U.S. Ski Team Continues to Rise

Revitalized Team Is Impressing Even the Imposing Austrians

SESTRIERE, Italy, Feb. 10 -- The scoreboard at the base of the downhill course lit up with a familiar glare Friday. Not that it meant much, not before these Winter Olympics get under way. But there were the three letters that have, historically, mattered most in world-class Alpine racing: AUT, the Olympic abbreviation for Austria. Klaus Kroell, one of a multitude of Austrians who could win medals here over the next two weeks, was the fastest man in the week's second downhill training run.

But as the Austrians worked their way through a slew of media, answering questions about the course and their hopes, they acknowledged the presence of a challenger that, only a decade ago, was largely an afterthought. Should the Americans, of all people, be considered a threat to be the best team, both male and female, at these Games?

"Of course," said Benjamin Raich, winner of three World Cup titles in 2005 and the current leader for the overall championship. "You have to look at them."

The U.S. Alpine team arrived in this mountainside village with a stated goal of winning eight medals. Considering there are 30 awarded, it would seem to be a modest enough benchmark. But the most U.S. Alpine skiers have ever taken in a single Olympics is five, and that was 22 years ago in Sarajevo. Consider, too, that the U.S. haul from the last three Olympics combined is all of six medals. All told, in the 19 previous Winter Olympics, the U.S. has 29 alpine medals. Austria has 87.

But the expectations and attitudes now, beginning with Sunday's men's downhill in which Daron Rahlves could be the favorite and Bode Miller could be a contender, are different.

"We are getting closer," Patrick Riml, the head coach of the U.S. women's alpine team and an Austrian himself, said in an interview before he arrived in Italy. "They know who we are. They know we have depth. They know our team is more experienced than it has been in the past. I think we have closed the gap."

It was a significant one to close. After Sarajevo, an Olympics highlighted by Bill Johnson's thrilling win in the downhill, the U.S. failed to medal in 1988 in Calgary, managed only two in 1992 in Albertville, France, and then needed surprising performances from Tommy Moe and Picabo Street to restore some luster to the team in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, a time when it was struggling to compete on the World Cup circuit.

But two years after the Lillehammer Games, with the sport's governing body in something of a shambles, former Olympian Bill Marolt took over as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's president and CEO. Marolt is credited not only with helping the body secure more stable financing, but with being in tune with what world-class athletes need to develop. Training methods began to be more tailored to each athlete's needs, rather than the blanket approach that had been used in previous years. The attitude, particularly on the women's side, began to improve, replacing backbiting with backslapping.

"That's one of the main things I wanted to change," Riml said. "You can't have that and have a successful team."

At 28, Kirsten Clark is the den mother of the women's team, and this will be her third Olympics. She has been on the national team for a dozen years and has seen the shift in attitude.

"With the team now, we all have a respect for each other as athletes and as people as well," Clark said this week. "I mean, definitely when we're on the hill, when you're in the starting gate, it's you and the course, and we're all out there to win. What happens on the hill stays on the hill. We try to go back to the hotel and we all get along and have a good time."

The men's team, too, seems to have a similar bond -- save for the sometimes divisive and distracting Miller. Several of the younger skiers say that Rahlves, who is 32 and will retire after these Games, is always available for advice. Take Ted Ligety, perhaps the surprise of this year's team. At just 21, he is 15th in the overall World Cup standings and comes here with a legitimate shot at a medal in the slalom. Rather than resenting him, he said his teammates have respected him.