Lenzerheide notebook: Kirsten Clark to retire

By Published On: March 17th, 2007Comments Off on Lenzerheide notebook: Kirsten Clark to retire

With World Cup Finals comes the R word. Retirement is likely to claim a number of tour veterans.
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland — With World Cup Finals comes the R word. Retirement is likely to claim a number of tour veterans.
    Austrian Fritz Strobl has already declared his inactive status. Canadian Thomas Grandi, too, likely won’t be back. The American team will lose one of its classy women’s veterans, as Kirsten Clark is expected to make her retirement official in a press event in Portland, Maine, on Monday.
    “She’s an awesome teammate, she’s always positive,” Julia Mancuso said in the finish area of the women’s GS Saturday. “I think this year was just a little more difficult because our team was smaller and she definitely felt like she was older than all of us. She was always a good teammate to have around … always positive. She helped by just being a positive person, always in good spirits no matter what was happening. It was good to have her around. She’ll be missed.”
    Clark, who turns 30 in April, is the only American to win four straight U.S. downhill championships. She won a Lenzerheide World Cup downhill in 2001 and nabbed super G silver at the 2003 World Championships.
    A three-time Olympian and 13-year U.S. Ski Team veteran, Clark, who hails from Raymond, Maine, will host a press conference Monday at the headquarters of longtime sponsor TD Banknorth in Portland.
    Clark grew up in Raymond and began skiing at age 3, chasing her older brother down Maine’s Sugarloaf/USA. She enrolled at Carrabassett Valley Academy, near Sugarloaf, and was a Junior Olympics downhill champion and bronze medalist in super G in 1994. In 1997, she won her first U.S. championships title (giant slalom) and from there she charged on to the international scene and has collected eight World Cup top threes.
    THAI BOUND: Resi Stiegler, Julia Mancuso and Great Britain’s Chemmy Alcott will trek to Thailand in the spring for some much-needed downtime.
    “I’m going to Thailand. We’re gonna run away,” Stiegler said. “I’m hoping end of April. Chemmy Alcott has been wanting to go to Thailand for a really long time, and so has Julia, and I really want to go to Vietnam, so we decided that we’re just going to go for it.”
    GEAR CHANGE: U.S. men’s head coach Phil McNichol said it’s an “interesting” time for him personally. His employment contract runs through May 1, he said from the finish corral Saturday, and he said both sides — him and USSA — will evaluate many factors before making a decision on next season and beyond.
    McNichol chimed in on the FIS equipment regulations that will go into effect next season: “I think it’s a minor change really,” he said. “The companies will all figure out how to make the best stuff, the athletes will adapt and make it the best in the world, and everyone watching will hardly notice.”
    SUNDAY FORECAST: Resi Stiegler offered this take on Marlies Schild’s second-run slalom woes Saturday.
    “Having Hosp win the first run was a little bit tough for her I bet, because [Schild] wins first runs a lot and she’s not second very often,” Stiegler said. “I’m pretty sure a teammate can get into her head more than anyone else. I think it’s pretty cool that Hosp hung in there and put two good runs together. It’s unfortunate that Marlies didn’t win slalom number eight on the year, but it’s good to have other girls in there. It shows that we’re all very competitive and all good skiers.”
    Mancuso, officially eliminated from the overall championship race Saturday, said, “It was exciting, that’s for sure. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. I think Nikki’s gonna take the overall.”
    CROWDED HOUSE: Saturday’s attendance for the women’s slalom and men’s GS was estimated at 9,000. While more cloudy and hazy than the first three days, the weather was nifty, and the crowd was the biggest of the week. Snowy weather is expected to move in, but should not threaten Sunday’s races.
    OVERALL UPDATE: After Saturday, Austria leads the Nations Cup standings with 14,238 points, with Switzerland second with 5,785, the United States third (5,255) and Italy fourth (4,994). Austria leads the U.S. team and Sweden in the women’s point tally, and on the men’s side, it’s Austria first followed by Switzerland, Italy, Canada and the United States.

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About the Author: Pete Rugh