How did Lila end up? I know made her was into the top 40 after started 54th in the first run.
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COVERAGE: 2017 Killington Women's World Cup
- Thread starter Rudi Riet
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She didn't make the top 30 first run.
53.99 was her time. From what I see, 53.08 qualified. Holdener finished 2nd 1st run with 50.46
https://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/results.html?sector=AL&raceid=90950
I don't know if this will he helpful/interesting or not re: Lila L.
A year ago, her world ranking in SL was in the low 40's. Her SL points were around 7. Now, having been injured, etc., her world ranking is over 100, and her points are 16-17.
The difference between starting 54 in a WC SL and where she would be with points around 7 is huge, She started 54th today. I think she would have started 33rd with her former profile. So, the chances of qualifying for a second run and scoring WC points so up considerably.
Most likely the "plan" is for LL to continue to ski whatever WC's the USST decides to enter her in. If she can pull off the near miracle and score WC points, that would be awesome. It sounds like her skiing is pretty solid right now. Do not judge her actual speed based on her finish times today. The relative speed of these women really tightens up once you move outside of the top 10, for sure. I would say that 10-40 are very, very close. Charging from the back is Really hard. Charging from the back, finishing two runs, and doing so that you might lower your points is close to impossible. You do not score on the WC until you are smoking fast, not trying to get a second run.
How hard? To improve on her 16-17 points, LL would have had to finish third today......beating Schild. It is brutally hard, and if MS keeps winning by big margins, will be even harder.
Plan B is her plan is no doubt charting a course to lower that point profile. NorAm SL's, with a strong enough field are a very good option. The minimum penalty for a NorAm can be, and fairly often is 6. Winning two NorAm's gives her a 6 point profile. Not that it would be easy, but her getting a result that would "score" in terms of her points on the WC is a very, very, long shot. So we'll see LL in the right calendar of FIS races, domestic and abroad, some NorAms, some Europa Cups.
I imagine that with the team behind her, and all the rest, we'll see her back to a ranking where she was, then moving forward from there. She can ski, and ski fast.
Thanks, BTW to @epic, @Rudi Riet and others for the pics and reporting from Killington. Great stuff!
A year ago, her world ranking in SL was in the low 40's. Her SL points were around 7. Now, having been injured, etc., her world ranking is over 100, and her points are 16-17.
The difference between starting 54 in a WC SL and where she would be with points around 7 is huge, She started 54th today. I think she would have started 33rd with her former profile. So, the chances of qualifying for a second run and scoring WC points so up considerably.
Most likely the "plan" is for LL to continue to ski whatever WC's the USST decides to enter her in. If she can pull off the near miracle and score WC points, that would be awesome. It sounds like her skiing is pretty solid right now. Do not judge her actual speed based on her finish times today. The relative speed of these women really tightens up once you move outside of the top 10, for sure. I would say that 10-40 are very, very close. Charging from the back is Really hard. Charging from the back, finishing two runs, and doing so that you might lower your points is close to impossible. You do not score on the WC until you are smoking fast, not trying to get a second run.
How hard? To improve on her 16-17 points, LL would have had to finish third today......beating Schild. It is brutally hard, and if MS keeps winning by big margins, will be even harder.
Plan B is her plan is no doubt charting a course to lower that point profile. NorAm SL's, with a strong enough field are a very good option. The minimum penalty for a NorAm can be, and fairly often is 6. Winning two NorAm's gives her a 6 point profile. Not that it would be easy, but her getting a result that would "score" in terms of her points on the WC is a very, very, long shot. So we'll see LL in the right calendar of FIS races, domestic and abroad, some NorAms, some Europa Cups.
I imagine that with the team behind her, and all the rest, we'll see her back to a ranking where she was, then moving forward from there. She can ski, and ski fast.
Thanks, BTW to @epic, @Rudi Riet and others for the pics and reporting from Killington. Great stuff!
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Photos from the GS on Saturday. My first time at a FIS race, and Killington put on a great show! Nice to meet a few other Pugski members.
The light coming over the ridge made for some pretty neat effects.
Not a lot of crashes on the bottom 1/4 of the course, but managed to capture this sequence
The light coming over the ridge made for some pretty neat effects.
Not a lot of crashes on the bottom 1/4 of the course, but managed to capture this sequence
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I thought Lila's skiing looked a lot better than the people that started around her. A lot of them skied out. She actually made a pretty big mistake at the gate where I took that picture. This is two frames after.
I'm hoping to see her improve and start to be super competitive.
