It’s Time for Slumping Kitt to Take Foot Off the Brake

So, who wants to tell the downhill racer that he needs to go faster?

You think AJ Kitt doesn’t know?

Kitt spits speed. Once, he described--in what he considered layman’s terms--the sensation of going 60 m.p.h. down the side of a mountain.

“Say you’re in a car with four other people, going 120 m.p.h.,” Kitt said, as if people routinely did this sort of thing. “Everyone shuts up, everyone grabs a handle, everybody starts thinking about their safety and everybody starts concentrating on what’s ahead, including the driver. In that way, you’re almost in your own little world.”

Kitt began the season as perhaps America’s best hope for an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing. He was in his own little world.

He kicked down the downhill door last year and established himself as an international star, despite winding up with little to show for it.

Kitt led the first World Cup downhill at Val d’Isere, France, before it was canceled because of weather. He led the Aspen downhill before it was canceled, unjustly by judges, because of a small hole in the course.

Kitt did get to keep the bronze medal he won at the World Championships, a race he could have won except for one minor technical glitch.

Despite some setbacks, Kitt, 25, seemed poised to pounce on this Olympic season.

His climb through the U.S. ski team ranks had been methodical and calculated. His career course was steady, not spectacular, until he cracked the World Cup scene with two top-10 finishes in 1990. Then, in 1992 at Val d’Isere, Kitt became the first American to win a World Cup downhill since Bill Johnson in 1984. That year Kitt also finished second at the famed Hahnenkamm at Kitzbuehel, Austria, and ninth in the Olympic downhill at Albertville.

But the weeks leading to the Lillehammer Games have been strangely quiet for Kitt, who has watched teammate Tommy Moe surpass him as America’s speed king.

Moe advances toward Lillehammer with the necessary momentum, confident of his medal chances on the slopes at Kvitfjell, Norway.

While Moe has been king of the hill, Kitt has been mostly been middle of the pack.

Moe ranks sixth in the World Cup downhill standings. Kitt is 22nd.

Last weekend, Moe shined at Kitzbuehel, finishing eighth in the downhill and fourth in the combined. Kitt was 33rd in downhill.

Kitt is not skiing horribly--he has 11th- and 13th-place finishes--but ho-hum performances were not what he had in mind when he began what he believed would be a dominating season.

To set the tone, Kitt even shaved his head before the first race. But he has been anything but razor sharp.

U.S. ski team officials insist there is nothing physically wrong with Kitt.

Quite the contrary.

“AJ’s in great shape,” Paul Major, the U.S. Alpine director, said recently. “He’s in fantastic shape. He’s skiing technically well in races, but there’s been some inconsistency there with AJ.”

Major maintains that Kitt’s problems might stem from his overzealous workout regimen last summer, when he hired a personal trainer and doubled his summer off-season skiing days from 25 to 50.

Major warned Kitt that such a drastic departure from the norm might affect his early-season results.

“If you dramatically increase your sports-specific training, you expect to have a downfall in your results,” Major said. “I told him, ‘Expect to not have a good December, but then the results will pick up after that.’ ”

But Kitt has yet to show improvement.

He finished 31st at Bormio, Italy, on Dec. 29, 13th at Saalbach, Austria, on Jan. 6 and 33rd at Kitzbuehel.

The race to Lillehammer heats up considerably in the next few weeks, with three downhills scheduled before the men’s Olympic downhill Feb. 13.

Moe and Kitt--who take their rivalry seriously--take their shots this weekend in another big race at Wengen, Switzerland.

Moe, younger at 23, is king for now, but he doesn’t underestimate his rival.

“AJ definitely has been in the spotlight for the U.S. for the last couple of years, and I think he was a good mentor for me because I had somebody to chase,” he said recently.

But even Moe doesn’t know what’s wrong with Kitt.

“It’s hard to say,” Moe said. “He can click at any time, too, and pop into the top three. He’s definitely got to get his act together a little bit more right now. I’m just kind of on a roll, and I have a lot of confidence going right now. I think AJ is definitely skiing well, but now I think I’m the top guy.”

Ski Notes

The U.S. men’s giant slalom team, which had not scored a World Cup point all season, finally cracked the top 30 when Jeremy Nobis placed 28th in a recent race. Only the top 30 finishers are awarded World Cup points. . . . After much outrage and confusion, the International Ski Federation (FIS) at last canceled a women’s super-giant slalom raced two Saturdays ago at Altenmarkt, Austria. Twenty-six of the first 32 skiers crashed in the finish area. The race was halted, but results were later made official by the FIS despite its own rule that disallows any race in which half of the competitors do not start. Less than half the field raced at Altenmarkt, and it took the FIS only a week to figure it out.

Tommy Moe’s fourth-place finish in the combined at Kitzbuehel was the highest for an American since 1984, when Phil Mahre took third. . . . Hilary Lindh, defending 1992 Olympic silver medalist, is charging after a slow start and ranks eighth overall in World Cup downhill, with Picabo Street 13th. Heidi Voelker ranks seventh in giant slalom, with Eva Twardokens ninth.

Southern California ski areas that are open report no earthquake damage to roads leading into the mountains. And, though there is no natural snow to speak of, skiing is said to be surprisingly good because of cool nighttime temperatures and sophisticated snow-making capabilities. . . . Mountain High East and West are open and offer night skiing daily. The Big Bear resorts are also in full operation. Snow Summit is operating 10 lifts and night skiing. Bear Mountain has 32 groomed trails available and Snow Valley has 23 trails and seven lifts open.

Mt. Baldy has closed and will not reopen until the next significant snowfall. Forecasters are projecting that a series of storms will pass through Southern California, beginning this weekend. Spokesman John Koulouris said Mt. Baldy could reopen soon after the first storm.