Quick Wrap

Fri, Mar  26, 2010 - By Pete Vordenberg

It is quite late in Falun.  It has been non-stop action since arriving in Vancouver Feb 5.  Actually it has basically been non-stop since May, 2002…  Today was the last WC of the year.  We waxed the skis and tore down the wax cabin for the last time on WC.  The athletes and some staff are off to Maine for the final National races of the year.  The WC athletes are having their end of the season party right now – and it is quite a thing to see.  Before time is up tonight and I am traveling again I will try to get some thoughts down here.  I’ll be traveling after this and not in good email or phone contact for quite some time.

Our expectations were greater coming into these Olympics because evidence suggested that when we skied at our best we could be among the best in the world.  This is a position we hadn't been in for a long time.  We’d been on the podium every year at least once and increasing our World Cup points dramatically every year.  In Liberec a great majority of the team had their best results of the season at the World Championships – including some of the best results the US has ever had.  So we prepared to have our best performances of the year at the Olympics in a similar way.  And since our best performances in the past had put us on or near the podium it was reasonable to set a goal of getting an Olympic podium.

With the exception of Kikkan and Simi none of our racers had their best performances of the year at the Olympics.  For Kikkan and Simi they were some of the best performances of their lives.  This should not be glossed over simply because medals didn’t result.

Going into the games we felt everything was in line for great performances.  Training had mostly gone very well.  We knew the venue and area very well from all the camps we’d run and the racing we’d done up there.  We had more experience waxing at the venue than any other team.  We were racing in North America.  Our fall had gone very well with great results from most of our veterans and glimmers from our rookies.  Around Christmas a lot of people got a cold, but for most it wasn’t much of a stumbling block.  Generally preparation continued very well and we could enter the Games with no excuses.

We left the games with no excuses either, but with many things to work on.  With a few exceptions we had mostly some of the worst results of the season.  We have to accept those results as they were and as they reflect upon the job we have done targeting this event.  I will not go into the reason for each individual’s results.  Whatever they want to share about that they have likely already shared in 8 to 12 different forms of electronic media that are easy to access at all times from anywhere in the world.  Get it from there.  But there is one lesson I do want to share.  We are not deep enough to expect success.  We have to bring our elite numbers up.  While we have developed a pipeline and built and run many pieces of the pipeline for our youth athletes and coaches to follow, the pipeline itself has only been down on paper for less than a year.  Please check it out at www.nccsef.org.  All the pieces of it except the World Cup Team itself are at most four years old and most only two or three.  It will take more time to bring more people up the pipeline.  To expect success as US Skiing goes forward we have to support these steps in the pipeline at levels that can grow with an increase in well-prepared skiers.  But our main task is to prepare our youth skiers at a level even with the best in the world.  This is our biggest challenge – more talented skiers preparing at the appropriate level at each step of the pipeline.

These games were a set back.  But we cannot define the program by Vancouver alone.  This year we scored 727 World Cup points.  That is more than any year since they started keeping track in the same way they do today (for about 18 years).  And for most of those 18 years we scored an average of 40 points a year.  We have scored multiple world cup podiums after over 25 years without many results even inside the top 30 let alone top 10 or podium.  And last year we took a silver at worlds in Liberec.  What these games make obvious however is that we cannot define the program by our world cup results alone or even off a more successful championships like Liberec.

The Olympics were our main goal of the season.  We set high goals.  We failed to meet them.  While we have the athletes that can podium and the staff to support that we do not have the depth to target an event.  One fall, one sickness and we’re out of the running.  Building more depth is a task that falls to all of US Skiing.

The USST has big work to do.  And so does the US Ski community.

This year Andy Newell ended up 19th overall in the World Cup rankings.  He also ended up 4th in the World Cup sprint rankings.  Newell took a 3rd in the toughest World Cup sprint on the circuit.  Besides him, only Scandinavians had ever been on the podium in Drammen.  Kikkan took silver in Oslo on next year’s World Champs course.  Freeman took a 4th and 7th this season.  Kikkan just ended the season 17th in the World Cup finals.  This year she scored 48 distance WC points.  Between 2001 and 2008 she scored none.  We are improving.  While there is plenty of room to reflect critically, and that we do on a daily basis, there is no room to be discouraged and no room for negativity.  There is only more work to do.  We have the people, the programs and true success to give us confidence.  The community has endless opportunity to assist in the process in constructive ways.  A young skier today can look at what our athletes are achieving and know they can achieve that and more themselves.

The USST is going to make some changes.  But don’t look for things to soften up.  Watching a World Cup race, being on the World Cup weekend after weekend only shows you how committed you have to be, how hard this sport is and how hard you have to work to succeed at it.  That is one thing that makes it such a valuable pursuit.  It is hard.  It is fun.  But it is also hard.  No one is going to make it that isn’t in it 100%.  Have no illusions.  You can’t prepare half way.  It is an All In kind of thing.

Generally I say if you have any ideas please send them to me at [email protected] but I’m out for a while so for now please email [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].   Until then, Train hard.  Rest well.  There is no other way.

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