Here's Reilly McGlashan's take on Mikaela's gs performance yesterday:
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It seems to me that Plan B would be the right move, but I have to wonder, in an Olympic year with a pretty weak team in front of her, what would it take to make the Olympic Team? From the standpoint of sponsorship/career, it seems like it would be worth it to take the risk on Plan A if being the 2nd or 3rd best American SL skier was enough to get her into the Olympics. And with smaller teams in the Olympics, who knows what could happen there. If she ran NorAms and just focussed on points would that still get her looked at for the Olympics?
I was on the road today and missed the slalom but MS’S second run in the gs to me really impressed me on how smooth AND athletic she looked; it almost looks like she is in a stalking stage and I can’t help but think the gs specialist’s have to notice what’s going on with this discipline, it looks like she has another gear but hasn’t gone to it yet.
Now I am talking about this one run , the 2nd gs, it just looked very impressive to me and I can’t talk to much skill set as some of you but it’s just something I see.
Now I am talking about this one run , the 2nd gs, it just looked very impressive to me and I can’t talk to much skill set as some of you but it’s just something I see.
Sorry,
I can't seem to quote a post. Using my iPhone.
At any rate, I'm 99% sure that the 2018 Olympic Criteria is based on World Cup results from THIS season.
That could mean a TINY team based on those who actually make the criteria. On the women's side, I could be MS and Resi for SL and GS. On the men's side Choudunsky and hopefully a couple others for SL. Ligety, Tommy Ford and others..RCS?
No way on earth will the USA not send a full team. That would be a terrible move, IMO. So I assume the secondary criteria is something like World Rank.
Here is LL's challenge. She has to get her point profile improved as soon as reasonably possible to have any chance at scoring WC points. She is realistically right now {this should change over the season} a much better threat at SL than GS. However, Mikaela would be challenged to be top ten starting in the mid 50's. If she can get her start position down to the low 40's even, I would bet on her scoring some WC points. First, she needs to get a second run.
If she scores no WC points, then she falls in line with everybody else for the secondary criteria. I think it's WR. Without lowering her point profile, that is risky. I think she's the fourth ranked USA SL skier right now. Somebody else could pop a result or two, drop points below her and best her world ranking.
So...kind of a Catch-22, I guess.
Sort of unfortunate in terms of LL that she doesn't have a bit more time to work the process before the name the team. It's about two months.
As others have noted, she is skiing well. Put her in a training course that's set like a WC course, and I think many would be shocked at how fast. It will happen.
Start position and course deterioration is big. She needs to get the points down, the WR improved and all of this should improve. She's very athletic, which will help in this process as well.
Just my hunch. No MS, but she can become very consistently solid.
I can't seem to quote a post. Using my iPhone.
At any rate, I'm 99% sure that the 2018 Olympic Criteria is based on World Cup results from THIS season.
That could mean a TINY team based on those who actually make the criteria. On the women's side, I could be MS and Resi for SL and GS. On the men's side Choudunsky and hopefully a couple others for SL. Ligety, Tommy Ford and others..RCS?
No way on earth will the USA not send a full team. That would be a terrible move, IMO. So I assume the secondary criteria is something like World Rank.
Here is LL's challenge. She has to get her point profile improved as soon as reasonably possible to have any chance at scoring WC points. She is realistically right now {this should change over the season} a much better threat at SL than GS. However, Mikaela would be challenged to be top ten starting in the mid 50's. If she can get her start position down to the low 40's even, I would bet on her scoring some WC points. First, she needs to get a second run.
If she scores no WC points, then she falls in line with everybody else for the secondary criteria. I think it's WR. Without lowering her point profile, that is risky. I think she's the fourth ranked USA SL skier right now. Somebody else could pop a result or two, drop points below her and best her world ranking.
So...kind of a Catch-22, I guess.
Sort of unfortunate in terms of LL that she doesn't have a bit more time to work the process before the name the team. It's about two months.
As others have noted, she is skiing well. Put her in a training course that's set like a WC course, and I think many would be shocked at how fast. It will happen.
Start position and course deterioration is big. She needs to get the points down, the WR improved and all of this should improve. She's very athletic, which will help in this process as well.
Just my hunch. No MS, but she can become very consistently solid.
Hypothetically where might LL and Resi start in the Olympics? Lower or higher than their WC starts?
Great to see Anna S Larsson do a good race. Second top ten. This is a racer that did EC end of last season and has been outside the team. Our new Swede Estelle made it to 2nd. Emelie is where she’d be expected to be and Frida lost a podium spot in 2nd, almost went out one time and put her skies sideways. Lost a lot of time. Still ... 4th. She can do better.
