Word: stenmark
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Phil's triumph over his friend Stenmark, gold medal winner in the giant slalom at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics, had been a long time coming. He was second to Stenmark in World Cup points in 1978, and third for each of the past two seasons. No one on the ski tour doubted that this likable, easygoing American had the ability or the courage to win. He had gritted out last year's third-place finish, and a silver medal in slalom at Lake Placid, on an ankle shattered the year before and still mending...
There was another equally important factor. When a change in Cup rules two seasons ago favored skiers who race all three Alpine events, Phil, a slalom and giant-slalom specialist, set about training intensively for the frightening and dangerous downhill. Stenmark is so accomplished at slalom and giant slalom that he not only wins effortlessly, but also controls the manner of his winning-typically skiing a safe, relatively slow run, and then a second run just fast enough to beat the field on combined time. Stenmark refused to enter downhill races last season. He was narrowly beaten in the World...
Whether the attempt by World Cup officials to revise three-event racing makes sense is a matter for angry argument. Jean-Claude Killy, who won three gold medals at the 1968 Olympics, was the last man who could dominate all three events. There is general acknowledgment that Stenmark, by specializing, has carried slalom and giant-slalom skills further than Killy ever did. New three-event men, presumably, will not be able to reach Stenmark's brilliant but relatively narrow perfection. (Why not add a fourth event, exasperated slalomists grumble-like ski jumping, after all. Or a fifth...
...must compete in one or both of the others to continue to score. Thus Phil Mahre, whose best downhill showing of the season was a ninth place on Kitzbühel's difficult Hahnenkamm course, nonetheless has an advantage over skiers who do not take the risk. Stenmark decided this season that he needed those extra points to win the Cup, but in downhill practice last fall he tumbled, hit his head and suffered a concussion. Says he: "Downhill is a kamikaze business." Despite misgivings, he too entered the Kitzbühel's downhill and came in well...
Races are still ultimately decided on the snow, however, and last week both Stenmark and Phil Mahre faulted momentarily under the pressure. At Borovets, Bulgaria, a second place in the G.S. would have won the Cup for Phil, but he wobbled in fifth behind Stenmark and the lanky, sandy-haired Zhirov, who won. A day later, a slalom win would have given Stenmark another five points to cushion his lead, but once more Zhirov won, and while a second place would again have wrapped it up for Phil, the wrong Mahre took second. Phil came in third behind his brother...