US Ski Team making serious progress

Consider it or not, the world doesn’t rotate round Mikaela Shiffrin, however we get understandably Shiffrin-centric on this area.

So we provide you with The Nothing to do with Mikaela Shiffrin World Cup Report.

Initials

In political circles, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is called AOC and Affiliate Justice Amy Coney Barrett has been referred to as ACB.

On a nonpartisan word, we provide you with RCS, Ryan Cochran-Siegle. Once you’re an American successful a World Cup super-G in Bormio, Italy, as — ahem — RCS did final week, it’s important to have a moniker.

Enjoyable trivia: RCS was the primary American to win a World Cup in Bormio since Bode Miller in 2007. Below the class of freaky coincidence, RCS gained 13 years to the day of the anniversary of Miller’s win.

Throw in that RCS entered Bormio on the heels of incomes his first World Cup podium in Val Gardena, Italy, (second, downhill), and the Vermont native seems to be like he is likely to be getting on a run.

However earlier than we crown him “The Subsequent Nice American Downhiller,” let’s take a deep breath. We’ve been on the lookout for “The Subsequent“ for the American males for practically 15 years when Daron Rahlves retired in after the 2006 season.

The subsequent downhiller was meant to be Steve Nyman, possibly Andrew Weibrecht after which Travis Ganong. Sure, Weibrecht, “The Struggle Horse,” retired, however we’re not closing out all prospects for Nyman and Ganong. Whereas Nyman at 38 will not be a candidate to be “Subsequent” by advantage of his maturity, he can nonetheless pop a end result and Ganong is 32, and presumably ought to have numerous miles left within the tank.

And that brings up an attention-grabbing query: Can an athlete emerge to turn into the “The Subsequent” when he’s 32 or 28, as RCS is? Whereas we’re used to the teen-age phenom becoming a member of the tour at 16 and starting world domination within the mould of Lindsey Vonn or Shiffrin, the reply is sure, particularly in velocity.

In Alpine, the rule of thumb is velocity ages properly, whereas tech doesn’t. Mr. GS, Ted Ligety, is an unlucky instance of the latter, having not recorded a win in additional than 5 years. If — and it’s a giant if; simply ask Nyman — one can keep wholesome, age befits a speedster.

We’d like solely take a look at Rahlves, the person the U.S. Ski Staff continues to be making an attempt to exchange, and his profession arc. We bear in mind Rahlves successful the relocated “Val d’Isere, France” downhill at Beaver Creek in 2003. We bear in mind him and Miller swapping locations on the rostrum at Birds of Prey in 2004 and 2005. We bear in mind Rahlves successful on the marquee stops of the white circus like Kitzbuehel, Austria, Wengen, Switzerland, and so forth.

However … Rahlves was on the World Cup from 1995-2006. Huge D did win back-to-back World Cups in Kvitfjell, Norway, March, 3-4, 2000. These two wins got here when Rahlves was 25, virtually 26. (Small world: Rahlves and Shiffrin share a March 13 birthday — 1973 and 1995, respectively.)

Rahlves didn’t medal, his gold medal in super-G in St. Anton, Austria, at worlds till he was 26 in 2001. What’s extra he went practically two years earlier than he gained once more on the World Cup, beginning the run for which we bear in mind him.

Reality be advised, Rahlves didn’t get right into a critical groove till he was 29 — 11 of his 13 World Cup wins got here when he was about to show 30 or later. Whereas it’s tougher to crack the Austrian Ski Staff, Herman Maier, the legend, was 24 earlier than he bought on the board with a World Cup win.Twenty-eight of Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal’s 36 wins got here after he was 25.

The explanation downhillers age properly — once more, supplied they keep away from harm just like the time Svindal executed a yard sale off Golden Eagle in downhill coaching at Beaver Creek in 2008 — is that they develop an information financial institution for all of the programs around the globe

Svindal completed sixth on the 2015 worlds at Beaver Creek in each downhill and super-G, even supposing he was nonetheless recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. He hadn’t raced all season in 2014-15, but nonetheless knew Birds of Prey properly sufficient to to complete within the prime 10 twice on one leg.

Provided that context, RCS at 28 ain’t precisely prepared for social safety. There aren’t any ensures, however we is likely to be seeing one thing right here. Not that we’re excited or something, however Wengen is subsequent week for the speedsters.

Tommy Boy

And since we simply spent a bunch of paragraphs telling you the way velocity racers age properly and tech rivals are achieved when they’re 30, we now shift to how 31-year-old American Tommy Ford is rocking it in big slalom.