January 26, 2006 The road to Torino just became a lot straighter for the 49 newly-named members of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Ski and Snowboard teams. The announcement of the Olympic Ski Team roster yesterday in Las Vegas comes at a time of particularly high buzz for the U.S. Ski team, much of it surrounding the team's iconoclastic wonder boy, Bode Miller, who appears on the cover of Outside’s February issue as part of the U.S. Ski Team feature story, “American Flyers” now on stands.
Controversies aside however, Miller will be bringing a host of impressive credentials (including the title of reigning World Cup champion) to a team that is shaping up to be one of the strongest in recent U.S. Olympic history.
"This is an incredibly talented group of athletes," U.S. Alpine director Jesse Hunt said in a press release. "We've never had such a wealth of experience at this level."
Joining Miller will be the formidable Daron Rahlves, (winner of three World Cup races so far this season), seasoned veterans Erik Schlopy and Chip Knight, and promising young bloods Ted Ligety and Jimmy Cochran.
The women's Alpine team looks equally solid. Lindsey Kildow, who managed the highest finish among U.S. women at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, will be joined by her longtime rival and four-event star Julia Mancuso as well as experienced ace racers Kirsten Clark, Caroline Lalive, and Kristina Koznick. Rounding out the team will be slalom specialist Sarah Schleper and talented rookie Resi Stiegler.
The Olympic Freestyle ski team boasts a similarly fierce combination of talent and experience. Defending World Cup champions Jeret "Speedy" Peterson and Jeremy Bloom will be looking to dominate the air in the Aerials and Moguls competitions, respectively. Reigning 2005 moguls world champion Hannah Kearney and 2002 moguls silver medalist Shannon Bahrke are two more important contributors to what Program Director Polly-Jo Clark described in a press statement as "our strongest Olympic Freestyle Team, across the board."
The U.S. Ski Team announcement comes on the heels of Sunday's official statement from the U.S. Snowboarding Team on the finalization of their Olympic squad. Of the 16 new members, three have competed in previous Olympics, including 2002 half pipe gold medalist Kelly Clark, silver medalist Danny Kass, and 1998 Nagano veteran Rosey Fletcher. Young half pipe superstar Shaun White will finally get his shot at the gold after missing out on a medal by a mere fraction of a point in 2002, and Lindsey Jacobellis will represent as the sole American woman on Olympic snowboarding's newest event, Snowboardcross.
Though the history of U.S. Olympic Snowboarding is not as long or storied as some sports, what it lacks in years it makes up for in excellence: "We have a huge legacy to live up to from our success in 2002," said US Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster in a press release. "But I think everyone will see next month that this team is certainly as strong, maybe even stronger."
