LILLEHAMMER / ’94 WINTER OLYMPICS : ANALYSIS : U.S. Skiers Left Their Critics Stuck in Starting Gate

The mistake some critics made in snowplowing the U.S. Alpine skiing program before the Olympics--more salt for that Norwegian crow?--was letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

They pored over stat sheets and computer rankings and came to the logical conclusion that U.S. medal chances in Norway were bleak.

When Hilary Lindh won the last downhill before the Olympics, at Sierra Nevada, Spain, it brought to six the total of World Cup victories by current U.S. skiers. Julie Parisien had half of those, and she was starting the Olympics mired in a slump.

AJ Kitt had claimed the only men’s victory, but he, too, was struggling. And you had to go back to 1985 for Diann Roffe-Steinrotter’s last World Cup victory.

There had also been upheaval at U.S. ski team headquarters. Dennis Agee resigned as Alpine director last spring because of budget cutbacks.

Howard Peterson, U.S. Skiing’s oft-criticized CEO, was stepping aside to make way for Mike Jacki. The Alpine development program was in need of an overhaul.

It was with this ammunition that Sports Illustrated blasted the Alpine team in its Olympic preview with the word, woeful.

Those were the reasons Ski Racing, the international ski journal, called the team “pathetic” and “an embarrassment.”

Overlooked, however, were the big-event history of the United States and some cornball intangibles, such as Olympic spirit and momentum.

After winning four Olympic medals in the first week of Alpine events--two gold and two silver--U.S. coaches have reason to gloat.

“I think the reality is, we always believed in ourselves,” said Paul Major, the U.S. Alpine director. “We believed in the program. The only person you have to answer to is yourself.

“I think this on-the-bandwagon, off-the-bandwagon stuff is a pretty sad thing. The really sad thing is that the people who really should know, Sports Illustrated and Ski Racing, should understand the sport a little better. They showed their true colors, and didn’t have a clue.”

To suggest the United States had no medal chances was certainly off the mark. Although the U.S. team lacked depth, it had half a dozen or so skiers within striking distance.

True, Tommy Moe had never before won an international race, but he had finished third in two World Cup races this season and ranked in the top 10 in downhill and super-G.

True, Picabo Street had never stood atop a World Cup podium, but she had won the combined silver at last year’s World Championships.

True, Roffe-Steinrotter had not won an international race in nine years, yet she was the defending Olympic silver medalist in giant slalom.

Ski team critics ignored the team’s history as one-hit wonders.

The Alpine team earned three medals at last year’s World championships--two silvers and a bronze, and two silvers at the 1992 Albertville Olympics. Other U.S. success-story theories:

HOW DO YOU FACTOR MOMENTUM?

Bill Johnson’s dramatic downhill victory at the 1984 Sarajevo Games fueled a five-medal fire, the best performance by the United States in Olympic Alpine.

Ten years later, Tommy Moe lit an emotional fuse here with his dramatic downhill victory in the first Alpine event.

“When Tommy won the gold, I was so fired up,” Picabo Street said. “I couldn’t sit still. If he could do it, I could do it.”

Two days later, Roffe-Steinrotter scored her stunning victory in women’s super-G. The next day, Moe scored again with his super-G silver.

Then, last Saturday, the antsy Street struck silver in the women’s downhill.

Europeans watched with envy. Some suspected a conspiracy.

At Kvitfjell, site of the speed races, U.S. skiers lodged in a house near the top of the course. One veteran World Cup observer wondered why U.S. skiers seemed to be making up time on the stretch of snow in front of their cabin, now called Medal House.

This would be known as the second-skier man theory.

“Everybody’s just shaking their heads,” Major said. “They think we’re on fire. Once you get that kind of momentum, everyone else is more or less scared of you. But they also know there’s no miracles, they’ll figure that out.”

AMERICANS HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE

This is a popular theory, usually espoused by Europeans, who face so much scrutiny in their countries, they tend to tense up, allowing Americans to shine.

“They know the others will be under pressure, so this helps them to lift up their level,” Patrick Lang, longtime World Cup chronicler, said of the U.S. medal rush.

Lang suggested that European skiers put so much emphasis on the World Cup circuit they don’t enter the Olympics with the same spark.

“Most of the Europeans are more conservative,” Lang said. “I wouldn’t say boring, but (skiing) is more routine. It’s an everyday job. For America, the Olympics are a big thing. It’s a mental attitude.”

Monique Pelletier, a U.S. slalom specialist, agreed.

“The Olympics is the ultimate for Americans,” she said. “As a skier, if I won a World Cup, I’d be equally happy, but back home, the gold medal goes a long way. That’s what people notice.”

VEN PLAYING FIELD

About 75% of the World Cup tour is raced in Europe. While many Europeans get to return home each week, Americans spend months at a time overseas, living out of duffel bags. Thus, the Americans are much more comfortable in the Olympic village.

“We’re a pretty tough group of people,” said Pelletier, from Hood River, Ore. “We spend weeks on the road, traveling. It makes us more adaptable.”

Still, the Euros figure to make up ground in this week’s slalom events. Although Kyle Rasmussen and Moe finished 2-3 in last week’s combined downhill, they probably will go the way of Street, who finished second in the women’s combined downhill, but ended up 10th overall.

A men’s medal in slalom and giant slalom would take a miracle, but the women’s gate team appears to have a puncher’s chance, with Heidi Voelker and Eva Twardokens in GS. Parisien has the talent to score in Sunday’s slalom, but her emotional state is fragile.

Even if the U.S. does not win another medal, what has already been accomplished will not be diminished.

The long-range problems of the U.S. Skiing don’t disappear because of four medals, yet it was difficult to argue with Moe when he said last week that the U.S. team did not deserved to be ridiculed.

The apology was already on the way.

A week after SI’s critique of the ski team, which described Moe as “no soaring success story,” Moe graced the magazine’s cover and was proclaimed “Golden Boy.”

Peterson, who two weeks ago had one foot in the cooker and the other out the door, walks away vindicated.

“Maybe I’ll frame last week’s (cover) and this week’s together,” Peterson said. “I know who my friends are. The people who were my friends two weeks ago are my friends. I certainly know who my enemies are.”