’t go right is depth, and that’s where Team U.S.A. is sorely lacking. We like Julia Mancuso,
Laurenne Ross and Stacey Cook. Who doesn’t? But they weren’t podium threats. Who’s behind Ligety in GS or Shiffrin in slalom? Truth be told, nobody. By comparison, yes, Austria’s Anna Fenninger was second, but her teammate Nicole Schmidhofer was fourth. What’s interesting there is that Schmidhofer’s had to earn her spot in Friday’s race during an intrasquad race against Nicole Hosp, a very accomplished skier in her own right with a World Cup overall title in 2007 and 12 World Cup victories. Yes, Ross got the nod over Alice McKennis for the Americans’ fourth downhill spot, but that was a battle of two racers with one career World Cup win combined. Schmidhofer came to Beaver Creek without a guaranteed spot on race day and was on the hot seat for 12 racers until Fenninger surpassed her. At one point, the board had Fenninger, Schmidhofer, and Elisabeth Goergl 1-2-3. The Austrians ended up with four in the top 15 — Fenninger second; Schmidhofer fourth, Goergl sixth and Cornelia Huetter 15th. Meanwhile, the Swiss ever-so quietly had three in the top 10. In fairness, the Slovenians aren’t deep — but Maze seems to be doing just fine on her own. That the Americans are not the best here at Worlds does not
DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Americans Julia Mancuso, right, and Stacey Cook hug at the finish line of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill race. The lack of depth on the U.S. Ski Team is starting to show. diminish this event in anyway. I reject the notion that sports in which Americans do not dominate are not “real” sports, like soccer. The racing has been fantastic, and the drama just unfolds on its own. Maze beat Fenninger on Friday by 2-hundredths of a second, which translates to 1.57 feet over a 1.5-mile course. Today’s downhill should be a whopper. As noted before,
combineds have the potential for anything — and good on Lindsey for entering. The tech events will bring in a whole new skill set and group of fascinating characters. The show goes on, but don’t expect it to be a parade of red, white and blue. Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.
A26 | Saturday, February 7, 2015 | The Vail Daily
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Americans disappointed at women’s downhill Vonn skis to fifth place Friday in front of hometown crowd By Melanie Wong mwong@vaildaily.com
BEAVER CREEK — Soft conditions and a twisty downhill course kept the American women’s speed team off the podium Friday, but the home crowds gave them no shortage of support just the same. There were high hopes for the team going into the downhill, and at the end of the race, the best American finish was Lindsey Vonn in fifth, followed by Julia Mancuso in 16th, Laurenne Ross in 17th and Stacey Cook in 19th. Although conditions were calm and sunny with fast snow, American racers seemed unable to master the demanding, turning course. Many racers throughout the day lost significant time through the middle section of the course, and it was the podium finishers who were able to attack the run and put gaps of nearly a second on the rest of the field. “You have to have fast skis on the top. You have to have a soft touch. When you come onto the steep parts you have to give good direction, and it’s bumpy. The snow was really good today, but also bumpy,” said Vonn, who added that she felt her timing was off during her run. “There were some really technical sections,” said Mancuso. “ I really tried to focus on the top of the turns and generate energy, and I couldn’t really quite get my skis to bite compared to yesterday.” Ross said that the Americans didn’t really enjoy a home course advantage, given that the conditions during training runs earlier in the week varied greatly. Friday’s course was often bumpy, with harder snow and rough turns, she said. “It was definitely different from what we trained on. It was hard to know what to expect and where to give the course some respect and where we could have gotten a little more speed out of it,” said Ross.
GOING HOME HAPPY Still, the American skiers said they were happy with their performance in the downhill, and several are looking to do well in other races next week. “I fought the whole way down. I visualized the course 1,000 times. I did everything I normally do and more,” said Vonn. “It just wasn’t a great run — a good run, a top five worthy run — but it wasn’t a good enough run for a medal today. I’m going home happy because I skied my best,
JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Julia Mancuso flies around a gate in the Liberty Jump section of the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill on Friday in Beaver Creek. Mancuso finished 16th with a time of 1 minute, 47.93 seconds. my family’s here, it’s sunny, an amazing atmosphere — there’s just not much to be sad about. I wish I could have done more, but I tried my best.” Mancuso admitted that while she was disappointed the team walked away from the event without a medal, she was looking forward to racing giant slalom and alpine combined. “World Championships are about the medals and everyone goes out and does their best, but sometimes it’s not your best run,” she said. “Stacey (Cook) and I have been talking about that — when you get through the finish and you know you did your best and things didn’t go your way. We all seem to have tried to execute our plan, and it didn’t work out, so you just kind of move on to the next race.”
