Résumé: Not counting Bode Miller, who races all events, “Sully” is
the veteran and stabilizing force of the downhill team. The affable
Sullivan is a notoriously good glider with three World Cup podiums
to his credit — a win at Chamonix and a second at Lake Louise in
the 2008 season, and a third at Wengen’s Lauberhorn in 2009.
Outlook: A glider with a bad back, as Sullivan is, becomes familiar
with pain. He topped out last season with an 11th in SG at Kitzbuehel and shut down his season after the Olympics to give himself as
much time as possible to heal. “I’m still stoked about skiing and ski
racing,” he said earlier this fall. “It’s been a good off season and I’m
stoked to be ripping again on the World Cup and heading toward
another World Championships.”
vember, 2007, when he scored World Cup points for the second
time in his career with a daring 10th place finish from the 53rd start
of the Beaver Creek downhill. The second came last season when
he gathered the bronze medal in the Olympic super G. “It was a
special day,” he says. “I was on the podium with two of the greatest
athletes in the world in Bode [Miller] and Aksel [Svindal] and it was
my first major international podium. As a kid, you dream about days
like that.”
Outlook: Weibrecht skied to that bronze with a badly messed-up
shoulder that was further aggravated in a crash at Kvitfjell, Norway,
a couple weeks later; he then went pretty directly from the racecourse to the operating table. But the timing left the entire off-season for rehab. He was in catch-up mode during the early training
camps, but the “Warhorse” fully expects to be ready to challenge
when the speed events kick off.
Club: Schweitzer Alpine
Equipment: Fischer, Swix, Shred, Slytech, Ortema, Booster
Strap
Sponsors: Tejas Trading Co., Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Selko-photo
Résumé: The nation’s top junior racer in 2007, Brandenburg had
continued a steep climb, but 2009 turned into a disaster when mild
leg pain turned out to be a microfracture and ligament damage.
Brandenburg rehabbed well and worked his
way onto last season’s Olympic team as the
last pick for the super combined. He recorded
the second fastest run of slalom (behind Ted
Ligety but ahead of Bode Miller) and finished
10th. “Tenth was out of this world incredible for
me, but to put down that slalom run with Ted
and Bode and then see Bode put together the
gold,” he says, “was totally inspiring.”
Outlook: Coaches see a ton of potential in Brandenburg, who
grew up on the slopes and has the athletic genes of top swimmers.
He should get chances to impress this season.
Andrew Weibrecht
Age: 24
Hometown: Lake Placid, N.Y.
Years on team: 7
Club: New York Ski Educational Foundation
(NYSEF)
Equipment: Rossignol, Uvex, Swix, Slytech,
Ortema, Booster Strap
Sponsor: Olympic Regional Development Authority
Résumé: Weibrecht is known for two scintillating runs, one in No-
B Team
Thomas Biesemeyer
Age: 21
Hometown: Keene, N.Y.
Years on team: 2
Club: NYSEF
Equipment: Rossignol, Briko, Booster Strap, Swix
Sponsor: Cloudveil
Résumé: This is Biesemeyer’s second year as a team member,
but the first that hasn’t been spent in rehab, as he tore his ACL in
Portillo while preparing for last winter. He returned in time for the
spring camps, but missed the entire competition season.
Outlook: Tommy is a gifted athlete (he was a high school MVP
as a freshman) and had earned his way onto the team with solid
World Junior results in 2009 (11th SG, 14th GS) and strong FIS
race results. He’s back on track to start testing himself on European
circuits.
Will Brandenburg
Age: 23
Hometown: Spokane, Wash.
Years on team: 4
Erik Fisher
Age: 25
Hometown: Middleton, Idaho
Years on team: 6
Club: Bogus Basin, Rowmark Academy
Equipment: Atomic, Uvex, Komperdell,
Booster Strap
Sponsors: Skodeo, Mona Vie, Klymit
Résumé: Fisher is just getting going. He’s been around the World
Cup circuit a couple of times now and has gained some familiarity with the downhill courses. He’s posted some strong results on
some tough courses and should only progress.
Outlook: “I’m still just getting started with my career,” says Fisher.
“I know I could have been faster in 2010 and I know I will be faster
during the 2011 season. It’s just a matter of working hard and staying focused in the off season, then letting the skis rip when get to
the snow.”
