Have been thinking about the weekend, and looking forward to this week.
There is some serious game planning and strategy to MS's skiing as of late. Now the pressure is all off. The SL globe is done, and was never in question. The big goal since mid season has been the overall. That involves piling up points, and frankly no risk of blowing out. So I think the plan this weekend was to podium and finish well, with the assumption that she would likely win the SL. Her second run was pretty "ratty" up top, and got more rhythmic and just faster as she took it down the hill. The hill is steep and has a sidehill fall line on the real steeps. It's a brute. The course sets as SS and others have noted had a lot of back and forth "swing" to it. All of that tends to promote some grinding...and in the heat of the second run more of a groove, or ruts, since it was warm. MS finds the fall line much faster than anyone, and those sets took that advantage away to some degree. Backing it down is exceptionally hard to do for an athlete like her. Much more so that most realize. It's totally different than working with a kid, and coaching them to "just ski cleanly." Not saying my kids were WCers, but when they got to college, the frequent "HAVE to ski cleanly and finish" was a big adjustment when you are used to going hammer down to make the flip in a NorAm.
I agree that she would have beaten Holdener and she was pulling back big time nor the finish, Holdener was losing time. It also seems like people are of the opinion that MS is more fit than the rest of the field this year.I hear more about it than ever. Has something to do with her continued maturity. Heck her 22nd birthday is tomorrow! She can go full bore all the time, and the way the final sections of these courses are typically set, she always piles it on. Holdener appeared to be a bit gassed, and sadly could not hold it together. Could be some nerves, too. I've heard it said before that it's often better to be a tiny bit out of first, during the first run and to be able to go and relax rather than being stuck in the "leader box." I'm sure the leader box is a huge thrill at first. Probably more of an obligation for skiers like MS and MH. I might rather go put my feet up, get inside, get some food, etc.
The women's SL field is a LOT weaker than the GS field. Maybe the weakest women's field in a decade. The top handful are very good, then it tails off very steeply. I'm not sure if Mike Day {MS's coach} changed tactics when he saw Hansdotter and ZuZu go out early first run, for example. Wendy Holdener is really consistent, for sure. No way does he she have MS's speed on a good MS day. That was a great win for MS, but not great skiing...for her. I suspect we might see some HUGE margins at Aspen. It was almost 3+ seconds there last time. She will have the overall locked up, in all likelihood, and she has said in a number of interviews that she really wants to feel like she won the overall, and didn't back into it with Gut's injury. My take on that is that she would have won even with Gut in the mix, and I am a big Lara Gut fan. Gut skis with some abandon at times, and I think she probably would have had four DNF's at the end...which would have made all the difference. I also think that we would be seeing more SG from MS if LG was still in it. MS has proven that she is a very "legit" SG skier. No need to tire her out with it, or risk a crash once LG was out What it adds up to, IMO, is that we are going to see some very special skiing from MS next week. No pressure, other than self imposed to show just how special she can be. And to feel like she WON this overall.
Been fun to watch, for sure. MS has skied so well. I think that Mike and Jeff Lackie have done a tremendous coaching job. Not easy. The guy that Mike Day followed is no slouch, and this is a high pressure gig. Kudos for sure! Mike should be the international coach of the year, IMO. And I had my doubts before the season started. All world job! Fun to see.
A dose of reality for me is that a year ago, she still would have been eligible for JUNIOR worlds. Once in a generation {perhaps longer} talent.
.
