SKIING : Olympian Racers Come to Mammoth Mountain

Last spring, World Cup officials went in search of a mountain for two women’s races.

The resort at Vail, Colo., the original site, had to drop the races when it accepted an invitation to stage the World Cup finals.

Looking to help, folks at Mammoth Mountain raised their hands, not knowing at the time just how good a deal they were getting.

Today through Friday, the Eastern Sierra resort will conduct its first World Cup races, the first in California in eight years.

And not only are these the first women’s World Cup races to be held after the Olympic Games, there is now considerable home-country interest, considering the successes of U.S. skiers at Lillehammer, Norway.

Among the Olympic medalists who will complete in three races--wo super-Gs and a slalom--are American super-G gold medalist Diann Roffe-Steinrotter and Picabo Street, the downhill silver medalist.

Another super-G was added on Friday to make up for an earlier cancellation in Europe.

Today’s super-G will be one of the last for Roffe-Steinrotter, the 26-year-old from Potsdam, N.Y., who plans to retire at the end of the season.

“It’s going to be hard,” she said of her retirement. “But I’m ready to move on.”

Roffe-Steinrotter pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the Olympics when she won the super-G on the Kvitfjell course.

Until then, she had not won an international race in eight years and was ranked only 36th in the event.

Street will also be competing in her first post-Olympic races, although super-G is not her strength. She did not race the event at Lillehammer, but U.S. ski team coaches believe she can develop into a top-level performer in the discipline.

“I’m looking forward to skiing something other than downhill,” Street said Tuesday.

Mostly, Street is glad to be home.

“It feels awesome to ski back in the States, eating our own food, speaking our own language, being around all the people who know who we are,” she said.

Germany’s Katja Seizinger, the Olympic downhill champion, will be looking to avenge her disappointment in the super-G, in which she crashed.

Seizinger is the world’s top-ranked skier in both events.

All 15 Olympic medalists are expected to compete in the Mammoth races, including Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider, who won three medals at Lillehammer, including the gold in slalom.

Schneider has won five Olympic medals, more than any other woman skier.