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Show TheSalt Lake Tribune Sunday, December 3, 2000 C13 WINTER SPORTS 2000-20001 HollywoodStars InvadeDeer Valley BY CARRIE SHEINBERG SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE. . PARK CITY — Opening day at Deer Valley Ski Resort never looked so good, zs, LEX HEMPHILL. Speedskating Not Deadin Milwaukee as Hollywood stars and ski racing legends teamed to compete in the Merrill LynchCelebrity Ski Classic. The event, which benefited the U.S. Ski Team, kicked off with a pro-am competition Saturday, giving some very fortunate mortals the chance to ski side by side with the rich and famous.‘The event was ‘ollowed by a live auction. Today’s event, which begins at noon,will be the actual celebrity challenge. Actor Billy Baldwin was excited about the chance to enjoy Deer Valley’s sunshine and help support Olympicathletes. “Tm here for the ski team,” said Baldwin. Although there were plenty of smiles and laughter, many participants were feeling the pressure of this made-fortelevision event. “If you bite it here, you bite it in front ofa thousand people,” Baldwin said. Even someofthe pros were shaking in eir & “It’s fun to come outhere andski with moviestars,” said Olympic gold medalist Tommy Moe. “I get kind of nervous though whenI get in the course because everyoneis expecting me to perform.” ‘VanLoan, Erichsen Wait He was promptly beaten in the next round by Deer Valley’s skiing ambassador and former Olympian, Heidi Voelker. Egos were bruised and stars were humbled, but many viewed Saturday’s Their Turns event as a mere warmupforthe true celebrity challenge. Carl Van Loan,tworising figures on the “T’ve been skiing with Steve Mahre all day,” said actor Kevin Nealon, best known for his role on “Saturday Night Live.” “I've learned more about skiing today than I havein thelast 10 years.” & Byall rights, skiers Kris detent ay U.S. Nordic combined team, deserve to be racing and jumping in Europe on the World Cup. They qualified for their sport’s major leaguebyfinishing strong last season: Erichsen achieved a No. 45 world ranking and Van captured a top-10 finish at the junior world championships. But coaches felt it was in their best interestto competeonthis side ofthe Atlantic for the beginning of the season before going to Europe to take on the best in the world on the A circuit. As result, Van Loan,20, of New Hampshire, and Erichsen, 22, of SteamboatSprings, Colo., will be two ofthe strongest contenders at next week’s World Cup-B Nordic combined tournamentirr Utah for four days of ski jumping and créss country racing starting Friday. “Tt’s not the easiest thing for eat but they understandits the best thing for them,”said Kerry Lynch, who coaches the “emerging elite” squadof the U.S. Nordic combined team. World Cup-B,a circuit of 18 events in 10 locations around North America and Europe,is a kind of audition for the World Cup, whichis limited to the world’s top 45 combined skiers. The season is broken into three periods. At the conclusion of each,eight to 10 B-circuit skiers are Asit turnsout, reports of Milwaukee's death as the nation’s speedskating capital were premature. In early: November,after the last day of qualifying for the U.S. World Cup speedskating team, a Milwaukee headline proclaimed, “Speedskating erasoftly glides away.” The suggestion was that Milwaukee — specifically, the Péttit National Ice Center — waspassingits mantle to Salt Lake City,at least through the 2002 Olympics, if not beyond. “They say speedskatingis dead at the Pettit Center,” said thefacility's executive director, Spiro Giotis, last week. “Nothing is further from the truth.” Hedida’t think it was true a month ago, and Jtcertainly isn’t true now, moved up to the World Cup, whose worst not after last week’s developments at performers are moved down, U.S. Nordic combined program director Jeff Graves said. A win in the B-circuit earns 30 points, the equivalentof a 16th-place finish on the World Cup. The World Ciip, meanwhile, kicked off \ Saturday in Kuopio, Finland, where U.S. team leader Todd Lodwickfinished 14th, the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns. The oval floor is being torn up and replaced, and suddenly the Utah site is in dangerof losing the World Single Distanc@ Championships, which were scheduled for the oval March 9-11,to Milwaukee. U.S. Speedskating President Fred Benjamin said any decision to move the everitwill not be madebefore Dec. 13 —aftef‘hext weekend's short-track World Clip event in China and a board meeting onthe 12th. But U.S. Speedskating wantsto ensure thatthe Marchevent stays in the United States ultiinately,it’s up to the International Skating Union —andtothat ~ end,it will: decide before the end of the month whetherornot to moveit to the only other possible U.S. site, which is the 8-yeaf-old Pettit Center. 1 minute, 11.6 seconds behind winner Ryan Gailbraith/TheSalt Lake Tribune ShannonLeotta, whotrains in Park City, could retum to training as early as February after a breaking a leg in November. Down on Her Luck? believed more time competing near home wouldsolidify his A-circuitstatus. “It's a great moveright now,” Graves said. “We haveall six competitions this period in North America. This is where he’s going to be most comfortable skiing.” ThePettit already has taken two January events — the U.S. Sprint/ Junior Sprint Championships and the / North America/Oceania Regional Qualifierfrom thé Utah Olympic Oval, after'a Nov, 22 decision that the Kearnssite would notbe ready for them. Now,as a resultof last week’s news,it could also land the World Single Distance Championships.So,it could be a hot winteratthePettit after. all, If the Marcheventis moved to Mil- waukee, one advantage is that the Pet- Aussie freestyle skier recovered from car accidentonly to break legin training FrankBare. Though in pain and groggy, she man- BY JIM WOOLF THESALT LAKETRIBUNE Bad luck seems ‘to stalk Australian freestyle skier ShannonLeotta. Just 11 months ago, the 28-year-old jumper wasstruck by a vehicle while riding her bicycle near Park City, where she lives and trains for the 2002 Olym- tit has experience at conducting such things.It has hosted three World Cups and two World Championships,in- pics, The accidentleft her with a broken back and damaged neckligaments. Leotta mostly had recovered from cluding the World Allround Champi- those injuries and was beginning to jump againat a world-class level, placing ninth onshipslast February,and the organizing committee from the latter event is still intact. Giotis is sorry for Salt Lake City’s oval problems — “Nobody wantsit to leave Salt ‘Lake City, even me, who would benefit from it” — but evenif everything had gone swimmingly here this winter, he didn’t foresee hisfacility losingits speedskating status after this Olyitifiic cycle. The bottom line: “U.S, Speedskating needs both facilities in order to succeed in the future.” at the first World Cup freestyle event of the 2000-2001 season — herhighestfinish ever. But badluck returned on Nov.26 while Leotta was attempting a triple somersault at the Utah OlympicPark. This time she snapped the femur or thigh bone — in herrightleg. “This is by far the worst skiing accident I’ve had, and I’ve been jumping for years,” says Leotta, who is recovering at the Salt Lake City home of her coach, agesa little humor. “When I washit by trucklast year, everyonejoked that it was almost a bad as taking a hard fall,” recalls Leotta. Now she thinksthe pain is aboutthe same. “The prognosisis great,” says Bare. The doctors who did surgery after the accidentsaid her bones were the densest they had worked on and the break was clean andeasily stabilized with pins and a metal rod. If all goes well, Leotta could be back on the snow training again as early as February. But does she wantto? “At this stage, yes,” she says. “But I've still got a lot of issues to deal with.” prepared for the jamp,so she started her approacha little loweron the hill. But the wind died just as she pushed off. As a result, she