Vonn’s retirement signals the end of an era for US Ski Team
‘We are dwindling’
ARE, Sweden, Feb 13, (AP): It was a telling sign that in Lindsey Vonn’s last race there was only one other American skier competing.
Two days later, the US couldn’t even enter a squad for the team event at the world championships because it didn’t have enough skiers available.
And as for the men’s slalom team, the one that produced the likes of Bode Miller and Ted Ligety? Well, that’s been practically eliminated.
“We are dwindling,” Vonn said. “I can’t remember a time being on the US Ski Team that there weren’t two or three people that could have taken the four spots (in each race). We always had a full quota.”
With Vonn’s retirement following that of Miller and Julia Mancuso in recent years, and with Ligety nearing the end of his career, it marks the end of a golden generation for the US team.
Vonn, Miller, Mancuso and Ligety won a combined 40 medals at major championships – 15 at the Olympics and 25 at the worlds – stretching back to pay his own travel expenses.
“It’s sad,” Ligety told The Associated Press. “Last year we had Nolan Kasper scoring points and Mark Engel and Dave Chodounsky and AJ Giniss. We have guys that can ski elite slalom, it’s just that the criteria changed this year in a way that none of those guys could have the opportunity within the team.
“Even if the criteria didn’t change they had an opportunity for skiing within the team but paying. How can Daver, who is the same age as I am, justify that?” added the 34-year-old Ligety, who plans to ski for at least one more season. “Trying to start a family and all that stuff. That’s a hard reality.”
US skiers have struggled with funding issues for years but Shaw says the problem is almost solved, with the cost of competing on the C and D teams down to $8,000 annually and the fee for the development team $10,000.
“The goal is to get it down so the A, B and C teams have no costs at all,” Shaw said. “It may take another one or two years but we’re in a good place financially now.”
The overall travel costs for all of the federation’s 186 athletes across all sports – Alpine skiing, freestyle, snowboarding, etc. – is about $5 million annually, according to Shaw. The federation’s overall budget is $34-36 million – 30 percent of which is covered by donors.
Bryce Bennett, a 21-year-old downhiller from Squaw Valley, Calif., who has had three top-five World Cup results this season, was supposed to pay $10,000 in travel fees this season but got that covered by a B team fundraiser.
“There’s a lot of complaining. But our program is good,” Bennett said. “Our American downhiller crew is a good group of guys and a good coaching staff. We get what we need and we make it happen. I’m sure it’s not ideal but is it ever going to be ideal? We’re not bumming it.”
Bennett said the bigger problem is the laser-like focus on the Olympics.
“We’re very focused on the medals,” he said. “But it’s a huge process behind winning those medals. There’s a lot of details involved – the equipment, your tactics, your technical ability. Strength and conditioning, mentally. And I think those get overlooked and overshadowed by the medals. You got to focus on the process and spend a lot of time on that process and not on the external result.
“If you’re not competitive on the World Cup there’s no chance you’re going to be competitive at world championships or Olympics,” Bennett added. “You can’t come in once in a while, do a World Cup and show up at a big event and expect to do well. No chance.”
Ligety United States’ Lindsey Vonn poses with her career’s medals in the finish area after the women’s downhill race at the alpine ski World Championships in Are, Sweden on Feb 10. (AP)