The Vancouver insider

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Resi Stiegler trained for this moment for much of her life, but the alpine racer never planned on experiencing Vancouver like this.

At 24, Stiegler is just the right age to become an Olympic champion, but a season-ending knee injury last November dashed the 2010 dreams for Jackson Hole’s golden girl. As crushed as she is about missing these Olympics, competing in a future Winter Games isn’t out of the question.

Not long ago, Stiegler would have preferred to avoid Whistler during this time. Neither did she want to be home in Jackson Hole for the next few weeks. She is fiercely pulling for the success of her teammates, though she had wanted to do so from afar. In fact, she thought it best to just be away from anything that could remind her of skiing right now.

“Two weeks ago, I wanted to be in Maui for the Olympics,” Stiegler said last week, referring to her part-time home in Hawaii.

But then she got a call from Audi, a major U.S. Ski Team sponsor, to co-host a daily Web show about the Olympic alpine events. It wasn’t the free ticket to Vancouver that changed her mind so much as a feeling that she needs to get, or keep, her name out there. Besides, when you sit out enough World Cup races as a professional skier, the paychecks tend to dry up.

“I’ve never had to do things for money before this,” she said. “But at some point you have to pick yourself up and get back on it.”

Just before Stiegler arrived in Vancouver last week, she made a whirlwind visit home. She flew in from Maui and then, less than than 36 hours later, left for Canada. In a single day, she saw a local knee specialist, packed a winter wardrobe, said hello to some family and friends, and had dinner with a few Olympics-bound teammates and coaches who happened to be in town for last-minute training.
For dinner, the team members went to Stiegler’s, the restaurant owned by her uncle, Peter, brother of Resi’s father, Pepi, the Austrian who won the gold medal in slalom at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics.

As the child of a legend, Stiegler began imagining her own Olympic glory at a young age. The expectations – from coaches, fans, herself – were high.
“I grew up where, since I was 15, I’ve been planning for this,” she said while waiting for her teammates to arrive for dinner. “I’m supposed to have won a gold by now.”

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Stiegler placed as high as ninth in combined slalom. But three major injuries have kept her out of competition since late ‘07.
To her teammates and many friends, Stiegler is an effervescent spirit, a hopeless optimist who always finds the bright side, even through injury.

But the disappointment over Vancouver has stung her hard. She has said she believes winning an FIS Alpine World Ski Championship is more important than winning a gold medal at the Olympics, but world championships happen every other year. Missing the Olympics, which happens to be the most hyped moment in ski racing, is heartbreaking for an athlete in a sport where few women compete after age 30.

“For me, it was sadness,” Stiegler said, describing her mood in the weeks leading up to the Olympics.

It doesn't help that Vancouver is as close to home as the Olympics will come while Stiegler is in her prime.

Had she made it to Vancouver, friends and relatives from Jackson Hole would have made the trip to Canada to support her. The more adventurous could have even traveled by car. The earliest the Winter Olympics could return to the Western Hemisphere is 2022.

But already she’s setting her sights on Sochi, Russia, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics. She’s even creating a promotional campaign flyer for her teammates that depicts her in a Russian-style fur hat. It’s a lighthearted message to them that she’s coming back.

“I’m telling them that while they’re focused on Vancouver, I’m getting ready for Sochi,” she said. However, Stiegler is still on crutches, so at the moment she can only rehab her outlook.

But now she’s hobbling around Vancouver, appearing on the daily Web cast, which can be watched at Justin.TV/AudiSki. Her co-star on the daily recap show is TJ Lanning, another U.S. Ski Team member whose 2010 dreams were ended by injury. Rain and poor visibility have caused delays in the alpine events, and by Monday Stiegler and Lanning had posted two episodes of their show, called “Live from the Lodge.”

If Sochi doesn’t turn out well for whatever reason, then maybe the Olympic podium just wasn’t in the script for Stiegler‘s remarkable journey in ski racing, right?
Not necessarily, she said. “In 2018, I’m going to be Sarah’s age,” Stiegler said, referring to Sarah Schleper, the U.S. alpine racer who is expected to compete in the women’s slalom on Friday, which happens to be the day she turns 31. JHW

COURTESY RESI STIEGLER
Resi Stiegler, far right, appears on the Web show “Live from the Lodge.”


PERMALINK:
The Vancouver insider | Planet JH News Article: General News

Leave a Comment