Somewhere deep in the telecast of the second run, I heard Bode briefly remark that he considered this one of the toughest SLs that the women will run. I sensed he was referring to the trail more than the set. It seemed that the lower steep was a real challenge this year and you could really see the racers tiring about halfway down. Those last 6 turns before the 2 gates at the finish really required the afterburners. The trail may be pretty straight forward, but it certainly packs a punch. I used to refer to the center area between the top and bottom steeps as an inclined or pitched flat, but Bode referred to it as a false flat. Think I'll have to add that to the lexicon.
GREAT JOB KILLINGTON! Looking forward to next year.
Each country can only start a maximum of four skiers in each event, I have not looked at the Killington SL start list, but you can look at the countries that have more than four on it. Take those who do, and eliminate numbers above LL start's position on Sunday. Austrians, Swedes, etc.
I bet it's 6-8 people coming off the list. So LL might start in the mid-upper 40's, she were to start for the US. Resi would not be "helped" by this factor.
Resi is right on the bubble of being in the top 15 which adds a bit more complexity. Top 7 WR are drawn for bibs 1-7. WR 8-15 are then drawn similarly. WR 16 and up then start in order based on their points. Resi would need a very strong result or two to punch into the top 25. Unlikely.
There aren't that many WC SL's on the calendar in December and January. Not sure when the USA will name the team.
Chances of Lila improving her relative start, of she is one of the four, is a bit better, IMO.
Sorry if it's confusing.
Agree. They have an agreement through next year. Hope it becomes a permanent stop on the tour. That would be great!
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Some interesting data points on the back of this weekend's events:
- Killington used 15 million gallons of water on the Superstar trail to get the course ready.
- Killington had up to 120 snow guns running - almost 2½ times what they typically have on the Superstar trail.
- 18,000 people are estimated to have attended the race on Saturday, compared to 16,000 last year.
- 16,000 people are estimated to have attended the race on Sunday, compared to 14,000 last year.
- Killington provided more shuttle buses this year, from as far away as transit services in Connecticut.
- Last year’s race cost Killington $2.5 million and generated $1.3 million in revenue, mostly from sponsors.
- This year's race cost Killington more, but is also expected to bring in more income from sponsors - the town of Killington contributed $100,000.
- Killington expects to gain significant name recognition by hosting the event - aired on TV and streamed online on NBC worldwide.
- Killington will host the race again in 2018 - over Thanksgiving weekend.
- Last year's race was the first World Cup event in the East Coast since 1991 in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.
- Last year's race was the first World Cup event in Vermont since 1977 in Stratton.
- Killington used 15 million gallons of water on the Superstar trail to get the course ready.
- Killington had up to 120 snow guns running - almost 2½ times what they typically have on the Superstar trail.
- 18,000 people are estimated to have attended the race on Saturday, compared to 16,000 last year.
- 16,000 people are estimated to have attended the race on Sunday, compared to 14,000 last year.
- Killington provided more shuttle buses this year, from as far away as transit services in Connecticut.
- Last year’s race cost Killington $2.5 million and generated $1.3 million in revenue, mostly from sponsors.
- This year's race cost Killington more, but is also expected to bring in more income from sponsors - the town of Killington contributed $100,000.
- Killington expects to gain significant name recognition by hosting the event - aired on TV and streamed online on NBC worldwide.
- Killington will host the race again in 2018 - over Thanksgiving weekend.
- Last year's race was the first World Cup event in the East Coast since 1991 in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.
- Last year's race was the first World Cup event in Vermont since 1977 in Stratton.
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Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
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Thus why I asked Shiffrin about her speed prep, given the tour will be spending three-plus weeks doing speed, both in Canada and Europe. I'm sure most of the tech skiers are winging back to Europe today to spend time training up for the next GS and SL opportunities. Thus, the pure tech racers will likely be well rested when the next races happen. This can help some squads (read: Italy, Austria) and hinder others (read: Slovakia) in terms of quality of training, as there are times the training is only as good as the competition you see on the course from day to day.
And yes, the selection and seeding process is confusing. USST doesn't have an enviable position in terms of team selection: a handful of top-tier contenders and a slew of "maybes" - of which any and all of the "semi-independent" racers are on the bubble and under a lot of pressure if they wish to fulfill their Olympic dream.
Frankly, it's sad that the U.S. is so preoccupied with the Olympics as the measure of winter sports success (not just skiing, but figure skating, bobsled, speed skating, etc.). It completely dismisses the achievements of athletes who perform in season-long tours like the World Cup, the ISU Grand Prix, and the like. And Olympic performances can be complete flashes in the pan (e.g. Bill Johnson's excellent-and-outlier 1984 season), not a true measure of an athlete's ability and achievement - it's just a snapshot.
OK, rant off.
Is there delayed coverage somewhere on the internet? Did a quick search last night, but came up empty.
MSNBC app on (gasp) AppleTV.