did not achieve the 37 mph speed needed to carry her through the compli- cated maneuver. While spinning about 50 feet off the ground, she heard Bare shout “Pull! Pull!” which means she needed to tuck tighter and spin faster to complete the movements in time. She finished the trick, saw the ground coming andbarely managed to get her feet underneath her. But she came down hard and was leaning too far forward. The doctors estimated it took 6,000 Theaccident occurred as she was at- poundsofpressureto snap the femur. “It hurt like you can’t believe,” she says. tempting an unusual variation of a triple This was the secondinjury to an aeyi- somersault with two half-twists. It was the 11th time she had tried this jump, one so difficult that no other woman and only a handful of menare doingit. “I_remember-the-whole-thing,unfortunately,” she says. The wind was at her back as she alist at the Utah Olympic Park in November. Britt Swartley, a memberofthe U.S. men's team, tore the anterior cruciate ligament inhis right knee while training on Nov.19. He will beoutfor the rest of the season. Nash Staying Home The cross country World Cupcircuit, whi¢h beganlast weekendin Norway, continues next weekendat Santa Caterina,Italy, and the Americanswill join the competition there. Well, one-will, anyway. Nina Kemppelof Anchorage will be the lone American competing in Europe thismonth. The other two mem- bers of the U.S. national team, Marcus Nashand Justin Wadsworth,are staying in North America in December and focusing on the World Cup event at Soldier Hollow Jan. 11-14.It will be the first World Cupheld in the United Statesir a decade. Nash, aformerUniversity of Utah skier, was originally scheduled to compete im Europe this month, But, afiter skiing ina Nor Am/Continental Sup event in Silver Star, British Cojumbia, over Thanksgiving weekend, chose fg. stay home andtrain for the Soldier Hollow event. “Myplan really has been to focus pn the Utah World Cup and the World Shampidfiships after (Feb. 16-25 in ati, Fintand],” said Nash.“My oach ang decided if! didn't feel 100 percent into December,I'd stay here and prepare for January. | didn’t pel good.about how I was skiing [at ilver Star).” Nash, who may go to Quebec this ponth for another Nor Amevent, ants to bé.at his peak for the event at idier Hollow, After all, the poorly pported U.S. cross country skiers ven't had a “home game”in years, nd they'd like to take advantage of rareopportunity. “The last thing I wantto do is get d and run down in Europe and not = inmy own back yard,” said World Cup)Win Gives Austrian a Lift Others skiers to watch next week are Jed Hinkley, 20, and 23-year-old Colorad oan Matt Dayton,who was an intermitLata force on the B-circuitlast year. Also competing will be members of the U.S. developmentteam, which includes Park City’s Trey Oxford, 17, and East Coast transplant Alex Howe,19. Friday features a sprint event in which competitors take a single jumpoff the K90 hill at the Utah Olympic Park,then skia 7.5-kilometercross country race at Soldier Hollow.A traditional combined event starts Saturday with two rounds ofK90 jumping,followed bya 15-kilometer race on Sunday. Tuesday'saction features an experimental reversal ofevents: racing, then jumping. After the race, each competitor gets one unjudged jumpoff the K120 hill, starting with the man whohadtheslowest racing time. Pack, Bergoust Go 1-2 ParkCity’s Joe Pack and Eric Bergoust took the top twospots ina freestyle aerials World Cup at Blackcomb, British Columbia.It was the third win of Pack's career. Pack received 246.04 points to 235.40 for Bergoust, who wonthefirst two aerials World Cupsin Augustin Australia. Steve Omischl ofCanada finished third. In the women's event, Alla Tsuper of the Ukraine won with 174.91 points to 167.10 for Canadian Deidra Dionne. Emily Cook had the top U.S.finish in fourth. Germans Win Luge BY DAN EGAN THE SALT LAI Felix GottwaldofAustria. Bill Demong finished 19th and Johnny Spillane finished well back. Spillane was tapped for the