HOME CROWDS Despite the disappointing finishes, the spectators crowded into the grandstands and overflowed onto the sides of the slopes, giving American racers a formidable cheering section. When Slovenian superstar and downhill winner Tina Maze rolled through the finish after a spectacular run, there were cheers of excitement, but the
crowd was even louder still for the following racer, Vonn. After seeing the leaderboard, Vonn shrugged in defeat and waved to the roaring fans. “I want to thank all the spectators for coming out,” she said after the race. “It was an amazing atmosphere. I’m really proud of racing at home. I wish I could have done something better for the public and my family, but I still have two more chances, the combined and the GS. While my chances of doing something there are slim, I will be giving 110 percent, and hopefully I can make a miracle happen.” Cook, who crashed in Thursday’s training run, was dealing with pain from her injuries, but said she wanted to compete in the downhill for the fans. “I wasn’t expecting Worlds to be like this,” she said. “I was expecting it to be smaller and less thoughtful fans. When I came down in the super-G and heard that crowd, I was so blown away and inspired by them. That’s what kept me fighting through today.” Assistant Managing Editor Melanie Wong can be reached at 970-748-2927 and mwong@ vaildaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @mwongvail.
DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Lindsey Vonn reacts with a shrug at the bottom of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill after her fifth-place finish in the race on Friday at Beaver Creek.
The Vail Daily
20 15
| Saturday, February 7, 2015 | A27
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Who will become the King of the Mountain? The Flyway
Start Elevation: 11,424’ | 3,483 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 2,470’ | 753m Distance: 8,603’ | 2,623m Avg. Slope: 31% | 17.0° Max. Slope 63% | 32.3°
Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:
Men’s Weather Downhill Start ift sL
Start Elevation: 10,945’ | 3,337 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 1,991’ | 607m Distance: 6,163’ | 1,879m Avg. Slope: 35% | 19.3° Max. Slope: 68% | 34.0°
Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:
+
Start Elevation: 10,247’ | 3,124 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 1,312’ | 400m Distance: 4,887’ | 1,490m Avg. Slope: 31% | 17.0° Max. Slope: 50% | 26.7°
404’ | 123m 956’ | 292m 47% | 25.1° 65% | 33.1°
Pete’s Arena
Peregrine Jump Goshawk Co nne cto r
174’ | 53m 493’ | 150m 38% | 20.9° 54% | 28.5°
The Talon
+
Men’s Super-G Start
Men’s GIANT SLALOM Start
295’ | 90m 1,857’ | 566m 16% | 9.1° 24% | 13.4°
The Brink
Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:
res
Start Elevation: 11,155’ | 3,400 m Finish Elevation: 8,954‘ | 2,730 m Vertical Drop: 2,201’ | 671m Distance: 5,494’ | 1,675m Avg. Slope: 35% | 19.3° Max. Slope: 63% | 32.3°
THINGS TO KNOW
Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:
+
448’ | 136m 1,059’ | 323m 47% | 25.1° 54% | 28.5°
P
RUSSI’s Ride
Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:
Goshawk Jump
461’ | 141m 1,945’ | 593m 25% | 13.8° 42% | 22.8 °
+
Screech Owl Jump Westfall Road
Men’s SLALOM Start Start Elevation: 9,627’ | 2,935 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 692’ | 211m Distance: 2,263’ | 690m Avg. Slope: 32% | 18.0° Max. Slope: 50% | 26.7°
H
Golden Eagle Jump
+
The Abyss
Vertical Drop: Distance: Avg. Slope: Max. Slope:
Men’s Combined Slalom Start
Harrier Jump
Start Elevation: 9,627’ | 2,935 m Finish Elevation: 8,935‘ | 2,724 m Vertical Drop: 692’ | 211m Distance: 2,263’ | 690m Avg. Slope: 33% | 18.2° Max. Slope: 46% | 24.6°
Mo unt ain
use
Redtail Jump
+
H
697’ | 212m 2,224’ | 678m 33% | 18.4° 50% | 26.7°
LEGEND Men’s FIS Alpine Course LADIEs’ FIS Alpine Course
Lift
+
Gro
Watch out: Talon Turn. This is a rule. Talon is a make or break. The Abyss is key as well. Just ask Miller, to whom we send our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Favorites: Jansrud, Reichelt, Mayer, Paris and Fayed. Darkhorses: Can Svindal really win in his second start of the season? It seems possible. Nyman has three career wins, but they’re all at Val Gardena, Italy. He does have podiums, though, at Beaver Creek. Is Ganong ready to make the jump? He got his first World Cup win just after Christmas, but Worlds is another step. Americans: Jared Goldberg (1); Nyman (10); Ganong (22); Andrew Weibrecht (35). The picks: We all busted with Lindsey Vonn on Friday. Shauna Farnell, Vail Daily: Nyman. Chris Freud, Vail Daily: Jansrud. Pat Graham, AP Denver: Paris. Melanie Wong, Vail Daily: Reichelt.
