Stiegler reflects on Sölden, looks forward to Levi

By Published On: October 31st, 2007Comments Off on Stiegler reflects on Sölden, looks forward to Levi

U.S. Ski Teamer Resi Stiegler did a little dance at the bottom of her second GS run last weekend in Sölden, Austria, and she had a reason to be shaking. The 21-year-old skied to her second-best GS finish Saturday — the first was her 10th place in Sierra Nevada, Spain, last season. It was the 24th top-15 result for Stiegler’s World Cup career — just her second in GS — and it shows that she is primed for skiing and acting like a seasoned veteran.
U.S. SKI TEAMER
Resi Stiegler did a little dance at the bottom of her second GS run last weekend in Sölden, Austria, and she had a reason to be shaking.
    The 21-year-old skied to her second-best GS finish Saturday — the first was her 10th place in Sierra Nevada, Spain, last season. It was the 24th top-15 result for Stiegler’s World Cup career — just her second in GS — and it shows that she is primed for skiing and acting like a seasoned veteran.
    “I’m always super-stoked to start the season off on a hard hill and I’m always super-confident,” Stiegler said in a phone interview from Sölden.
    She attributes her confidence to years of “buildup” and preparation. In the past, she had been plagued by irritating injuries, and Sölden last year was plagued by a lack of snow and canceled. But Stiegler used those experiences to focus and concentrate on “prepping.”    
    “I really focused on the little things, and was still working on my drills,” she said, “and even the day before [the GS] we got to freeski on the hill and I just pretended it was a race. … It was just so easy compared to other years, I think it was just the buildup from past years.”
    Though many racers regard the Sölden course on the Rettenbach Glacier as a scarier course than others, Stiegler felt secure.
    “I wasn’t sitting in the gate and going, ‘Oh my god,’ and thought going over the pitch I would slide halfway down the course,” she said.
    Stiegler likes to check herself here and there by asking the question, “Where was I a year ago?” Last season, she was scattered, had a broken hand and was a “total wreck.”
    “This year, you don’t have injuries, you’re confident,” she said. “It just comes together a little bit better.”
    Another highlight of the weekend besides her second-best GS finish ever was how her team — both men and women — came together to help each other. The night before the race, Stiegler, Caitlin Ciccone and Katie Hitchcock were having dinner with Ted Ligety, who was telling them about little techniques he uses to go faster on the flats
    “That just helps,” Stiegler said, “because it builds confidence. The U.S. team is such a team, we’re such a family.”
    Then Ligety goes out and nabs second place. Julia Mancuso gets a second, too, and Lindsey Vonn has one of her best GS finishes ever, placing 13th.
    “I’m pretty stoked on my teammates,” Stiegler said.
    Her other highlight of the weekend: receiving nine bottles of homemade Schnapps from her No. 1 fan in Europe, Cecile Giuge. “She has such a great spirit,” Guige told Ski Racing. “Resi is just a lovely person with a great heart.”
    Stiegler may have a big heart, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t ferocious on the racecourse. After all, they don’t call her “Le Tigre” for nothing. She is hoping to get a top five in her specialty race — the slalom — slated for Nov. 10 in Levi, Finland, but there is no snow there, according to Stiegler. The tech team has been focusing on slalom training since the GS, but Stiegler is antsy to get moving after spending three weeks in Sölden. Right now, however, all she and her teammates can do is wait it out.
    “You’re trying to focus on what you’re doing that day,” she said about the waiting process, “but … are we going to race? Are we going to train? You just have to chill out and focus on slalom training.”

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About the Author: Pete Rugh