Alpine Skiing: World Cup Storylines of the Final Pre-Winter Olympic Weeks
The high demands of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup will be put on the back burner for a couple of weeks as the sport and the eyes of the world turn their eyes to Sochi, Russia. It is time for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The men's downhill begins proceedings this Sunday, before the women get their first crack at the medals a day later as they take on the super combined event.
While the looming prospect of the Winter Games has been increasingly coming into consideration for those competing on the World Cup circuit, the demands of the season have more than kept them occupied.
Over the next few pages we look back at the main storylines of the last month, carrying on where we left off in a previous article here on Bleacher Report looking at the season up until early January.
Since then, plenty of the same names have found themselves recording podium places. There have also been a number of others enjoying a little success and, in the process, finding some timely pre-Olympic form.
Whether some have peaked just in time to triumph in Russia will become apparent over the following fortnight. For now, here is what you need to know from the weeks that have preceded it.
Goergl and Reichelt Lead the Veteran Charge
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To paraphrase the great, fictional sports broadcaster Dan Rydell, there really are few finer sights in sports than seeing an athlete realise they're not done yet.
Heading into 2014, Elisabeth Goergl was not standing on quite as dramatic a precipice as that might imply. After a lean couple of years, though, the 32-year-old was definitely in need of a win—especially given the fierce competition for places that comes of being part of the Austrian Ski Team.
Not only did Goergl get that win on 11 January, it came in the Altenmarkt-Zauchensee downhill in her native Austria. As pictured above, she was unsurprisingly jubilant.
"I had a blast on the piste today and it's just great it ends up with a victory," she told the FIS' official website. "Last year was a tough one, it's quite a relief to experience that feeling again."
Proving that victory was no flash in the pan, Goergl also took first in the Cortina d'Ampezzo super-G two weekends later. A double bronze medalist at Vancouver 2010, she will be hopeful her recent form can translate into further success in Sochi.
Her compatriot Hannes Reichelt will not be joining her, having been forced to undergo surgery for a herniated disk. He joins an injured list for the upcoming Games including reigning Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn and 2013 World Champions Marion Rolland and Tessa Worley.
Reichelt's persistent back pain—confirmed by the skier to the Associated Press, via ESPN—could not be ignored any longer. It was a particular shame as he had just recorded a highly impressive win in the prestigious Kitzbuehel downhill.
The 33-year-old's win on the Hahnenkamm was the first by an Austrian there since Michael Walchhofer in 2006. Whilst not to be a harbinger of Olympic glory, Reichelt will surely come to view the 2014 season fondly.
Further proving those on the perceived wrong side of 30 are not to be discounted was Didier Defago's surprise win at the Kitzbuehel super-G (an event that was also added to the weekend's combined event).
The Swiss had failed to make much of a mark on the season up to that point, and alluded to that in his post-race interview with FIS-Ski.com.
"When you push so hard in your run, you cross the finish line and you have this something inside that needs to go out," Defago said. "It’s a great feeling… it must be all the energy I collected over the months that need to go out."
Having taken gold in the Vancouver downhill, the 36-year-old has shown once again at the opposite end of this Olympic cycle he still has one or two tricks left up his skin-tight sleeve.
Mancuso and Miller Find Some Pre-Olympic Form
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Defago's and Reichelt's runs in the aforementioned races were particularly good considering they had beaten rather fine showings from Bode Miller (pictured above on the legendary Hahnenkamm).
As noted earlier in January, the multiple World Champion and Olympic medalist's return from injury had been mixed in terms of results. A win continued to elude Miller in the remaining pre-Sochi, World Cup events but his form has hinted at a potential career swansong in Russia.
It was testament to Reichelt's and Aksel Lund Svindal's excellent times in the Kitzbuehel downhill that they beat Miller's own tremendous showing on the weather-adjusted course.
The 36-year-old was similarly eye-catching in the super-G a day later, beaten by the thinnest of margins by Defago's bolt from the blue.
Adding to suggestions that Miller might be finding form at the right time was the news he had topped the first of three training runs ahead of this Sunday's downhill event. "I did not push too hard but on turns I gave everything I got" he told the FIS official website.
Like Miller, Julia Mancuso will be looking to join her U.S. Ski teammate in adding to medals won at previous Games.
After a disappointing conclusion to 2013, Mancuso has enjoyed a brighter start to this year. Although unable to make the podium, she placed in the top-10 in the first super-G and the two downhills on a packed weekend at Cortina d'Ampezzo in late January.
Without a notable win since early 2012, Mancuso will be hopeful of breaking the trend on the biggest stage of them all in the coming weeks. She also enjoyed a fine start to training in Sochi, finishing third in the first ladies' downhill run, as per FIS-Ski.com.
Young Guns Are Making Plenty of Noise
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If you want an idea of what it means to make an impact on the sport at this level, you only have to look at the reaction of Henrik Kristoffersen (pictured above) after he won the Schladming night slalom.
