MEN Carlo Janka
INTERNATIONAL ALPINE SKIER OF THE YEAR
At 23, Switzerland’s Carlo Janka is the
fifth-youngest winner of this award (on
the men’s side) of all time and can be
mentioned in the same sentence as Kjetil
Aamodt, Ingemar Stenmark, Marc Gi-
rardelli, and Pirmin Zurbriggen.
He earned the World Cup overall title
and though it was a far from dominant
performance (Janka won by 106 points),
he won two of the four races at World
Cup Finals to take that title. These were
his fifth and sixth wins of the Cup season,
more than any other male competitor.
Janka came into the season a major ques-
tion mark having missed the bulk of the
pre-season training to a mysterious virus
that left him weak and unable to train. But
in December at Beaver Creek, he swept all
three races to re-establish himself as a pri-
mary contender. A month and a half later,
Janka won the Lauberhorn downhill and
then claimed the Olympic gold medal in
GS at Whistler in February.
Aksel Lund Svindal and his three Olym-
pic medals demanded consideration, as
did Bode Miller and his three. But com-
bined those two did not match Janka’s win
total, and neither man matched his po-
dium mark of 11. With an Olympic gold,
and the World Cup overall title claimed in
a down-to-the-wire battle with Benjamin
Raich, Carlo Janka earned this award.
WOMEN Lindsey Vonn SKIER OF THE YEAR U.S. ALPINE SKIER OF THE YEAR INTERNATIONAL ALPINE SKIER OF THE YEAR
This girl gets an inordinate amount of awards. There’s a reason for that. Even if
you’re not American, you have to admit that once again, nobody else is more de-
serving of the Skier of the Year award than Mrs. Lindsey “three-time World Cup
overall, downhill and super G winner and double Olympic medalist” Vonn.
In addition to acquiring medals and globes, Vonn (as has become her habit) set
some new records this season. With 33 World Cup wins, she surpasses Bode Miller
as the most successful American World Cup alpine skier of all time. Her 11 Cup
wins this season are also more than any American has ever accomplished in one
season.
Including her gold in the Olympic downhill and bronze in super G, Vonn had 19
podium finishes this season; she also won the super combined globe for the first
time in her career. She made Time magazine’s list of the most influential people in
the world and can be seen in grocery stores all over America, both on the Wheaties
Box and on the Red Bull six-pack. There were times this season when European
GEPA (2)
racers — fellow World Cup elite athletes — could be found asking for Vonn’s auto-
graph. That doesn’t happen often. Also, in a random survey of Europeans involved
in organization of the races, just about everyone cited Vonn as their favorite World
Cup racer, not just because she was winning a lot, but also because she is a such a
great role model.
The 25-year-old was overcome with gratitude at the massive crowd that turned
out for her homecoming celebration in Vail this spring, and even when a mob of
fans surrounds her, pulling at her sleeves and waving cameras in her face, Vonn
does her best to smile and accommodate as many people as she can. Catch her at a
rare moment when dozens of people aren’t vying for her attention, and she is still
as down-to-earth and friendly as ever.
With this season’s success Vonn has brought the sport of ski racing to the atten-
tion of more Americans than any other athlete has done before — at least in this
magazine’s history of 40-plus years. Congrats, Lindsey, and get some rest!
