Ski Racing - February 22, 2010

START HOUSE

WETand Wild

Shannon Bahrke hangs out to dry at Cypress.

ART

ART DIRECTOR

RAND PAUL

PHOTOGRAPHERS

JONATHAN SELKOWITZ JULIE SHIPMAN

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SARAH TUFF

SENIOR EDITOR

HANK MCKEE

ASSOCIATE EDITORS SHAUNA FARNELL ERIC WILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PETER Q. GRAVES BRYCE HUBNER BILL MCCOLLOM JACK MOORE

SALES/MARKETING
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
NANCY MERRILL
SALES AND MARKETING
COORDINATOR
AMY DOXEY

SKI RACING
INTERNATIONAL, LLC
CHAIRMAN/CEO
GARY BLACK JR.
CONTROLLER
KRISTIN FARRELL

WHISTLER — By Day 4 it finally stopped raining, but not before Hannah Kearney and Shannon Barhke lit up a soggy, gloomy night at the Cypress freestyle venue just north of Vancouver. The pair dampened a very wet but enthusiastic Canadian crowd by sandwiching Jennifer Heil, the favorite, in the silver medal spot. In winning the gold, Kearney, who had been the pre-event choice in the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games only to fail to make the final round, skied flawlessly to flat-out win the top spot on podium.

But the moguls women were not the only medalists of the opening days for the Vancouver 2010 Games. Johnny Spillane’s dramatic silver in the nordic combined made history as his medal was the first in the discipline by anyone from the Western Hemisphere. With his teammates, Todd Lodwick and Bill Demong, finishing fourth and sixth respectively, the 15-year-old USSA program has really produced. Then, to add icing to the first three-day cake, Bryon Wilson, virtually unknown to all but the most knowledgeable freestyle aficionados, put it together and captured the bronze medal in the men’s moguls event.

In the downhill, Team USA’s former bad boy, Bode Miller, pushed himself to the limit in grey, flat light to hold on for bronze, garnering his third Olympic medal. His medal makes him the most decorated Olympic skier in U.S. alpine history. Miller, who decided to continue ski racing only last September, seems out to disassociate himself from the disastrous image he earned at the 2006 Games, where he failed to medal despite having the odds for five events. It is cool to see.

The Olympic Winter Games is a special event and despite the persistent rain and fog, Vancouver will prove to be very special when it concludes in 10 days. Many Canadians have done all in their power to make the world feel welcome with thousands of volunteers who smile and are nice even if they do not know all the answers.

It has been a stunning start, and a sharp contrast to the last Games, where U.S. skiing struggled early on only to be pulled out by the snowboard athletes. Ski Racing’s Eric Williams has followed the freestyle events at the alternately melting, windy, foggy and rainy (often all of the above) Cypress venue and reports on how the moguls skiers rose to the occasion. Shauna Farnell is handling the alpine end of the Games, reporting on not only Miller’s bronze but also Lindsey Vonn’s painful injury to her shin and how that affects her approach to her events.

Far from Vancouver and Olympians, Bill McCollom will have you laughing as he describes the foibles and pitfalls of coaching a Vermont high school team in his Finish Line column. Bryce Hubner reports on how colleges are lining up for the upcoming NCAA finale while Hank McKee pulls junior results from around the country.

If you haven’t been following Ski Racing’s website, you are missing a lot. Editors are looking to bring you our special slant on the Games, talking about preparation, execution and stepping up for the big events.

The U.S. leads the medal count now with eight and it is only Day 4 of the Vancouver Games. My guess is that we have a few more coming our way. Enjoy! — G.B. Jr.

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