Out of the spoils:
Well, guess LV showed us all something today. Yes, the course was was run on the shortened {slower speeds}, easier track, and the surface was a bit softer, but she still beat the field, very convincingly. Nice recovery and save near the bottom. And the emotions at the finish, the tears after she was the clear winner show me that this is still very, very important to her. I think we're going to see classic LV this season. Gas pedal down, one gear, full gas. If she breaks the body, then it happens. I just don't think she can do otherwise. She also seems to be making it sound like this will be her last year. So "chapeau" to her.
Good race by Goggia, not great. She seems to be getting back into it. And she's saying so. When she's loose and confident, she's tough.
Tough DNF for Wierather, just hipped out. Might have been the light. Skiing before that looked great. I bet she likes her knew equipment set up. Gut is not quite "all the way back" from her injury. Skied pretty well, but not a day suited to her. Course was pretty simple. Fog was probably no help during her run. Looked like t had rolled in. Think we'll se a lot more from her, soon. More technical, difficult and downright scary hills suit her.
As an American, I was delighted to see Laurenne Ross with a top 10, working her way back from her knee injury. Gutsy lady. Very impressive in her second start. In fact it was a pretty good day for the USST "Speed Unicorns", with the notable exception of Mancuso, who did start, and finished last, DFL. I am just amazed that they are starting her. Has to be completely unrelated to her ability to ski with her hip issues. Sad. Porino and Lewis were talking about her working herself back, to be ready for Korea. I'll call BS on that, once again. She's cooked.
Agree with
@Swede on everything. This would have been a good weekend, as it turned out, for MS. Two gentle SG's, with the change in the calendar. Oh well, it's been odd weather all season, thus far. And racing them all is impossible.
The men. Svindal and Jansrud, One-Two. No shocker there, other than Svindal just crushing it. In fact the top 10 was largely the "usual suspects" of experienced guys. No surprise on this track. It takes experience, and it really shows. The big surprise for me was Gilles Roulin, the young Swiss skier. Impressive.
Also very, very pleased to see Jared Goldberg in the top ten for the first time. He's got it. For sure. Bryce Bennett had a very good day, at 11th. These guys are the future. This is BB's third strong race in a row at Val Gardena.
The others. Nyman continues his comeback, with his first start. Not sure how far he is actually going to come back. Just a hunch. We'll know, I guess after Wengen. This is going to be his last year, I have to imagine. Wiley Maple, now an independent, dumped by the team is showing decent grit, and effort. He and Nyman tied at 41. Tommy B was 43rd. Not a tremendous result, but considering that he's doing it on his own, and those guys have been "chosen ones" forever, I like it. I never expect anything out of TB in a DH. He's much more of a SG skier. Might be in his head. Also think the event suits him better.
The one of concern for me is Travis Ganong, at 39th. Something is going on there, and I do not have any insight as to what it is. It's more than his notoriously slow starts. He should be, by all accounts our best DH skier, and he's just not getting it done right now. The season is young, but he needs to get it figured out. Keep in mind that these guys don't "start" skiing speed at Lake Louise. They pretty much started the season in August in Chile. Any thoughts?
So I don't know what the deal is with Travis. He's a very good guy. Awesome guy. Right in his prime years. He has great skills. Hope it clicks in for him pretty soon.
I'm glad to see that the USST is not pushing the younger guys too much. For example no need to start Sam Morse in this race. Better to be racing NorAms at home. We have some very, very good young talent.
Future is bright, current state kind of rough at times! Have to look for the bright spots. A lot of good things going on.
The NBC Olympic hype is going to be tedious.......at least for me. But, I did like Porino and Doug Lewis today.
