US Team Preview: January 29, 1999
Hometown World Cup skier Sacha Gros is hoping to make some powder turns today. Returning to Colorado last night after nearly two months racing in Europe, it might be his last chance for awhile. The 25-year-old U.S. slalom champion is among 17 athletes named Monday to the U.S. worlds team set to race in the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships in Vail Jan. 30-Feb. 14.

"He's just getting back from racing in Europe and he said he'd to ski powder (today)," said Sacha's father, Joel Gros. "He expected to be named to the team, but he's very happy that now it's official."

"I'm looking for a podium appearance. If you're not looking for it, don't even bother showing up at Vail for the world championships...Everyone in town is fired up. I'm feeding off that energy and that vibe." —Chad Fleisher

Gros and fellow Vail skier Chad Fleischer headline a young team hungry to prove themselves on the home turf. Gros and most of the U.S. team were en route to Denver following the last weekend of World Cup races before the Vail worlds. Fleischer returned to Vail late Sunday night after pulling out of the Kitzbuehel, Austria, downhill Saturday.

For the 27-year-old former U.S. downhill champion, returning to Vail to compete in the worlds is more than a homecoming; it's an obsession.

"I'm looking for a podium appearance. If you're not looking for it, don't even bother showing up at Vail for the world championships," Fleischer said. "It's huge to be back in Vail. It's cool to be back here, to hang with my friends and family for a few days. I'm looking forward to the opening ceremonies. It's going to be awesome," Fleischer said. "Everyone in town is fired up. I'm feeding off that energy and that vibe."

Fleischer visited doctors Monday at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic after muscle spasms forced him out of the notorious Hannenkamm downhill events over the weekend. Fleischer crashed in a training run Jan. 19, and aggravated the injury during the sprint event Friday.

"Kitzbuehel is the kind of race you need to go out of the start gate thinking you're going to win, instead of just trying to finish the race. It's not that type of course," Fleischer said. "It was my decision not to race Saturday."

Fleischer said he will continue therapy through the week and be back on skis by Friday, in time for a few days of training before the men's super-G on Feb. 2.

Not a lot is expected from this U.S. team, gutted of its top stars. Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street is on the mend with a broken leg, and the retirement of veterans AJ Kitt, Kyle Rasmussen, Matt Grosjean and Tommy Moe. Two-time World Cup race-winner Kristina Koznick is the team's legitimate shot at a podium, but observers expect traditional European powerhouses Austria and France to dominate.

Don't tell that Gros and the rest of the U.S. team, which seems to have the uncanny ability to step up in the world's big-time ski racing events. In 1984, Bill Johnson skied out of obscurity to win the 1984 Olympic downhill gold medal in Yugoslavia. Moe pulled off the same trick in 1994, peaking just in time for Olympic gold in Norway.

"I think there's going to be a few surprises on the American team. We're big-event skiers, that's been our history," Gros said earlier this month after a race in Austria. "The World Cup is big in Europe, but for the U.S. skiers, the worlds and the Olympics are more important."

U.S. Ski and Snowboard vice president of athletics Alan Ashley said the group, selected on World Cup results, will include nine men and eight women. "These athletes have shown this season they can contend on the World Cup circuit and we're looking for them to be challenging for medals," he said. "We have a solid, veteran group of racers and we have three new skiers at this highest level, which is good as we continue building toward the 2002 Olympics."

Four racers per event from each team are allowed, and each team can enter a maximum of 24 athletes with no more than 14 of one gender. That makes it tough for such ski nations as Austria, but easy for Jamaica or South Africa. So far, Vail Valley Foundation officials report 55 teams with more than 400 athletes have registered.

The US Roster:
Men: Wisi Betschart (S. Lake Tahoe, CA); Chad Fleischer (Vail, CO; 1998 Olympics; '96, '97 World Championships); Jakub Fiala (Breckenridge, CO); Sacha Gros (Vail, CO; 1997 World Championships); Bode Miller (Franconia,, N.H.; 1998 Olympics); Casey Puckett (Crested Butte, CO; '1992, '94, '98 Olympics; '93 Worlds Championships); Daron Rahlves (Truckee, Calif.; 1998 Olympics, '96, '97 World Championships); Dane Spencer (Boise, ID; 1997 World Championships) and Thomas Vonn (Newburgh, NY).

Women: Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME; 1998 Olympics, '97 World Championships); Megan Gerety (Anchorage, AK; 1992, '94 Olympics; '93, '96, '97 World Championships); Kristina Koznick (Burnsville, MN; 1998 Olympics, '96, '97 World Championships); Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO; 1998 Olympics); Jonna Mendes (S. Lake Tahoe, CA; 1998 Olympics); Katie Monahan (Aspen, CO; 1998 Olympics, '97 World Championships); Alex Shaffer (Park City, UT; 1998 Olympics); and Tasha Nelson (Mound, MN; 1998 Olympics, '97 World Championships).

— Andrew Hood, Mountain Zone Correspondent
Andrew Hood is a freelance writer living in Denver. For three years he's covered European cycling in the summers and snowsports in the winter.