Germans Conquer the Hill

Three young American women watched the German “Brat Pack” make history in Tuesday’s combined event and wondered why that couldn’t be them in 2002.

One day after becoming the first Alpine skier--man or women--to defend an Olympic downhill title, Germany’s Katja Seizinger won her second gold in Hakuba by winning the combined with a total time of 2 minutes 40.74.

And wasn’t it great to share it with friends?

Tuesday’s podium was elbow-to-elbow with Germans, with Martina Ertl claiming the silver with a time of 2:40.92 and Hilde Gerg winning the bronze in 2:41.50.

It was the first-ever German sweep of an Olympic alpine event. By winning her third gold medal, Seizinger also matched Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider as the only woman to have won three Olympic gold medals in Alpine.

“I’m just as happy as I was yesterday,” Seizinger said, “because I am not that strong in slalom. This is a super day for Germany.”

It wasn’t a bad day for America, either, as three potential stars of the future finished in the top 14, led by 18-year-old Caroline Lalive, who finished seventh. Alexandra Shaffer, 22, was ninth while Jonna Mendes,18, ended up 14th.

Lalive was a whopping 4.02 seconds slower than Seizinger’s winning time, but she thinks there is time to make up the difference.

“How awesome would it be in 2002 to have three Americans up there,” Lalive said. “I don’t think it’s out of our means. I think it’s possible.”

Beyond Picabo Street and Kristina Koznick, the U.S. women’s team is basically a Kiddie Corps, a raw but talented group that was dispatched to Nagano to gain experience for the 2002 Games at Salt Lake City.

The U.S. girls came to learn the slopes and take notes from the Germans.

“I don’t think of them as a target,” Shaffer said. “I think they’re more an inspiration. Those three girls are always at the top. It’s not just that they’re German, it’s that they stick together and work together.”

It was no surprise the German women, all three great all-around skiers, swept the combined, an event in which the times of a separate downhill and a two-run slalom are added together on separate days.

Not long after winning the woman’s downhill Sunday, Seizinger clocked the fastest time in the downhill combined, taking a .34 lead over Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg into Tuesday’s slalom runs.

Wiberg is a much better slalom skier than Seizinger--having won 13 World Cup slaloms to Seizinger’s none--but the Swede skied out the morning run and was disqualified.

Seizinger held a .55 lead over Ertl entering the second run and ended up holding off her friend by .18.

If not for Austria’s Hermann Maier, the Nagano Games would be a Seizinger coronation.

She had the bad luck of winning the women’s downhill on the same day Maier claimed the super-G three days after his death-defying crash in the downhill.

Even Seizinger conceded Maier was the better story.

“I simply don’t know what to say,” she said of the Austrian. “You really need to be a skier to appreciate what he did. After crashing, to have this kind of victory, is sensational and out of this world.”

Seizinger isn’t far behind Maier on the astral plane.

The 25-year-old daughter of a millionaire industrialist can make Olympic Alpine history by winning gold in Friday’s giant slalom in Shiga Kogen. She and Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni will be the favorites.

Seizinger is more than making up for the 1994 Lillehammer Games, when she won only one gold medal, in downhill, before skiing out in super-G, giant slalom and combined.

Seizinger already ranks third all-time with 36 World Cup victories, trailing Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell (62) and Schneider’s 55.

Meanwhile, the Americans lurk in Germany’s long shadow.

Lalive, from Steamboat Springs, Colo., showed maturity beyond her years with her seventh-place finish. Her career highlight before Nagano?

Lalive finished 10th in giant slalom at the World Junior Championships.

Lalive grew up dreaming of all this. She idolized Switzerland’s Pirmin Zurbriggen, the downhill winner at the 1988 Calgary Games.

“I used to go in my room and pretend I was being interviewed,” she said.

Tuesday, it was no longer pretend.

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Medalists

Alpine Skiing

Women’s Combined

Gold: Katja Seizer, Germany

Silver: Martina Ertl: Germany

Bronze: Hilde Greg, Germany