Vail, Beaver Creek mountains would split events under proposal; decision due 2008 Edward Stoner Vail CO Colorado May 1, 2007 VAIL — Saying the time is right, the Vail Valley Foundation has submitted a bid to bring alpine skiing’s 2013 world championships to Eagle County. “It seems like the right time again to get back in the game, and we’re excited about it,” said John Dakin, vice president of communications for the foundation. Vail and Beaver Creek also hosted the event in 1989 and 1999. The foundation sent a letter to the International Ski Federation this week telling them about Vail and Beaver Creek’s bid for the games, Dakin said. The local bid received the blessing of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, Dakin said. Eagle County will compete for the 2013 championships with Schladming, Austria; Cortina, Italy; and St. Moritz, Switzerland, which is Vail’s sister city. “When it comes to world championships, the sisters are not speaking to one another,” Dakin joked. The selection of the host will be made next spring at the International Ski Federation Congress in South Africa. Local officials will lobby federation delegates for the next year, Dakin said. Dick Pownall, a Vail resident and a longtime volunteer organizer for local world cup events, said he’s supportive of the bids for the 2013 event. “It’s a huge deal,” he said. “It’s a World Cup event times about four. It gets a lot more local people involved. The whole thing is exciting and the spirit catches on. It also obviously gives us worldwide publicity.” The towns of Vail and Avon, the county and Vail Resorts all support the bid, Dakin said. “It’s not something the Vail Valley Foundation does in a vacuum and says, ‘Guess what? We’ve committed you to being a part of this,’” Dakin said. World-class sporting events such as the ski championships are a natural fit for our county, said Avon Mayor Ron Wolfe. “It just enhances our reputation and makes us more attractive to people who are in snowsports,” he said. The championships would attract about 800 athletes and 1,800 members of the media for the two-week event. The foundation want the events to be split between Vail and Beaver Creek mountains, Dakin said. Beaver Creek hosts the men’s World Cup Birds of Prey event each December.

No American woman has won Alpine skiing’s World Cup in Julia Mancuso’s lifetime. The soon-to-be 23-year-old has a shot to do it. She had a full set of podium finishes — second in supercombined, first in downhill and third in super-G — to move into a tie for first with Austria’s Renate Goetschl. Before this season, she had never won a World Cup race, though she did have that gold medal in the Torino giant slalom. The title contender and prolific blogger is USATODAY.com’s U.S. Olympic Athlete of the Week. Also in Alpine skiing this week, Ted Ligety tied for fourth in a giant slalom.

By ANDREW DAMPF The Associated Press Monday, March 5, 2007; 6:50 AM TARVISIO, Italy — It’s time to start adding up the numbers on the women’s World Cup ski circuit. The leaders _ three Austrians and an American _ are within 29 points of one another in the overall standings entering the final two stops. Renate Goetschl and Julia Mancuso are tied for the lead with 1,199 points each, Nicole Hosp is third with 1,183, and Marlies Schild is fourth with 1,170. Hosp, Mancuso and Goetschl won weekend races when the circuit stopped in Tarvisio for the first time. Hosp took a super-combi on Friday, Mancuso won a downhill on Saturday, and Goetschl won her record 17th super-G on Sunday. Schild, a slalom specialist, was the odd woman out. Taking into account her bronze medal in downhill at last month’s world championships, Hosp is the only skier who has posted podium results in all four disciplines this season. She still sees herself as a technical specialist though, and is comforted by the fact that four of the final six races are in slalom and giant slalom. “Obviously it’s an advantage having more tech races,” Hosp said. “But the tech races are risky, there’s always the chance of skiing out. At the end, luck will count for a lot.” The two races in Zwiesel, Germany, next weekend are both technical. Then the season concludes with four individual events at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, next week.

Julia Mancuso, of the United States, takes a jump on her way to winning an Alpine Ski World Cup Women’s Downhill, in Tarvisio, Italy, Saturday, March 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Claudio Scaccini) (Claudio Scaccini – AP)

“It’s been a little bit weird because there have been more slaloms than other events this year,” Mancuso said. “In a way it’s unfair but it doesn’t really matter, because you never really know what will happen. I have to ski better slalom anyway, I definitely have to pick it up and get some top 10s in slalom.” Mancuso’s best finish in slalom this season was eighth in Zagreb, Croatia, in January. The American was headed for two days of technical training in Pozza di Fassa, Italy, before traveling to Zwiesel. “It will be my first time this season to get two full days of training,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working on my slalom.” Mancuso and Goetschl could be at a disadvantage if the speed events at the finals are eliminated due to a lack of snow in Lenzerheide. All of Goetschl’s seven wins this season have been in downhill and super-G, and three of Mancuso’s four victories have come in speed events. The other was in super-combi. “That would definitely not be to our benefit, but it is what it is,” U.S. speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser said of the cancellation possibility. “Maybe they’ll just shorten the course and get something done. I’m pretty sure FIS (the International Ski Federation) will be as fair as they can.” Mancuso was also thinking positive. “I think they are going to have them. And if they don’t, they’ll move them to St. Moritz,” she said. “You got to think on the bright side.” Hosp was pleasantly surprised by her super-combi win on Friday and second place to behind Goetschl in Sunday’s super-G. “If someone had told me I would have got nearly 200 points this weekend, I would have signed on for it,” she said. The only discipline title still up for grabs is giant slalom, and Hosp holds a 36-point lead on Tanja Poutiainen with two races remaining. Goetschl has clinched the downhill and super-G titles, and Schild has locked up the slalom and super-combi competitions. Schild has won six of the seven slaloms this season and has two more races in her specialty. Goetschl is considering skipping the technical races in Zwiesel. She likes Mancuso’s chances. “Julia’s in good shape,” Goetschl said. “She can win and win and win. She’s very strong and will also do a lot in the future.”