For complete coverage of 2010 Olympic Skiing, including events, competitors, schedules, and news go to the 2010 Olympic Skiing Guide.
2010 Winter Olympics Alpine Ski Racing Preview - Women's Giant Slalom
Just like in any premier head-to-head sports competitions where the best of the best compete, there are favorites and "Also Competing." Examining past performances can provide a lot of insight into future competion results. However, on any given day a "dark horse," pumped up and coming out of the blue - can win.
Be assured that on the Olympic Giant Slalom course the favorites will be doing their absolute best but when the best make the tiniest mistake or let up just a little there are a lot of lot of racers striving for that fastest time measured in hundredths of a second. Taking a look at who came out on top and who almost won in recent competitions is a good place to start to get a feel how the Olympic racers may stack up.
Not only was last season a tune-up for the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver, BC, but it was also a World Championship race year in Val d'Isere, France. All the following statistics are culled from the International Ski Federation (FIS) data base and generated by me.
Here are the 2009 season Women's Giant Slalom medal and top ten finishes:
Nation - Gold, Silver, Bronze - 4-10 Finishes - Total Top Ten
Austria - 4, 2, 4- 9- 19
Slovenia - 2,0,0- 4- 6
Finland - 1, 3, 1- 2- 7
France- 1,0,0- 4- 5
Italy - 0, 3, 1- 8 - 12
Germany - 0,0,1- 6-7
Switzerland - 0,0,1- 5- 6
USA - 0,0,0- 8- 8
Sweden - 0,0,0- 8- 8
Great Britain - 0,0,0-1- 1
Canada - 0,0,0-1- 1
What To See Here
There's no question that Kathrin Zettel of Austria was the lioness in 2009 - 4 golds and a 5th and 8th. 5 of her teammates also showed up in top ten finishes. Tina Maze scored 2 golds for Slovenia and also had 4 other top ten finishes.
Italy had no golds but put 5 different women in 12 top ten finishes. The USA had 8 top ten finishes - 6 by Vonn and 2 by Mancusco. Austria carries the day but keep an eye on Italy.
The 2009 World Championship Ladies Giant Slalom Event
I prefer to look at the World Championship races separate from the overall 2009 history. The "Worlds" are only held every two years and mean a lot in terms of prestige and bragging rights among the racers - as much as do the Olympics.
The World Championship races generate a supercharged, adrenalin producing showdown that very often brings out super results from lesser known athletes and can sometimes cause the best to over achieve and have disastrous results - much as the Olympics do.
A look back at last years World Championship races may show some surprises that could reappear in Vancouver and so here are the:
2009 World Championship Ladies Slalom Top Ten:
1 HOELZL Kathrin GER 2:03.49
2 MAZE Tina SLO 2:03.58
3 POUTIAINEN Tanja FIN 2:04.03
4 KARBON Denise ITA 2:04.16
5 KIRCHGASSER Michaela AUT 2:04.22
6 ZETTEL Kathrin AUT 2:04.31
7 WORLEY Tessa FRA 2:04.63
8 PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria SWE 2:04.71
9 REBENSBURG Viktoria GER 2:04.74
10 GOERGL Elisabeth AUT 2:04.97
What Do We See
Kathrin Zettel of Austria, the overall WC Giant Slalom champion, did in fact have the fastest first run as we would predict - but her second run was almost 1 1/2 seconds slower than winner Kathrin Hoelzl's second run. Hoelzl finished 13th iin GS overall standing.
Tina Maze skied true to form and look at the rest of the top ten - all finishing within the same second mark!
The USA. was missing some of their best GS skiers in this race and will have a much better showing all next year, including the Olympic races.
