ALPINE:

U.S. foursome stoked for Munich parallel slalom

Jan. 1, 2011 — U.S. Ski Team 

MUNICH, Germany — More than 10,000 people are expected to be on hand Sunday night as American Olympic medallists Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso go head-to-head with the top racers on the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup tour during a unique parallel slalom at Munich Olympic Park.

The top 15 men and women in the overall World Cup starting list points earned the invitation to battle for World Cup points and over $100,000 in prize money. Universal Sports will stream the event live on www.UniversalSports.com at 10:35 a.m. ET and air it live on its 24-hour TV network beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

No Canadians are entered in the event.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it and am really excited about the event," said Vonn, a three-time World Cup overall champion. "With it being right in the city, there's going to be a huge crowd of people that maybe wouldn't have a chance to see the excitement of ski racing live — it's going to be great for our sport."

"I’m pretty excited about a duel," added Mancuso. "I don’t know what it’s going to be like, but I think it will be a good show and exciting and fun to watch."

Perched at the southern edge of 1972 Olympic Summer Games venue, a hill was constructed in 1945 using remaining debris from the Second World War bombings. That hill, measuring 200 meters long, has become the 20-gate race venue with the finish spilling into the upper section of the drained Olympic Lake.

"Over 10,000 tickets, along with more than 1,500 VIP tickets, have already been sold for the premiere City Event in Munich. The slope is in excellent condition following the pre-Christmas thaw and has been injected during this week's cold period," said Guenter Hujara, FIS chief race director for the men's alpine World Cup.

The first parallel slaloms at Olympic Park were held in 1986 and 1987, when more than 50,000 people watched races with stars such as German Olympic downhill gold medallist Marina Kiehl, six-time world champion Erika Hess of Switzerland and Tamara McKinney, the last American woman to win an overall World Cup title before Vonn. Yet, on those occasions there was only one competition that featured female skiers and no World Cup points were awarded.

Sunday will be a first for the women's tour. With World Cup points on the line, women's racers are understandably nervous.

"It's tough because I've never raced a parallel event before," said Vonn, who trails German favorite Maria Riesch in overall points. "This could theoretically change the outcome of the overall title."

The last time a parallel was held, in Vienna, points counted toward Nations Cup only.

Miller and Ligety are experienced with the head-to-head format, having raced the past two seasons in the exhibition events in Moscow.

"The scene was awesome," said Ligety, after finishing third in the Moscow event last season just ahead of Miller. "People were packed all around the base of the ramp. They had Euro techno blasting and fireworks shooting out the side of the ramp scaffolding after the competition. It was such a sweet event to be invited to."

Munich will be the first time Ligety has returned to racing since Dec. 19, when he captured his third consecutive World Cup giant slalom win of the season, completing a sweep in that event over the first half of the winter.

The natural slope of the Olympic hill will certainly not have the same feel as industrial scaffold high above the street, as it was in Moscow, but it will certainly provide a high-energy venue for athletes and fans as live DJ's and bands mix with ski racing.

S-Magazine