The Olympic Alpine Global Report Card

The Olympic Alpine Global Report CardProfessor Hank McKee has graded all the nations that competed in alpine events at the Torino XX Olympic Winter Games. For the report card of some of the higher-profile nations, including heavy hitters Austria and the United States, check out the latest issue of Ski Racing magazine. Here is the rest of the field, including nations’ ‘curriculum’ and final grades.

Country name Course level
ALBANIA Introduction to Racing 1.01
Erjon Tola finished 35th in the men’s GS, the first Olympic result for the country in alpine racing. This represents an enormous step for the Albanian program. He was more than a minute off the winning time, but he did finish. Grade: B-

ALGERIA Basics of Racing 1.05
Christelle Laura Douibi posted 40th in the DH, meaning she survived the training runs as well. This represents the best racing result for Algeria in a history which goes back to 1992. A step up and the first venture into the discipline of DH. Grade C+

ANDORRA Intermediate Racing 2.01
Andorra’s record in alpine Olympic racing stretches back to 1976. The program is highlighted by the slalom efforts of the Grau sisters, Sandra and Vicky, with slalom finishes in the low 20s between Calgary and Nagano. The team had two skiers place in the men’s DH with Alex Antor posting a 39th. Roger Vidosa took 27th in slalom. Grade C+

ARGENTINA Remedial Racing 3.01
Argentina has entered Olympic alpine teams since 1948. Osvlad Ancinas claimed the best Olympic result with a 16th place in the 1960 slalom at Squaw Valley. Osvaldo was 15 seconds behind race winner Ernst Hinterseer. At Sestriere, Cristian Javier Simari Birkner scored 23rd place in both the combined and GS, where he was just 7.56 seconds out. Grade B-

BOSNIA HERZEGOV Introduction to Racing 1.01
As one might expect of a nation which did not exist before 1991, the history of the country’s Olympic efforts is brief. Marco Schaefferer beat Tahir Bisic’s record mark in GS, but a grade will be withheld until we see proof of a country of origin for Schaefferer, who resides in Austria. Grade: Incomplete

BRAZIL Basics of Racing 1.50
Brazil’s been playing since 1992. Nikolai Hentsch, who admits to having an Austrian parent, set a new standard for Brazil with 30th in the men’s GS and he also placed 43rd in DH. Mirella Arnhold was the final finisher in the women’s GS. We are concerned with a decrease in participants, particularly full-blooded Brazilians, but must applaud the effort. Grade: C-

BULGARIA Remedial Racing 3.01
Riding on the back of Peter Popangelov – who twice rose to sixth in Olympic slaloms (Lake Placid and Sarajevo) – the Bulgarian team was once on track. Stefan Georgiv’s 25th in slalom and Mihail Sediankov’s 31st in combined was a very good effort for a beginning team, but is hardly satisfactory at this class level. We recommend repeating both Basics of Racing and Introduction to Racing. Grade F

CHILE Intermediate Racing 2.01
Chile has an Olympic alpine history dating back to 1948. The Grob boys, Thomas, Rainer and Duncan, contributed heavily to the best of the Chilean performances over the years, and there has been a heavy European flavor to some of the Chilean teams. But the squad had three skiers – Mikael Gayme, Maui Gayme and Jorge Mandru – complete the men’s DH and a top-30 race from Noelle Barahona in women’s combined. This is a solid effort but we’d like to see more from a team in this level class. Grade C+

CHINA Basics of Racing 1.50
The Chinese have brought alpine skiers to the Olympics since Lake Placid, topping its efforts in 1984 at Sarajevo with five slalom results between 18 and 33. Guangxu Li’s 40th in the men’s GS is credible, and Jinzhi Dong’s 38th in women’s GS likewise, but not at the level we had hoped to see based on past performance. Grade C-

CYPRUS Basics of Racing 1.50
We like the integrity of the Cyprus program, which has participated since 1980 at Lake Placid. There are no western European names on this team. The best result ever – 21st – came at Sarajevo from Lina Aristodimou in slalom. The squad was limited in numbers this season, Theodoros Christodoulou produced the best result of these Games, a creditable 34th in GS. Even taking off for the reduced squad size the way this group approaches the Games is worthy of admiration. Grade B-

ESTONIA Basic Racing 1.50
Not since 1936 has Estonia earned a placing in an Olympic race. Tiiu Nurmberg got a slalom placing at Sestriere and another in GS. Welcome back Estonia. Grade C+

GEORGIA Introduction to Racing 1.01
One man teams since 1994 have produced one result better than the 29th Iason Abrahashvili put down here in GS, perhaps the most difficult race of the Games. It should be rewarded. Grade C+

GREECE Introduction to Racing 1.01
The Greeks had nine placings at Calgary in 1988, but have dropped off significantly, and have repeated the introductory class. Magdallni Kalomirou looked to have the basics down in skiing to 39th in women’s GS and Vassilis Dimitriadis edged the nation’s best ever up one position in men’s SL. Grade B-

HUNGARY Introduction to Racing 1.01
The Hungarian team has entered teams since 1992 and had it’s best Olympics in 2002 led by Peter Vincze. Attila Marosi scored 38th in the men’s GS here and Reka Huss 41st in women’s GS. This doesn’t display a great improvement, but it does show a continuation of a program. Grade C-

IRAN Introduction to Racing 1.01
Alidad Saveh Shemshaki completed the men’s slalom, and he didn’t look all that bad doing it. Grade C