The 19-year-old was plenty pleased when he raced into first place after his second run, ahead of home favourite Marcel Hirscher and Germany's Felix Neureuther. He was downright ecstatic when Hirscher's fellow Austrian Mario Matt subsequently straddled on his concluding ski down the mountain, confirming the teenage Norwegian's first World Cup win.
Admirably, Hirscher and Neureuther hoisted Kristoffersen on their shoulders in celebration of this career landmark.
Based on his performances over the preceding few months, Kristoffersen getting off the mark sooner rather than later was almost an inevitability. The technical specialist had been a frequent, fearless contender in the deciding runs of slalom events since the discipline's first round of the season, back in November in Levi, Finland.
Since the turn of the year, Kristoffersen has notched three top-10 placings, including third and second in Adelboden and Kitzbuehel respectively. With two slalom events to go in the World Cup, the currently second placed youngster could yet pip Hirscher to first place in the standings.
Kristoffersen is not the only youngster on the circuit to have been making some noise this season, with additional hopes of causing further ringing in the ears for their rivals in Sochi.
The more experienced Alexis Pinturault is still only 22 himself. The Frenchman's super combined victory in Kitzbuehel came off the back of his own slalom success in Wengen.
Currently third in the overall World Cup standings, his third place in the St. Moritz giant slalom last weekend will only have increased his confidence heading into the season's remaining month or so.
Also 22, Lara Gut has kept up her early-season form. The Swiss skier strengthened her position at the top of the super-G table with a win in one of the two raced at Cortina d'Ampezzo.
She also finished in the top-10 in both of that weekend's downhills.
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Hirscher and Hoefl-Riesch Set the Tone in Overall Standings
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After the final pre-Sochi weekend of World Cup action, Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Marcel Hirscher are currently topping the respective ladies and men's overall standings.
Hoefl-Riesch has continued to demonstrate her consistency in terms of results, a deserved byproduct of her efforts across the board. She leads the downhill competition this year and is either inside or just out of the top-10 in slalom, giant slalom and super-G.
The German's excellent weekend at the Italian resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo saw her record a highly impressive four top-five finishes, including her third downhill win of the season (as pictured above).
It is in that event that Hoefl-Riesch is keen to add to the slalom and combined gold medals she took in Vancouver 2010.
"My big goal is to make a medal in the downhill. I am really focused," the 29-year-old told AFP News, via Yahoo Sports Singapore.
Hirscher has built his overall lead in his preferred technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom, both of which he also tops in the World Cup.
Besides winning the slalom in Adelboden, wins have been harder to come by in 2014 so far. Even so, he has not been far off the top spot of the podium—a standard he has maintained throughout the season.
Significant hopes of the Austrian Ski Team have been placed on Hirscher's shoulders. He has been the standout of the men this year, and will be expected to lead the charge in ensuring they do not leave Sochi without adding to the country's historic overall tally.
Best of the Rest: Men
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Aksel Lund Svindal is the man Hirscher has edged in front of in the overall World Cup, though the Norwegian remains in firm control in the downhill and super-G standings.
Wins have not been as forthcoming as Svindal will have liked, so far in 2014. He was unlucky to only take second in the Kitzbuehel downhill—though it was a performance that will add to his position as one of the favourites for the event's run at Sochi.
Off the back of his own downhill success on his home country's famous Wengen run, Switzerland's Patrick Keung should be worth watching out for in Russia.
On the technical side, Felix Neureuther enjoyed a tremendous January. The German won in slalom at Bormio and Kitzbuehel, with a first in the Adelboden giant slalom coming in between (which is he is pictured celebrating above).
Meanwhile, Ted Ligety's victories in the Wengen super combined and last weekend's giant slalom in St. Moritz have added to the notion the American might well replicate his medal haul from the 2013 World Championships at this year's Olympics.
Best of the Rest: Ladies
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One person sure to speak fondly of last weekend's weather-hit World Cup meet in Kranjska Gora will be Sweden's Frida Hansdotter (shown above).
The 28-year-old won the first World Cup race of her career, coming ahead of the the Austrian Schild sisters Marlies and Bernadette.
USA Olympic hopeful Mikaela Shiffrin finished a disappointing seventh in Slovenia having led from the first run. She did triumph at Flachau back in mid-January, though, and continues to top the slalom table ahead of the elder Schild.
It was Marie-Michele Gagnon who was in joyful mood a couple of days prior to that. Her win in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee super combined was her first World Cup success and—as reported by the Associated Press' Eric Willemsen, here via Yahoo Sports Canada—it "ended a 30-year drought for Canadian women in World Cup combined events."
"It's really exciting, a magical moment," Gagnon described it to Willemsen.
Having endured a difficult start to the season following a success-laden 2013, Tina Maze suggested she might be in the process of peaking at the right time before the upcoming Games. The Slovenian secured top-spot in the second of Cortina d'Ampezzo's two recent downhills.
Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather has remained a fixture on the podium places in 2014, with Anna Fenninger a steady performer too. The Austrian won the first downhill training run out in Sochi ahead of the Olympics' opening ceremony.
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