World Cup in Erichsen’s place after Erichsen injured his shoulderlast month in a crash while practice jumping in Steamboat, where the team is based. In Van Loan’scase, coaches In women’ssingles at the Oberhof, Ger- many, World Cup, world champion Sylke Otto beat Olympic champion Silke Kraushaar, who wonthe season'sfirst race, Ashley oneof the oes States was eighth, with count Brenna Margo!10th. Steffen Skelani and Steffen Woeller won the men’s doubles in 1:23.991. The top Americans were Mark Grimette and Brian Martin, who were ‘eighth. TRIBUNE LAKE LOUISE, Alberta Less than 24 hours after a fellow racer accused Austria's Renate Goetschlof usingillegal gear, the 25-year-old delivered a dominating performance ina World Cup super Grace. And race judges certified all her gear as legal moments after she crossed the finish line with herfirst-place time of 1 minute,11.28 seconds. Friday's downhill winner, Isolde Kostner, accused Goetschlof putting illegal risers in her boots during Thursday's downhill race. Boot height is regulated because increased lift can give racers better leverage,but it also increases their risk of catching an edge and crashing. Kostner, who took second in Thursday's race, said Goetschltook a pad outof the boot tk ore giving it to inspectors. Goetschlfinished third in thatrace. Goetschl denied she did anything improper,and then further answered critics by winning Saturday's race under in- creased scrutiny fromthe judges. Shesaid the accusationsdid notaffect her concentrationin the starting house. “I put it out of my mind, becauseI didn't do anything wrong,” Goetsch! said after the race. “I didn’t . . . hide any: thing. I wore , . what they told us we had to wear.” France's Regine Cavagnoudfinished second Saturday, with Germariy's Mar- tina Ertl third. ‘The American team turned ina d.cent performance, landing twoskiers in the Fletcher Earns Fourth Rosey Fletcher of Girdwood, Alaska, finished fourth in a parallel gian t slalom World Cupat Ischgl, Austria.Italy’s Lidia Trettel was the top woman and France's Nicolas Huet was the men’s overall winner, Chris Klug of Aspen, Colo., was the top U.S, men’s finisherin 12th. ‘Nathan Bilow/‘The Associated Press U.S. skier Daron Rahives sails to a 16th-place finish at the men's World Cup downhill race Saturday at Beaver Creek, Colo. Austria's Hermann Maier won. top 20. Jonna Mendes continued her speedy start with a 15th-place finish. Mendes finished sixth in Friday's downhill race and10th in Thursday's downhill. She had a 13th-place super G finish at Beaver Creek, Col in November. Kirsten Gerety finished 32nd. Coaches said Gerety had been fighting'flu symptoms since she took sixth in ‘Thursday’'s down: hill @ just felt weak,” said U.S, wom en's Coach Marjan Cernigoj. Alison Powers finished 34th and Caroline Lalive finished 45th, The women’s team had an impressive 8 seven top 10 finishes during the three days of racesinside Banff National Park. “This is the fastest start since the Picabo [Street] and Hilary Lindh [days] in '97," said Cernigo). ° “It was a good week.” In the men’s World Cup, Hermann Maier continued his dominance at Bea: ver Creek, Colo., winning a World Cup downhill in 1:40.66 for his seventh victory in nine races on the 3-year-old Birds of Prey course. Chad Fleischer, wholives in nearby Vail, was,the top American, finishing 13th at 1:42.14, Daron Rahlves of Truckee, Calif., was 16th at 1:42.26, and Christopher Puckett of Boulder tied for 25th at 1:42:88. Finn Wins Ski Jump Matti Hautamaki, a 19-year-old Finn, was declared the winnerof a ski jump World Cupin Kuopio, Finlandafter the i round was canceled because of rain. Norwegians Take Biathion Norwaytook the lead on the second leg and easily wonthefirst women’s biathlon World Cup relay at Anterselva,Italy. The team of Ann Elen Skjelbreid, Gre Marit Istad, Gunn Margit Andreassen and Liv Grete Skjelbreid-Poiree finished the 30 kilometers in 1 hour, 33 minutes, 14.4 seconds. Staffwriter Briin Maffly and Tribune news services contributed to this report |
