11:06 a.m. updated post:
I just got off the bus in Vancouver to see the results of the ladies, two-runs-in-as-many-days, giants slalom.
1. Victoria Rebensburg, Germany
2. Tina Maze, Slovenia
3. Lizzy Goergl, Austria
Rebensburg celebrates her first World Cup level win with a gold at the Olympics. She was sixth after the first run. Maze will leave Vancouver with at least 2 silver medals, she won silver in the super g as well, and Goergl will tote two bronze medals home to Austria. She is the ski-crazed country’s only exception to harsh media criticism that the Austrians have fallen on their faces here in Whistler.
Mancuso finished eighth, which is respectable considering. To make it even tougher on Mancuso, she learned yesterday that a friend from Squaw, CR Johnson, a well-know freeskier, died in a tragic ski accident.
Original post:
Yesterday’s first run of ladies’ giant slalom was pretty nuts. Since the Vonn crash/broken pinky and ruined run for Julia Mancuso there have been lots of drama-filled reports and rumors. In my opinion, the whole thing could have bee avoided had the organizers here decided to run the race like an Olympic event, rather than a J3 race. A shortened interval is to blame for the debaucle in which Vonn crashed and Mancuso had already started. The Olympic Champion was waved off course, had to ski to the bottom and get back to the top. By then the course was rutted and the wax was off her skis, and she was no doubt flustered, finishing the run 1.3 seconds of leader Lizzy Goergl of Austria.
The whole thing could have been avoided with a longer interval. It was shortened due to weather, which is not unheard of, but also not ideal for a few reasons. One – the obvious – it doesn’t allow for things like we saw, two, it made it so viewers could not see entire runs, which makes it less exciting from a viewer standpoint.
Other tidbits – I need to jump on a bus in 15 minutes – Mancuso had trouble when she got back to the top because she didn’t have her credential. They almost didn’t let her have access to get back down to the start, and some racers left the gate, pushing her start back more.
It was said Mancuso’s family was cheering when Vonn fell, but they were cheering because Mancuso was already on course and had posted the fastest first split. Meanwhile, the camera was still on Vonn, who was still down on the snow.
OK – more later. Promise.
