WHISTLER, British Columbia — A role reversal of epic proportions has overturned the alpine world at the Vancouver Olympics, and the Americans are acting like they own the place. In an unprecedented show of strength, half of the medals awarded so far in alpine skiing — six out of the 12 — have been claimed by the U.S. Ski Team.
Traditional powers Austria and Switzerland? One each.
The Canadians, who dreamed of parlaying local knowledge into Olympic glory? Shut out, sick with envy and starting to get annoyed.
The latest blow was delivered in Friday’s super-G when Bode Miller took the silver medal — his second medal of the Games — and young Andrew Weibrecht took the bronze in his second Olympic start. The best previous result for Weibrecht, who turned 24 this month? A memorable 10th place in downhill at Beaver Creek in November 2007.
Remember the heat the ski team took for its slogan four years ago — “Best in the World” — even though it was an aspiration and not a declaration? At the Vancouver Olympics, it has become a statement of fact — if not an understatement.
“It’s hard to put into words,” said Luke Bodensteiner, the U.S. Ski Team’s vice president for athletics. “It’s hard to describe the feeling — it’s hard to even know what I’m feeling right now.”
Consider that the U.S. won five alpine medals at the past three Olympics combined, that the previous record for U.S. alpine medals in one Olympics was five (1984), and that only four of the 10 alpine events here have been held.
How do they explain it? Start with momentum.
“It’s a group of young athletes who feed off that really easily,” Miller said. “As soon as you watch your teammates experience that joy, that excitement, it makes it much more real and much more accessible for the other athletes. It makes them reach for it a little more authentically. They race really aggressively, but with their heart too. That’s the results you’re seeing.”
Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, silver medalist in Monday’s downhill, won Friday with a margin of .28 of a second over Miller. Weibrecht finished .31 behind, just .02 ahead of fourth-place finisher Werner Heel of Italy.
Weibrecht said being in North America is a key advantage for the U.S. athletes — being in familiar surroundings, eating familiar food — even if it hasn’t turned out that way for the home team.
“Where the Europeans have that advantage when we’re in Europe, we have that advantage when we’re here,” Wei-brecht said. “On top of that, it’s the Olympics; it’s really easy to get motivated and excited.”
Then there’s luck — not that the Americans have been lucky, but certainly not unlucky. On a mountain where start orders figured to be important, Americans have been drawing good ones.
Weibrecht, for example, went third Friday.
“He utilized his number,” said Canadian hero Manny Osborne-Paradis, who started 12th and fell. “We all knew people (starting) early were going to have the advantage. He took it and he used it. That’s what you have to do. You get a break and use it to your advantage.”
An early start number is an opportunity, but the racer has to cash it in.
“That was definitely huge,” Weibrecht said of his start number. “I don’t think, with the run that I had that, if I had started 23rd it would have been the same outcome. At the same time, it did put a little extra pressure on me. Knowing that you can do it, it was an opportunity and I didn’t want to miss it. I just gave it everything I had from top to bottom, and it all worked out.”
Miller started No. 8 in the downhill, claiming a bronze medal, and started No. 12 Friday.
“I want to have results where, when I come down, I know I did something excellent,” Miller said. “Whether it’s enough to win or not is, a lot of times, dependent on a million other variables. Whether I think I did something excellent or not is dependent only on whether I did or not.”
He’s been more than excellent here, as has his team. And there are other excellent medal opportunities yet to come — Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso in today’s super-G, Miller and Ted Ligety in super-combined, Ligety and Mancuso in giant slalom.
“It’s just awesome,” ski team chief executive Bill Marolt said. “What can you say?”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
