BEAVER CREEK — For a downhill racer, fear can be part of the attraction or a major obstacle to success. For Marco Sullivan it has been both, but he’s thriving on it now.
Having wrestled with the fear that comes from enduring a bad crash and a long rehabilitation, the U.S. Ski Team veteran from Squaw Valley, Calif., is enjoying the high anxiety and adrenaline rush that comes with World Cup downhill racing. The attitude adjustment paid off Saturday in Lake Louise, Alberta, when Sullivan finished second in a downhill for his first World Cup podium.
Sullivan blew out his right knee performing a hot dog move in a downhill training run here in 2003, knocking him out of action for the better part of two seasons. It took him two more seasons back on the circuit to feel comfortable with racing aggressively.
“The first year I was pretty slow,” Sullivan said after a downhill training run Tuesday on the Birds of Prey that sent reigning World Cup champion Aksel Lund Svindal to the hospital with severe lacerations after a crash. “Last year I got better, had a bunch of top 15s. I feel like this year I have no inhibitions. I feel like I’m a contender to win. I’ve never really had that mind-set before.”
Sullivan’s mind-set was tested at Lake Louise, where his willingness to take risks was rewarded.
“It was a pretty gnarly day,” Sullivan said. “It was blustery, snowstorm, really flat light, and the course was really icy. I’d been on that course a ton, I knew the course really well, and I just had to go by braille because you couldn’t see much. I was able to not hold back at all, just charged from the start to the finish.”
Always challenging, the Birds of Prey course this year is even scarier than usual because relatively thin snow cover has created more terrain features. Water was poured on some sections, creating ice that got everybody’s attention Tuesday.
Sullivan felt a twinge of fear — and it felt good.
“It took me a year or two where I did have to fool myself before every race and convince myself, ‘OK, this is going to be fine,’ ” Sullivan said. “In inspection this morning, I never was so excited to get on a hill. When you embrace it like that, you’re able to push the limits even further — and have fun.”
Sullivan finished 10th here last year and a few weeks later in Val Gardena, Italy, finished fourth. Teammate Steve Nyman, who finished third here last year for his first career podium, was thrilled to see Sullivan break through last week.
“You can feel his intensity,” Nyman said. “He got fourth last year, and I think it was probably good he got fourth instead of third because it made him hungry. All summer long he wanted it. He knows he can win, I know he can win.”
Beaver Creek World Cup schedule
THURSDAY
10 a.m. — Birds Nest seating at Red Tail Camp opens
11 a.m. — Men’s World Cup super- combined downhill, Birds of Prey
2:30 p.m. — Men’s World Cup super- combined slalom, Birds of Prey
FRIDAY
10 a.m. — Birds Nest seating at Red Tail Camp opens
11 a.m. — Men’s World Cup downhill, Birds of Prey
SATURDAY
10 a.m. — Birds Nest seating at Red Tail Camp opens
11 a.m. — Men’s World Cup super-G, run 1, Birds of Prey
2 p.m. — Men’s World Cup super-G, run 2, Birds of Prey
SUNDAY
9:45 a.m. — Men’s World Cup giant slalom, run 1, Birds of Prey
12:45 p.m. — Men’s World Cup giant slalom, run 2, Birds of Prey
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
