For Sullivan, it’s pay as he goes – downhill

No free ride for U.S. Ski Team “elder statesman”

beaver creek » Marco Sullivan loves everything about downhill: the ear-popping descents at speeds exceeding 70 mph, the big jumps that hurl racers 50 yards down the course, the test of courage that decides king of the mountain.

He loves it so much, he’s paying for the privilege.

In recent years the U.S. Ski Team has been requiring its second- and third-team racers to pay some of their expenses on the WorldCup tour. Racers on theAteam such as Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn are exempt, but a B team racer such as Sullivan has to pay up.

“You have to have belief that you’re going to recoup thatmoney through your fast skiing,” Sullivan said after a training run for Friday’sWorld Cup downhill.

The charge for a B teamracer typically is $20,000, but particulars vary from racer to racer. In Sullivan’s case, he’s on the B team because he dropped out of the world’s top 25 last season. But because he’s in the top 30, the FIS picks up about $1,000 a week of his race-week expenses, which it remits to the U.S. Ski Team. That means Sullivan’s $20,000 bill fromthe ski teamwas effectively reduced to $7,000, and Sullivan covered that with his winnings last week after finishing fifth in the season’s first downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta.

“I made enough where it kind of covers what I have had to put out for this year,” said Sullivan, who is from Squaw Valley, Calif. “The pressure’s on for me to have good results. That’s the onlyway I’m going to make money. Now my debts are paid.”

Sullivan, 34, is a three-time Olympian who first made the team in 1999. In 139 World Cup starts, he has one win (in 2008 at Chamonix, France) and four podium appearances. At the Sochi Olympics he finished 30th.

“I’m definitely one of the elder statesmen of the U.S. Ski Team,” Sullivan said. “What keeps me going is I love racing downhill. It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid. I get to go back to all these great venues every year. It’s a lifestyle at this point. I love it.”

He knows what it’s like to have it taken away. In 2003 he decided to throwa hot-dog move off the final jump here during a training run. He crashed and blew out his right knee, costing him the better part of two seasons. In his time away from the tour he tuned skis and drove a snowcat during the night shift atHomewood (Calif.) Mountain Resort. He thought about that when he went off that jump Tuesday.

Sullivan also remembers watching the world championshipswhen theywere here in 1999, and he cannot wait for February, when they come to Beaver Creek again.

“Iwas this kidwhowas on the cusp of being a racer,” Sullivan said. “I’d just made the U.S. Ski Team that year. I was like, ‘This could be me.’ Now it’s come back around, I’ve got 15 years in the bank of racingWorld Cup, having highs and lows. It’s just been a cool ride, and to have this coming at this time of my career is great.”