Ski Racing Roundup: Cranz, Mayer, Grünenfelder, Miller, Kasper, Tomba, Trinkl and Skiddie

Ski Racing Roundup: Cranz, Mayer, Grünenfelder, Miller, Kasper, Tomba, Trinkl and Skiddie{mosimage}This winter, stagingapp23858.cloudwayssites.com will be home to weekly news roundups, leading you to regional and international developments you may have missed. Following our website re-launch on October 21, you can check in each Thursday for Nate Vinton’s roundup of European alpine competition news. If you have suggestions for the roundups, please let us know. We look forward to receiving your comments at webeditor@insideinc.com.

Christl Cranz, Germany’s pre-World Cup legend of alpine ski racing, dies at 90

Christl Cranz the most decorated athlete in alpine skiing history died at her home in Oberstaufen, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 28. She was 90.

From 1934 through 1939 Cranz won 15 World Championship medals, 12 of them gold and three silvers. In addition Cranz won an Olympic gold medal at the 1936 Games in the only event then contested, combined. That win is considered among the most storied in alpine history as Cranz had fallen in the downhill and was 19 seconds behind Laila Shou Nielsen of Norway before the slalom legs.

Friends and family organized a large celebration for Cranz earlier this year for her 90th birthday. Cranz and her husband Adolph Borchers and run a successful ski school until 1987 and remainded in the public eye. -by Hank McKee

Two big men of the alpine World Cup break bones in glacier-training accidents

World Cup alpine skiers have been running gates on glaciers all over the world this month, and at least two of them have badly injured in the process.

Tobias Grünenfelder, one of Switzerland’s top skiers, broke his left elbow while training giant slalom on Tuesday, September 28. Grünenfelder, who finished third in the World Cup super G last winter in Garmisch, Germany, was operated on at a hospital in the town of Chur.

The next day, Christian Mayer, the Austrian veteran, broke his leg while training super G at Sölden. A team press release said that he would probably not require surgery, but that Mayer would need at least four weeks to recover, making the giant slalom skier unable to compete in the World Cup opener on October 24th at Sölden.

Torino and Bormio unveil official event mascots, Neve, Gliz, and Skiddie

Organizers of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy unveiled the official mascots of the games at a special ceremony in Rome on Tuesday, September 28 (exactly 500 days prior to the start of the games).

The great Alberto Tomba was present for the ceremony, and pictures of him frolicking with the two mascots, Neve the red snowball and Gliz the blue ice cube, can be found at the official website of the Torino games.

Neve and Gliz are are as fun to look at as the official mascot of the 2005 alpine World Championships in Bormio, but their names don’t hold a candle to ‘Skiddie’ who is also viewable online.

Bormio passes final inspection before the 2005 alpine world championships

Delegates of the International Ski Federation (FIS) joined the members of the local organizing committee in Bormio for the final inspection of Bormio’s preparation for the next alpine World Championships before the start of the winter season.

Gian Franco Kasper, president of the FIS, judged the situation positively. “Even though until recently I had some doubts because of the delay in some preparation works, I am more tranquil now’ he said. ‘They did a good job in Bormio.”

Gaetano Coppi, president of the Italian Ski Federation (FISI), also gave the organizers positive feedback. “We do, all together, our best regarding the important upcoming events in Bormio 2005 and Torino 2006′ said Coppi, who is also a member of the FIS council. ‘I am very confident that we will achieve best results.”

Bormio2005 has also announced that the women’s races, which will be held down the valley from Bormio in the village of Santa Caterina, have been named the after Italian star Deborah Campagnoni. An analysis of the run by Tino Pietrogiovanna is available at the organizing committee’s website.

U.S.-French relations good at the World Cup skiing level

The U.S. men’s World Cup team has been cooperating with the French during recent on-snow training camps in New Zealand and Chile in recent weeks.

In New Zealand a few weeks ago, the U.S. men’s tech team went head-to-head with the French in some race-simulation giant slalom training. Jimmy Cochran came out of that session with the fastest timed runs (Bode Miller was absent for the camp, but Erik Schlopy was there).

And in Chile this September, the men’s speed team hit the snow with the French speed team. Antoine Deneriaz, who finished seventh in the downhill standings last year with three podiums, was fast, as was Daron Rahlves. But nobody could catch Miller (present at last), who won every run he finished on his new Atomic set-up even beating Rahlves and Deneriaz on speed courses.

Bad news came in the form of an injury for Jake Fiala, who broke his leg while skiing soft snow prior to training. But Scott Macartney and Marco Sullivan, both injured last season, were back on snow, getting the feeling back after season-ending injuries last year.

Retirement celebration in honor of Hannes Trinkl, former downhill world champion

An estimated 1,000 fans and dignitaries turned out last Sunday to join Hannes Trinkl, the Austrian who won the world championship downhill in 2001, as celebrated his career. Trinkl, who retired in July at the age of 36, was one Austria’s last ‘pure’ downhillers. As part of the ‘Danke Hannes’ celebration, a trail was named after him. He and his family will never have to pay for passage on the ‘Hannes Trinkl Weltcup-streck’ in Hinterstoder.

Previous Ski Racing Roundups:

INTERNATIONAL, September 15, 2004

DOMESTIC, September 28, 2004

NORDIC, September 29, 2004