IRELAND Introduction to Racing 1.01
The first Olympic Irish racer was Paul Patrick Schwarzacher-Joyce, who played in 1998 and 2002. He still holds the top two results, but Thomas Foley posted the third best in men’s GS at these Games, and Kirsten McGarry the best women’s result ever. Grade B

ICELAND Basics Racing 1.50
Iceland has consistently been attended Olympic alpine events since 1948. The top results have come from Steinunn Semundsdottir (16th SL) in 1976; Eysteinn Thordarson (17th SL 1960); Asta Halldorsdottir (20th SL 1994) and Kristinn Bjornsson (21st SL 2002). Dagny Krisjansdottir demonstrated solid consistency with two 23rd places and a 28th at these Games with Sindri Palsson adding another Olympic finish. These were quality results. Grade C+

INDIA Introduction to Racing 1.01
India has actually had participation in previous Olympics, with a best-ever result of 28th from Shailaj Kumar. Neha Ahuja posted a pair of results in 2006, and that’s pretty good. Grade C-

ISRAEL Introduction to Racing 1.01
A passing grade just for showing up to Mikail Renzhin with a character-strengthening 32nd in men’s GS. Grade D+

KAZHIKSTAN Basics of Racing 1.50
A recent country which has sent very small teams since 1994. Victor Ryabchenko produced a 33rd in men’s GS, which stands as the fourth best of eight Olympic results all-time. This program seems stable, but lacks progression. It is still young, so it gets the benefit of the doubt. Grade C-

KOREA Basics of Racing 1.50
A program that stretches back to 1960, its best performance was in Calgary in 1988 when Youn Kang and Jae Hyuk Park all had top-30 placings in slalom. The best Korean finish still belongs to Seung Hur (23rd SL) at Nagano. For the Torino Games, Hyung Chul Kim recorded 28th in men’s GS and Jae Eun Oh added 33rd in women’s GS. That’s in line with the best the team has ever produced. Grade C+

KYRGYZSTAN Introduction to Racing 1.01
Ivan Borisov fought hard in recording the nation’s first Olympic alpine result. Grade D+

LATVIA Introduction to Racing 1.01
Renars Dorsh posted 46th in DH for the nation’s first Olympic alpine result. Grade D

LEBANON Basics of Racing 1
.50
Farid Rahme posted 19th in slalom, 27th in DH and 34th in GS at Lake Placid and was seventh in the combined, which did not count as an Olympic event. That still leads all Lebanon Olympic alpine results. Chirine Njeim has pursued that challenge. Here she has scored a 34th in DH, 39th in SL and 46th in SG, all strong results. Grade C

MADAGASGAR Introduction to Racing 1.01
Mathieu Razanakolona came to Sestriere in 2006 to make a statement. He fell twice in the men’s GS and still made it into the record books with the first alpine result – 39th – for his country. A commendable effort. Grade C+

MONACO Basics of Racing 1.50
Alexandra Coletti posted the top two results in a history that sneaks back to ’84. A good job. Grade C+

MACEDONIA Introduction to Racing 1.01
Ivana Ivcevska got a couple of finishes (48th SL, 40th GS) and Dejan Panovski added 52nd in GS. These are tooth-and-nail results, and we applaude the effort. Grade C.

NEW ZEALAND Intermediate Racing 2.01
New Zealand has a silver medal from Annelise Coberger in ’92, but that’s the only top 10 in a long history. The team registered two women’s finishes, well back, and a men’s result of 31. Grade D

POLAND Intermediate Racing 2.01
Poland has participated in Olympic alpine competition since the beginning. Andrzej Bachleda (both of them) and the Tlalka twins recorded the best results (Bachleda II 5th in combined in Nagano and Malgorzata Tlalka 6th in slalom at Sarajevo lead the results list). Michal Kalwa recorded a 44th for Poland in Italy this year, good for 16th all-time among Polish DH results, a finish which Barbara Grocholska crushed twice (13th ’52 and 17th ’56). Katarzyna Karasinska added 30th in her slalom, good for 19th in that category and 25th in GS. Grade D-

REPUBLIC of SOUTH AFRICA Basic Racing 1.50
We fear this program will go away when Alexander Heath retires. Something about the sport captured his imagination and he pursued it, but has failed to infect others to follow in his footsteps. His result in GS at Sestriere is right among his best. Grade C

ROMANIA Basic Racing 1.50
This is the second Olympics for Romania with Alexandra Munteanu, a NYSEF and Montana State product, leading the way in SLC. Nicolae Florentin-Daniel more or less picked up the slack. The program shows life. Grade C

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO Introduction to Racing 1.01
Jelena Lolovic raced under the Yugoslavian flag in 2002, and got her own flag for 2006. She finished 43rd in the SG, and again in the slalom, and 30th in GS. Grade B-

TAJIKISTAN Introduction to Racing 1.01
Andrei Drygin, with the help of the Russian Federation, debuted in 2002. He finished his first Olympic race in 2006, in DH no less. Grade C+

TURKEY Basic Racing 2.01
Turkey has been a steadfast participant in Olympic alpine racing. The all-time best result is 27th and this year Duygu Ulusoy contributed a 37th. That’s admirable consistency. Grade C

UKRAINE Basic Racing 2.01
There is an obvious effort being made in the Ukraine, starting with Olga Loginova with top-20 results at Nagano. Nikolay Skriabin and Yulia Siparenko are carrying the load this season, and placed respectively. Grade C+