World Cup Slalom Opener - Levi, Finland November 17th & 18th

[NZRob]

This whole " trains well but races not so well" is an interesting issue. Is it an issue of not dealing with the pressure of a big event as opposed to having nothing to lose when training? Is training fun but racing not so much? I' m interested in any insiders or those close to the sharp end that have any ideas on this.

Interesting reading over some of your guys in-depth insights to the USST. Given that it appears like there may be systemic issues in regard to race day performance, I wonder what kind of strategies and tactical approaches the team has to sport psychology. There are essentially an infinite number of complexities associated with an individuals mind and what may be going on in there during training and then what changes on race day. Developing individual personas and then honing in on how to prepare each racer individually depending on their innate as well as learned personality traits is imperative at elite level (in any sport). Is it race day anxiety, performance pressure, negativity, fear of failure, lack of visualisation, stress management, emotional management, etc etc. If these facets aren't managed and cultivated positively then talent will only get them so far.

I also wonder how much the USST spends learning from other successful US sports programs, of which there must be the highest concentration in the world given the depth of professional sports and college sports. US Swimming springs to mind.

The other comment I found interesting/amusing is about parents complaining about cost of ski racing. I mean it's not exactly rocket science to know that if your kid is getting into ski racing even at a local level you need deep pockets.

 

[wyowindrunner]

The other comment I found interesting/amusing is about parents complaining about cost of ski racing. I mean it's not exactly rocket science to know that if your kid is getting into ski racing even at a local level you need deep pockets.

Good thing their kids aren't hockey players. Interesting conversation about the coaching...who is the coach responsible for training how to open the champagne bottles at the podium celebrations? May be the only shortcoming MS has.

 

[4ster]

https://usskiandsnowboard.org/news/levi-slalom-kickoff-reindeer-line

Mikaela Shiffrin takes first place and poses with her reindeer Sven and Santa in Levi, Finland on November 12, 2016 in Levi, Finland. (Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
In Finnish Lapland, the FIS Ski World Cup slalom kickoff is a bit more magical than most stops. Santa attends the races, the prize is a reindeer, the Northern Lights are alive, and you can't escape the sparkles and the holiday vibes.

After a solid training block for the women in Copper Mountain, Colorado with an injected surface, and some time to acclimate to the time difference, the ladies are ready to rock up in the Northland. The slalom crew will be led by Olympic gold medalist, World Champion, two-time overall winner and five-time slalom titleholder Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.), who already has two reindeer to her name. In 2013 and 2016, Shiffrin grabbed the Levi win and named her reindeer Rudolph and Sven, respectively.

Last season, Shiffrin was second to Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, but she's feeling prepared, confident and strong heading into Saturday's slalom kickoff. It's not easy to travel across the world for the slalom kickoff, and the ladies were able to get some good time ahead of the weekend's race to get over jet lag, get some training under their belt on Levi soil, and they're looking forward to crushing. Nina O'Brien (Edwards, Colo.) and Resi Stiegler (Jackson, Wyo.) both got some great training in while in Colorado and were able to see where they stacked up against the best in the world in training with teammate Shiffrin.

On the men's side, new coach Martin Andersen touched base with us earlier this week and said that although it's been a warm, wet week of training in Levi, the guys were able to get some great training in at both Kvitfjell, Norway, and Levi. The weather forecast for men's race day is looking good and the guys are feeling ready. With Sölden, Austria's giant slalom canceled due to weather, this will be Luke Winters' (Gresham, Ore.) debut World Cup start. Keep an eye on both he and teammate River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.), who are fresh faces on the World Cup circuit, but will make it more of a home this season.

See who to watch and where to catch all the action below.

WOMEN’S STARTERS

• Nina O’Brien
• Mikaela Shiffrin
• Resi Stiegler

MEN’S STARTERS

• Mark Engel
• Hig Roberts
• Robby Kelley
• River Radamus
• Luke Winters*

*Denotes first World Cup Start

HOW TO WATCH
*All times EST.
ALPINE

Saturday, Nov. 17
4:00-5:30 a.m. - World Cup women’s SL, first run, Levi, FIN - NBC Sports Gold*
7:00-8:30 a.m. - World Cup women’s SL, second run, Levi, FIN - NBC Sports Gold*
7:00-8:30 a.m. - World Cup women’s SL, second run, Levi, FIN - The Olympic Channel

Sunday, Nov. 18
4:00-5:30 a.m. - World Cup men’s SL, first run, Levi, FIN - NBC Sports Gold*
7:00-8:30 a.m. - World Cup men’s SL, second run, Levi, FIN - NBC Sports Gold*
7:00-8:30 a.m. - World Cup men’s SL, second run, Levi, FIN - The Olympic Channel
12:00-1:30 p.m. - World Cup slalom weekend recap, Levi, FIN - NBCSN

* NBC Sports Gold, NBC Sports Digital’s direct-to-consumer live streaming product “Snow Pass” provides fans access to live and on-demand domestic and international competitions of seven Olympic winter sports from October 2018 through April 2019.