+
Men’s Downhill & Downhill Combined Start
Birds of Prey Lift
BEAVER CREEK — OK, here’s one of many cool things about the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships: two downhills on back-toback days. Normally, we get our one men’s downhill during our traditional Birds of Prey stop in December. The people up in Lake Louise, Alberta, get all the fun with two downhills that same weekend. It’s our turn. The ladies ran their race on Friday — congratulations to Tina Maze — and the gents go today at 11 a.m. Not to count the Austrians out, but there should be a Norwegian presence today. Meet Kjetil Jansrud (Bib no. 18). You may remember him from such episodes as Birds of Prey 2014, when he won the downhill here. He was hot then and he’s hot now, having won a shortened Kitzbuehel, Austria, race as well as impressive showings in training. Then there’s the “other” Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal (11). He wasn’t meant to be here after rupturing his Achilles tendon while playing soccer during the offseason. Svindal, whose resume includes two World Cup titles, nine other globes for discipline titles and a gold at the 2013 Worlds downhill, is miraculously back. He finished sixth in the super-G on Thursday in his first start of the season. And then there are the Austrians — Hannes Reichelt (21) has already won the super-G this week. Matthias Mayer (20) is the defending Olympic champion in downhill, so the red and white should be well represented. Italy’s Dominik Paris (16) has been on or hovering around downhill podiums all season, as has France’s Guillermo Fayed (17). Switzerland’s Beat Feuz (15) finished second here in December, capping a comeback from a myriad of injuries. The Americans also have two winners this season in the discipline — Steve Nyman (10) and Travis Ganong (22). It’s up for grabs, and should be a photo finish.
2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Mens’ Course Map - Beaver Creek
xp
cfreud@vaildaily.com
Format: One run. Fastest time wins. Stats: The men’s downhill starts at 11,424 feet and drops 2,470 feet during 1.63 miles. The approximate completion time, from years past, is 1 minute, 40 seconds. The average slope of the course is 17 degrees and maxes out at around 32 degrees at the Talon Turn. Watch the Talon Turn. Winners: Kristian Ghedina (1997); Andreas Schifferer (1997); Herman Maier (1999 Worlds, 2000 and 2003); Stephan Eberharter (2002); Daron Rahlves (2003 and 2005); Bode Miller (2004, 2006 and 2011); Michael Walchhofer (2007); Svindal (2008 and 2013); Carlo Janka (2009); Christof Innerhofer (2012); Jansrud (2014). This is pretty much a who’s-who of downhillers. Weather: Ridiculous for February with a high of 44 degrees. There’s a 20 percent chance of precipitation. Winds at 10-15 mph.
ch E
By Chris Freud
NUMBERS AND HISTORY
Cin
All you need to know about today’s race
+ Medical Point H Helicopter Landing Zone P
Pumphouse
Finish +
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.
