San Sicario was a bit of a turning point.  Not only did I feel healthy for the first time in weeks, but I resolved to find a way to be more competitive on the flats.  Perhaps my results didn’t entirely reflect it, but the week I spent in San Sicario was positive and productive.  I figured some stuff out with gliding and I built confidence going into World Championships.

One way I decided I would conquer the flats of San Sicario and score my first World Cup Downhill points in almost two years, was to tuck the entire course.  While my kamikaze tucking caused me to completely blow out of the course about half way down, I didn’t give up or ski out.  I poled to get back into the course and charged the rest of the way to the finish.  I was surprised to see that, despite my huge mistake, I did in fact score points.  I was 30th, which isn’t great by any means, but is definitely a step forward for me in Downhill.

I carried the same tuck-crazy mentality over to the Super G races, but still struggled on the flats.  The first day I didn’t even make it into the top 30, and the second day I was 23rd.  They were disappointing finishes, but I truly skied well, and I was really happy with the way I performed.

After San Sicario I flew north to Are, Sweden for World Championships.  In Europe World Champs are almost as big of a deal as the Olympics.  They take place every two years, and only four athletes from each country are selected to compete in each event.  There are tons of people here, and it’s been really fun and exciting so far.  Unfortunately the weather for the first several days was warm and rainy, so the Super G races were postponed for three days following the Opening Ceremonies.

When we finally got to race on the 6th, the conditions were near perfect and I was raring to go.  I skied what was probably my best Super G run of the year, in fact, one coach told me it was my most brilliant performance that he’s ever seen.  I skied well, pushed the line, tucked a lot, and nailed the jumps.  It really was a good, aggressive run.  I came down in first place and hung onto the lead for quite awhile.  Once the top girls came down I started to get bumped back, but I finished in a respectable 9th place.

I’ll admit that I was gunning for a medal—or at least top-6 so that I could get recognized at the awards ceremony—but a top-10 at World Championships is still great.  I continue to get complimented by teammates, coaches, and other competitors on how well I skied which is has been really flattering.  I am very pleased with my race and it was cool to share my result with my parents, who are here to watch.

I will be racing the GS on Tuesday and I am shooting to get my hands on some of that hardware I missed out on in Super G!