The Snow Pass provides access to every second of race action throughout the season. Whoever you support, their races will be broadcast on the Snow Pass. NBC will also email you prior to each event to remind you of live broadcast times on Snow Pass, and if you can’t watch live, the entire event will be available to replay, all for under 20 cents per day.

 

[4ster]

https://www.skiracing.com/premium/its-slalom-weekend-in-levi

 

[Swede]

Here we go. Shiffrin in the gate. 10 Swedes starting and 4 of them in 20 first. AS Larsson going to be fun to see after ladt years incredible season.

 

[Swede]

Here we go. Shiffrin in the gate. 10 Swedes starting and 4 of them in 20 first. AS Larsson going to be fun to see after ladt years incredible season.

 

[4ster]

Just finished watching both runs.

Without spoiling, Here is a link to the results...
https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=AL&raceid=95458

 

[4ster]

After streaming the first run on the Olympic channel app, I watched the Olympic channel coverage of the second run on the TV from my DVR recording. I soon realized that I probably didn't need to bother with the streaming as the recap of the first run was much better than in the past. Without announcing the first run results as they would often do last season, they showed at least the first 15 starters in the order that they raced. I thought Pirino & Steve S. were even better than not annoying as commentators.

Even with a lowered start due to wind, Levi Black proved to be a good first race for the slalom season. The out of ordinary warm conditions for Finland likely resembled the glacier training of the off season.

 

[4ster]

Not sure if the spoiler alert is still necessary but I will do it because it is so simple.

Spoiler

Happy to see Hansdotter with a competitive first run. Especially stoked to see B. Schild with well deserved podium & really showing her potential with a smoking second run! Also some good skiing from further back with the likes of Hrovat, Hector and Liensberger. Of course Shiffrin did not disappoint.

 

[Muleski]

9PM EST, presume we are past the need to insert spoilers. I hope......

Here's what struck me. No surprise with MS winning, and winning by a big margin.....even on this hill, which is the easiest on the WC. With the weather. She skis it well. A win on the WC is a win, and they are hard to come by. Congratulations.

No shock with Vhlova in second. She has done really well on this hill before, and when she has, people have suggested that she is ready to challenge MS. I'll hold off on that one. She typically fades as the season wears on. Her results vary by the hill quite a bit. She is a big part of "the rest", but MS is just so far ahead of this field.....

Nice for Schild sister Bernadette to reach the podium. She has always had great potential, great technique. It's time for her to be the clear leader of the Austrian women's tech team, which is loaded. They all ski the same. They look the same on the hill. And there is fierce competition among them for each WC start {though I believe they all get along.} Six Austrians in the top 30. She skied a great second run....when she needed to. Nice.

Five Swedes skiing a second run, and two more in the top five who just missed. That's a lot of depth. Speak of Swedes, good day for Frida, though she is probably not happy slipping off the podium. Not her kind of hill, at all, IMO.

So.....depth? MS. Resi Steigler is coming back from an injury, has been on snow for a few months, and presume is still working back. How far back, and how fast? We'll see later in the season. She has said that she wants to be fighting for podiums. I think that was in reaction to a comment that it would be great to see her getting top 15's. I'll settle for second runs, for the time being. Only one other US starter, USST member Nina O'Brien , age 21. She ran bib 51, and DNF'd run one.

Nina is pretty young. But almost a third of the field of 30 taking a second run are her age or younger. Depends on your perspective. She's not that young. I hope that they can help her find another gear, and work down her WR so that she can start in the low 40's, or sooner, where the second run chances are much better. The upcoming NorAms are the time to win, and get that accomplished. There were a number of higher bibs getting second runs. Four bib #44 and higher. For whatever reason, our women tend to struggle with that, at least recently. That would be great to overcome as well. Fingers crossed.

This is to be expected, in terms of the USST skiing. Going to take time to build any depth, and see non MS results on the women's tech side. Best of luck to all....

Tomorrow will likely be a reality check as well: River Radamus, who many refer to as the future of the USST, is starting with bib #77. Luke Winters of the USST is making his first WC with bib #48. Three independents will be representing the USA: Robby Kelley in bib #52, Hig Roberts with bib #47, and Mark Engel with bib #32. Good luck to them all. Good guys. On this hill, we might squeak out a couple of second runs. Might. Fingers crossed.