The downhill start list from Goldberg to Zampa Daily staff report newsroom@vaildaily.com 1 GOLDBERG Jared 2 FERSTL Josef 3 JANKA Carlo 4 POISSON David
USA GER SUI FRA
5 THOMSEN Benjamin 6 THEAUX Adrien 7 BRANDNER Klaus 8 HEEL Werner 9 CLAREY Johan 10 NYMAN Steven 11 SVINDAL Aksel Lund 12 FRANZ Max 13 STREITBERGER Georg
CAN FRA GER ITA FRA USA NOR AUT AUT
14 INNERHOFER Christof 15 FEUZ Beat 16 PARIS Dominik 17 FAYED Guillermo 18 JANSRUD Kjetil 19 KUENG Patrick 20 MAYER Matthias 21 REICHELT Hannes 22 GANONG Travis
ITA SUI ITA FRA NOR SUI AUT AUT USA
23 DEFAGO Didier 24 OSBORNE-PARADIS M. 25 SANDER Andreas 26 ROMAR Andreas 27 MARSAGLIA Matteo 28 KOSI Klemen 29 BANK Ondrej 30 KLINE Bostjan 31 CATER Martin
SUI CAN GER FIN ITA SLO CZE SLO SLO
32 PRIDY Morgan 33 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 34 GLEBOV Alexander 35 WEIBRECHT Andrew 36 VAN HEEK Marvin 37 KILDE Aleksander A. 38 ZAKURDAEV Igor 39 FAARUP Christoffer 40 ULLRICH Max
CAN CRO RUS USA NED NOR KAZ DAN CRO
41 VON APPEN Henrik 42 PREBBLE Nick 43 FEASEY Willis 44 RODES Istok 45 ALESSANDRIA Arnaud 46 SIMARI BIRKNER C. J. 47 ACHIRILOAIE Ioan V. 48 ZAMPA Andreas
CHI NZL NZL CRO MON ARG ROU SVK
-533%,3 A28 | Saturday, February 7, 2015 | The Vail Daily
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SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
From left, Austria’s Anna Fenninger, Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Switzerland’s Lara Gut are receiving well-earned accolades at the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships. But with Worlds in the United States, they feel less media scrutiny and are enjoying their anonymity off the course.
Europeans enjoying anonymity at Worlds The joys of going out without being mobbed By Shauna Farnell Special to the Daily
BEAVER CREEK — Unless you’re Lindsey Vonn, recognized wherever you go in Vail and Beaver Creek, being a professional ski racer for the sport’s biggest event is a fairly relaxing affair in the United States. In the midst of at least 10,000 people in attendance at the women’s FIS Alpine World Ski Championship downhill race on Friday, somehow even Vonn managed to walk the entire way down the slope to the buses after the race, unnoticed by everybody except for one lone girl chasing after her with a camera. After the men’s training later in the afternoon, Norwegian superstar Aksel Lund Svindal walked directly through the stadium and was stopped only once for an autograph. The pressure and attention is delightfully light around here for the Europeans, especially for Austrians, whose national sport is alpine skiing and who are routinely mobbed wherever they go when a race is in town.
‘NOT LIKE IN AUSTRIA’ Even those who haven’t landed a medal are appreciating the atmosphere and enthusiasm during the event paired with their relative anonymity afterwards. “It’s a great experience,� said Austrian Nicole Schmidhofer, who led Friday’s downhill for several minutes before being unseated by the medalists (Tina Maze with gold, Anna Fenninger silver and Lara Gut bronze) and ending up fourth. “There are a lot of people cheering for everybody, so you feel like a champion when you go in the finish area,� Schmidhofer said. “Then in the evening, nobody knows you, so you can go to the coffee shop and
DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Tina Maze waves to the crowd after winning the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill race on Friday at Beaver Creek. In her native Slovenia, Maze is a megastar, hounded wherever she goes. For Worlds at Beaver Creek, life is pleasantly quiet. it’s no problem. It’s really great. Not like in Austria. In Schladming [for the 2013 World Championships], it was a problem.� No other nation envies the pressure on U.S. racers for these events and Anna Fenninger, who, under the pressure of her home World Championships in 2013, skied off course in two of her four races and managed to land only one medal, bronze in giant slalom. She attributes her success thus far at Beaver Creek — gold in Tuesday’s super-G and silver in Friday’s downhill ‚ to the comparably relaxed expectations. “It’s easier to ski here when there’s not so much media like in Schladming two years
ENJOYING ANONYMITY, A33
The Vail Daily
| Saturday, February 7, 2015 | A29
Greystone Lodge Family Retreat
FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
119 ELK MEADOWS
JUSTIN Q. MCCARTY | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Austria’s Nicole Schmidhofer powers through a long, sweeping turn during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships downhill on Friday in Beaver Creek. She finished fourth.
