The Winter Olympics needed a name to excite fans, Alpine ski needed a new all-rounder and this weekend Switzerland's Carlo Janka showed himself to be just the man for both jobs. With Hermann Maier now retired and Bode Miller no longer the draw he once was, the sport lacked a versatile young winner to challenge Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, the defending overall World Cup champion. Three outstanding wins in three days on the Birds of Prey course ensure Janka is the early favourite for a medal haul in Vancouver and the talk of the ski world.

Consecutive victories in super combined, downhill and giant slalom left veteran observers purring and rivals shaking their heads at the ease with which the 23-year-old cruised to victory.

"He is a great skier, I don't think you can put your finger on one thing, he is not like a warrior like Hermann Maier," said Svindal after twice finishing on the podium behind Janka in the Vail Valley.

"When you watch him ski, he's very efficient, he does exactly what he needs to do to be fast, he doesn't make many mistakes which for a young guy skiing fast is pretty rare," he said.

Janka has been highly talked of on the circuit for sometime but this season - and the past weekend in particular - the potential has been transformed into stunning results - five podiums from six starts.

"I just wish I could go back ten years and have his God given talent," said Switzerland team-mate Didier Cuche.

Janka has been nicknamed the ‘Iceman' in his homeland due, in large part to the calm way he has handled his rapid rise to the pinnacle of the sport and he certainly took his remarkable wins in his stride.

It is easier to handle success in Alpine Skiing, as opposed to more high profile sports, but it was still a surprise to see Janka sat on a public bus after his win in Friday's super combined, undisturbed and unnoticed by course workers making their way back to their lodgings.

The skier from Obersaxen, a village of 800 inhabitants situated in the South East of Switzerland, entered the World Cup tour in December 2005 at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia at only 19 years of age.

Two years later, he scored his first top-10 finish at Val d'Isere in the super-combined and later, at the same venue, he won his first World Cup race there in December 2008, dominating the technically demanding giant slalom on the steep ‘La Face' course. The breakthrough came when, he captured a super combined event at Wengen en route to his first crystal globe in that discipline which brings together the skills of downhill and slalom.

A month later, at the World Championships in Val d'Isère 2009 he took bronze in a rough downhill and won the giant slalom title. Janka had arrived but few expected the astonishing start to the season especially after he was laid low by a mystery virus and missed a large chunk of off-season training. "Thank goodness he didn't train properly," quipped a smiling Svindal at the press conference.

Janka is at a loss to explain why his form has suddenly come together in such spectacular fashion. "I don't know, I don't care," he said.

Svindal, who has had to deal with a knee injury in the early season, should be back to his best well in time for Vancouver but he is convinced that having a high-profile rival is good for him and good for the sport. "I think it is important that we have all-rounders because you need to have certain (big) names in a lot of the races and near the top. It is good to have even competition but it is not good to have a lot of new winners in every race. At the moment there is Carlo making a name for himself. That is good for skiing because there are a lot of sports fighting for attention and you need people with a profile," he said.

By Simon Evans for Thomson Reuters
Tuesday 8 December 2009
FISalpine.com

Carlo Janka aiming for another record at Val d'Isere

After landing by helicopter in the Val d'Isère resort where he made his big breakthrough a year ago winning a giant slalom, Alpine skiing's new sensation Carlo Janka could realise how much his life has changed in just over a year as he faced dozens of journalists during a press conference organized by the Swiss Ski team at the beautiful Hotel Barmes de l'Ours situated above the Press-Center.

"I do notice a lot of things around me are different," the 23-year-old Swiss, who will be aiming for more victories in the coming events planned on the treacherous ‘La Face' slope at Val d'Isère. "Yet so far I can handle the changes well, I'm enjoying my life a lot right now," he explained at that conference.

"First of all I took great pleasure in this short trip from my home to here, it was much better than the usual 8-hour-trip it usually takes by car," added the giant slalom World Champion who is aiming for more podium finishes in a Super-combined, a Super-G and a giant slalom here over the next three days.

"It was great, we flew over the course on our approach to the resort," he said. "It's nice for me to be back here."

Janka, a virtual unknown when he won his first World Cup race in this French Alps village just a year ago, was granted the helicopter treatment as he left Colorado a day later than his teammates following his hat-trick success last weekend.

Because he took too long at the doping control after winning a Super-combined, a downhill and a giant slalom in three days on the ‘Birds of Prey' course, the Swiss sensation missed his plane on Sunday night and flew out only on Monday.

That means he skipped Wednesday's free practice here and had little time to recuperate, which is why the Swiss team decided he could come by helicopter. "I was very tired after my hat-trick at Beaver Creek, it's difficult to rest there as it's situated at an altitude of 3000 meters, so it was really nice flying home on Monday in business class. I felt much better than usual when he landed at Zurich this time."

The awe-inspiring Bellevarde ‘la Face' is definitely special for Janka, who also won giant slalom gold and downhill bronze on it at the 2009 FIS World Championships in February. "The piste here suits me fine because it's technically demanding and you have to be very precise as well as aggressive," he said. "I like that."

A gifted all-rounder, the quiet but determined Janka had been regarded as a potential great for some time but his status has now changed dramatically with five podium finishes from six starts - and more to come.

For many he is already the skier to beat in the Overall World Cup standings. "It's fun to be in that position but it is way too early to make any prognostics, let's see how the season will go for me. I don't make any plan right now, I'm leaving on a day-per-day basis and I'm only focusing on my next race."

With the Vancouver Olympics just around the corner, he is clearly feeling the pressure. "The expectations are different, clearly higher, but I can live with it, I just need to adapt," he also said.
"Beating the best guys is nice but what I'm interested in is doing it again."

Carlo, who will turn 24 on Sunday, will fly back to Switzerland by helicopter as he has been invited to attend a sports show on national Swiss TV on Sunday evening, has not decided yet which races he will enter next week in Italy where a Super-G, a downhill, a giant slalom and a slalom are scheduled in Val Gardena and Alta Badia.

"I'll see how I feel on Sunday and also next week, it will be a last-minute decision that will also be discussed with my trainers," he also explained. "I may be pretty tired after the coming three races, it's a tough course here and I might be pretty tired again."

Another win in Friday's Super-combined would allow him to equal the performance achieved in recent years by Austria's Hermann Maier in 1998 who captured two Super-.Gs, a giant slalom and a downhill in a row at Schladming,Saalbach and Wengen - as well as his only World Cup combined afterwards with a strong 10th place at Veysonnaz.

Many other skiers including Alberto Tomba, Jean-Claude Killy and Ingemar Stenmark also excelled in several consecutive competitions - yet none of them was able to win more than six consecutive races.

PkL
FISalpine.com
Friday 11 December 2009