Again I have fairly low expectations, and I hope for them to blow them away.

On the guys side, the guy who is SO fast on that top flat, Felix Neureuther is out with a hand injury. Have a hunch that it will be, once again a Hirscher and HK battle. Could be a lot of men ending up on the podium. Hope for a good, tight race. We'll see. Would be fun to see somebody like Dave Ryding break through.

It's the first race, a different race, raced in the dark on snow that was "farmed" and stored over the summer. It's different. I never read much into the results of this race. For either gender. Still fun. And remote.....check a map.

 

[4ster]

On the guys side, the guy who is SO fast on that top flat, Felix Neureuther is out with a hand injury

Bummer about Felix . Thanks for the heads up.

Looking forward to seeing River Radamus but 77… Wow!

Hope Resi’s slow skiing doesn’t effect her ranking too negatively.

 

[4ster]

Sorry about the music, turn the volume down.

This one from Ivica Kostelic

 

[Muleski]

Felix dislocated and broke his thumb a few days ago. Won't be out too long.

Svindal crashed at Copper two days ago, and had hand surgery at Vail Valley Med Center that afternoon. They are saying that he may be ready to go at Lake Louise, and is almost certainly 100% for Beaver Creek.

River's weakest event is Slalom. WR is about 130. He's half that in GS, and below 50 in SG. Going to be hard to do much, but this is about getting familiar with every hill, I think. That "future of the USST" is often mentioned. Think project 26! They will need to figure out how to manage him. Which disciplines, which starts. etc.

I'm not sure when Resi's points, and therefore WR, will be set to increase, or whether she has her SL points preserved through the penalization process. Her current WR is mid 20's and SL points are high five's I think. Her last 6 point result was probably two years ago? Most recent sub 10 was maybe at US Nationals, March 2017, I think. I was there. Resi is now 33, and she has had SO many injuries. Great person. Very popular. Hope this goes well for her.

For reference, Nina O'B's points are a bit under 11, and I think her WR is a bit over 60.

 

[Pete in Idaho]

MS looks very good and dominant. Thanks for info. Muleski.

 

[4ster]

Resi is now 33, and she has had SO many injuries. Great person. Very popular. Hope this goes well for her.

She (Resi Stiegler) has had such a tough career, I am almost surprised to see her still racing. So much potential earlier on yet every time it seemed she was about to breakthrough, another injury. Always fighting back and almost getting there, must be very frustrating for her. She has always been one of my favorites and I will continue cheering for her!

It will be a couple of hours before I can watch the men’s slalom as we are having a bit of a World Cup viewing party. I will check back later.

 

[Blue Streak]

Mr. Snow?
Seriously?

 

[newfydog]

Spoiler: spoiler

Looks like in the men's SL "USA" stands for "DNF" A clean sweep.

Mule, do you think the US sucks so bad at slalom because of our resorts? The only good slalom hills seem to be in the east, with a short season. I remember arriving in a hotel in Val d'Isere one afternoon, sunny day where I opened the balcony door, and there was a sound all afternoon---wocka wocka wocka. They had a t-bar on a short steep pitch and kids were smacking slalom poles all afternoon. All those aspiring Pinturaults yo-yo'd that course all day, getting in more gates in a couple hours than one could in a full day at Bachelor...or Gold Peak, or any number of places. It was closed to the public, just run for the racers. I know quantity and quality are not the same thing, but I'll bet all those Scandinavian SL specialists have a heck of a lot more gates behind them than our kids.

 

[4ster]

Spoiler

Great battle between Hirscher and Kristofferson. Really came down to 2/100 of a second in the second run.
They made The tricky gate at the bottom look like nothing. Kind of sad that the course setter couldn’t anticipate that trouble spot & set accordingly. Dashed a few hopes & dreams there unnecessarily.

https://www.skiracing.com/stories/breaking-marcel-hirscher-takes-mens-slalom-in-levi

 

[hbear]

Surface lifts = lots of laps and many options to vary start heights very easily.

SL is one of the disciplines that can be trained more easily as the length and pitch requirements aren’t as large as speed.

I’d suggest (generically) it’s a cultural thing as North America tends to be more speed focused. Not as many kids that dream of being SL specialists.

 

[dbostedo]

Spoiler

Kind of sad that the course setter couldn’t anticipate that trouble spot & set accordingly. Dashed a few hopes & dreams there unnecessarily.

Spoiler: Spoiler question for 4ster's spoiler post

I know nothing about gate setting... is it a possibly a good thing that there was a difficult spot, because it separated out the competitors? Hirscher and Kristofferson seemed to take it like it was nothing. Or would everyone prefer that everyone finish cleanly even if it bunches up the competitors more?