Complete downhill results Daily staff report newsroom@vaildaily.com 1 MAZE Tina SLO 2 FENNINGER Anna AUT 3 GUT Lara SUI 4 SCHMIDHOFER N. AUT 5 VONN Lindsey USA 6 GOERGL Elisabeth AUT 7 JNGLIN-K. Nadja SUI 8 MERIGHETTI D. ITA 9 SUTER Fabienne SUI 10 REBENSBURG V. GER
1:45.89 1:45.91 1:46.23 1:46.92 1:46.94 1:46.95 1:46.97 1:47.14 1:47.18 1:47.24
11 WEIRATHER Tina LIE 1:47.27 12 FANCHINI Nadia ITA 1:47.34 13 MIKLOS Edit HUN 1:47.53 14 YURKIW Larisa CAN 1:47.65 15 HUETTER Cornelia AUT 1:47.87 16 MANCUSO Julia USA 1:47.93 17 ROSS Laurenne USA 1:47.95 18 KLING Kajsa SWE 1:47.99 19 COOK Stacey USA 1:48.05 20 STUHEC Ilka SLO 1:48.06 21 BAILET Margot FRA 1:48.07 21 COLETTI A. MON 1:48.07 23 RUIZ CASTILLO C. SPA 1:48.27 24 PIOT Jennifer FRA 1:48.34
25 MOWINCKEL R. NOR 1:48.54 26 FANCHINI Elena ITA 1:48.72 27 TVIBERG M. T. NOR 1:48.78 28 SCHNARF J. ITA 1:48.80 29 ABDERHALDEN M. SUI 1:48.82 30BRODNIK Vanja SLO 1:49.55 31 HRONEK V. GER 1:50.43 32 KRIZOVA Klara CZE 1:50.79 33 SMALL Greta AUS 1:51.97 34 SIMARI B. M. ARG 1:53.18 35 BARAHONA N. CHI 1:53.77 36 POPOVIC Leona CRO 1:53.88 37 KOMSIC Andrea CRO 1:54.00
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A30 | Saturday, February 7, 2015 | The Vail Daily
FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Good course, crowds at final men’s downhill training Friday’s practice session was the best so far, say racers
said the snow had been hardening up nicely by the time his run came around. “The track is in great condition,” he said. “It’s always been one of my favorites.”
By John LaConte jlaconte@vaildaily.com
THE MIND OF NYMAN
BEAVER CREEK — After packing the venue full for the women’s downhill, crowds also took in a number of the men’s training runs at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Friday. But while the stadium was jammed for Steven Nyman, the first home team racer to attack the Birds of Prey downhill course, the best American on the day didn’t enjoy nearly as large an ovation as the crowd had dissipated considerably by the time Andrew Weibrecht’s run, the fourth fastest overall, was complete. Weibrecht stunned those who had stuck around by coming from 41st start position to land 0.41 seconds off the time set by Frenchman Brice Roger, who had been leading the field while the 20 skiers between him and Weibrecht raced and would go on to finish fastest on Friday. Weibrecht, modest as always,
The next fastest American — 0.1 off Weibrecht’s time and seventh overall — was Steven Nyman, who also praised the course. “Yesterday it was kind of bally to push on,” Nyman said of Thursday’s super-G. “Today it has a little more wetness and it’s bumpy, and I like that.” Charging into the stadium from his training run to an explosion from the audience, Nyman said it wasn’t just the course that had him excited, but the crowds, as well. He said Friday he has never seen such a large crowd at a training run in the U.S. “There’s a lot of people here, and they’re here for the races, and that’s what’s so cool,” he said. “I was kind of fearful, in the beginning, wondering if people are going to show up, after going to the 2013 World Championships in Schladming where there was 60,000 people at every single race. But this is awesome, for the
women’s downhill there was people lining the whole hill.” Nyman said he often thinks about the final Harrier Jump into the stadium, and the fans awaiting his finish below. “That’s a motivator, when you come off that jump and you know they can see you, it’s almost pulling me into the finish area,” he said. “To come across in the lead here, which I’ve done a couple of times, is pretty cool.”
FAVORITES After being taken to Vail Valley Medical Center Thursday for an examination on his left shoulder, Kjetil Jansrud, of Norway, showed the rest of the field he was doing OK on Friday. Jansrud took a line extremely inside in Thursday’s super-G, destroying a gate and leaving his shoulder in a lot of pain. He told reporters after hitting the gate his arm was numb for the remainder of the race, but he still managed to finish in fourth place on the day. He finished Friday’s training run in second, 0.21 off Roger and remains a favorite for the win Saturday despite the pain he may still be experiencing. With Bode Miller also out due to injury, the other American
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France’s Brice Roger was the surprise winner of Friday’s men’s downhill training at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships at Beaver Creek. The men have the downhill today at 11 a.m. joining Nyman as a favorite for top results is Travis Ganong, who, along with Nyman, has already notched a win on the World Cup circuit this season. Ganong said he was experimenting with a new line in Friday’s training run, which didn’t
work out as he had hoped (he finished 22nd), and is trying to stay relaxed heading into the big show today. “I’m just trying to have fun and be a really solid skier,” he said. “That’s when I always ski my best.”
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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
AP PHOTO
Bode Miller crashes during the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships men’s super-G on Thursday at Beaver Creek. Miller tore his hamstring tendon and will be out for the remainder of the Championships.
Miller has surgery for torn hamstring Super-G fall takes Bode out of Championships competition By Pat Graham AP Sports Writer
BEAVER CREEK — For a second straight world championships, a bad crash knocked out a big-name U.S. skier. In this case, with Bode Miller, it might just have been his last race. The six-time Olympic medalist had surgery to fix a torn right hamstring tendon after his ski appeared to deeply slice him when he wiped out in a super-G race Thursday. He was working his way back from surgery in November to fix a herniated disk and competing in his first event of the season. Lindsey Vonn knows his pain all too well. Two years ago at worlds in Austria, Vonn tore ligaments in her right knee after a crash. She missed the Sochi Olympics following a second knee operation, but was able to return to the slopes this season and recently broke the alltime women’s record for most World Cup wins. There may be no such comeback in Miller’s future. The recovery time for this type of injury is around two months, meaning the 37-year-old Miller may not be back in a racing suit. If this was indeed his last race, Miller went out skiing his way: teetering on the brink of control and taking risks at every turn to gain speed. This was vintage Miller. “Bode was skiing outstanding,” U.S. men’s coach Sasha Rearick said. “He was going for it, absolutely sending it from top to bottom. He took risks and was putting down a run that inspired America, inspires the world.”
THE CRASH Then, it all unraveled. Miller cut a gate too close and hooked his left arm, sending him spiraling out of control. First, one ski popped off. Then the other and he began to somersault down the slope. Once he righted himself, he slid for a bit on his bottom. Miller slowly got up and waited for someone to bring his skis. He then clicked back in and wrapped up the run, albeit missing one of his ski poles. He waved to the fans and to his wife, professional volleyball player Morgan Miller, who was in the gallery with his kids. The couple has a baby due in May. When the accident first happened, men’s coach Sasha Rearick was holding out hope it wasn’t too bad. It was and he underwent surgery. Miller said after surgery on his Twitter account: “Feeling lucky since things could have been way worse.” Just a fraction to his left on the race hill and Miller would’ve avoided that gate and may have wound up on the podium (he was the fastest on the course through the opening two split times). But that’s Miller — always trying to cut a few corners in the name of speed.
| Saturday, February 7, 2015 | A31
A32 | Saturday, February 7, 2015 | The Vail Daily
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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN’S DOWNHILL
From page A24
have to go day by day, discipline to discipline.” Fenninger, who after her gold medal super-G performance on Tuesday acknowledged that luck was on her side that day with the hundredths, was still happy with the silver, her first medal in downhill. “Downhill was always so difficult for me,” said the 25-year-old Austrian who has seven World Cup podiums in the discipline but no wins. “I’m really happy that I can take the silver medal. Today (Maze) was the luckier girl.” While Maze said Fenninger was the woman to beat in the downhill, Fenninger had her eye Lara Gut as the favorite. The 23-year-old Swiss skier who won both the downhill and super-G World Cup races at Beaver Creek in 2013 as well as the most recent World Cup downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, managed to land the bronze medal on Friday, 0.34 seconds off the winning time. Lindsey Vonn, the obvious local favorite, ended up fifth, 1.05 seconds back. While Maze said she had made friends with the Beaver Creek Raptor course, Vonn, who missed the World Cups last season, said she has not quite made her truce with it. “You have to hit the line right in a couple of key sections. Today, with the faster speeds, my timing was a little bit off … sometimes a bit too early, sometimes a bit too late. I just really haven’t gotten a great feel for the course yet,” Vonn said,
DOMINIQUE TAYLOR | SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
Austria’s Anna Fenninger celebrates at the finish line after taking an early lead in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships women’s downhill race on Friday at Beaver Creek. Fenninger finished the day in second place behind Slovenia’s Tina Maze. mentioning that she will race in the alpine combined and giant slalom races, and that while she was sorry she couldn’t put on a better show in her best event, she was satisfied. “I’m happy. Honestly, I did the best that I could.”
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FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
ENJOYING ANONYMITY
From page A28
ago. It’s a normal race on the World Cup tour. In Schladming, it was the most important race in our life. That makes a lot of pressure to show the best skiing. It’s easier here. For us, it’s great,” Fenninger said.
DEALING WITH PRESSURE Although she hails from a country of only about 2 million people, Slovenian Tina Maze is a full-blown national celebrity. As Slovenia’s most successful athlete of all time in any sport, thousands of people take buses from around the country when the World Cup stops in Maribor. After her gold medal performance in Friday’s downhill, when asked about facing pressure like that of the U.S. Team hosting a championship event, Maze immediately answered, “I won’t have that feeling, ever.” “Big wishes and big will is hard to handle,” Maze said. “With racing and skiing
you need to be relaxed. It’s tricky. If there’s too much pressure, you’re just not relaxed.” Vonn, who won the bronze medal in Tuesday’s super G and finished fifth Friday didn’t say the pressure got to her but was still apologetic that the throngs of people who came out to see her race didn’t get a better show. “I was extremely motivated and determined, but it just didn’t go my way,” Vonn said after the race. “I want to thank all the spectators for coming out. I’m really proud to be racing at home. I wish I could have done something better for the public and for my family.” Vonn will compete in the World Championship giant slalom and super-combined race. She said she has had very little GS training and has not been on slalom skis in two and a half years. “I still have two more chances,” Vonn said after Friday’s race. “Although my chances are slim, I will definitely be giving 110 percent effort. Hopefully, I will be making a miracle happen.”
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| Saturday, February 7, 2015 | A33
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A34 | Saturday, February 7, 2015 | The Vail Daily
FIS ALPINE WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Former husband of Lindsey Vonn returns as ski coach Thomas Vonn coaching Cayman racer By Pat Graham AP Sports Writer
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — There’s more than one Vonn making a return to the ski scene this season. Thomas Vonn, the former husband of four-time overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn, is at World Championships this week helping out up-and-coming skier Dean Travers of the Cayman Islands. Thomas Vonn got back into the coaching business by doing some consulting work earlier in the season for a few U.S. skiers.
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AP PHOTO
‘ALMOST FORGOTTEN’
Lindsey Vonn speaks with the media after finishing third in the women’s super-G competition at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on Tuesday in Beaver Creek. Vonn’s ex-husband, Thomas Vonn, is also at the Championships this week helping coach skier Dean Traver, of the Cayman Islands.
“Once I showed my face, a lot of people saw me around. People started wanting me to help them,” Vonn said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s cool how it came together after being off snow for three years — feels like you’re almost forgotten sometimes.” Thomas and Lindsey Vonn divorced in 2011 after more than four years of marriage. He was her coach when she won Olympic gold in the downhill at the Vancouver Games. Since their split, Thomas Vonn said he’s
“laid low from ski racing — 2011 was a difficult time for me. Really tough time for me. Had a bad taste in my mouth, so I laid low for a while, regrouped.” He said he was happy to see Vonn return strong this season after missing the Sochi Olympics because of two knee surgeries. She recently broke the record held by Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell for most World Cup wins by a female skier. “There was never a doubt in my mind that she would break it,” he said.