Press Center
For Immediate Release
November 24, 2008
Media Contact:
John Dakin
(970) 949-1999
AUDI BIRDS OF PREY PROVIDES HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
FOR U.S. SPEED MERCHANTS
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado--NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino once told reporters “Sure, the home field is an advantage, but so is having a lot of talent.”
Such a sentiment might also apply to the U.S. Ski Team and their recent success on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey racecourse, the lone annual American World Cup stop for the men each winter.
Since Birds of Prey celebrated its international coming out party in November of 1997, U.S. skiers have ascended the steps of the podium in Beaver Creek on 14 separate occasions in the past five years. Five of those trips have ended on the top step with victories, courtesy of Bode Miller (3) and Daron Rahlves (2), while four of the five wins also featured a second American racer among the top three.
Rahlves’ 2003 Birds of Prey Downhill victory ended a 19-year American downhill victory drought on U.S. soil, while Miller and Rahlves’ one-two finish in 2004 signaled the first time that American men had ever captured the top two spots in a World Cup Downhill.
“There’s no doubt that Birds of Prey has been kind to our home team,” explained Michael Imhof, Vice President of Sales and Operations for the Vail Valley Foundation. “The facts become more impressive when you consider how challenging the Birds of Prey course is. We’re very pleased that we have been able to not only bring some of the best racing in the world to American race fans each year, but that Birds of Prey has quickly developed a world class reputation in such a short time.”
There will certainly be no shortage of home team or international talent this year when the world’s best skiers return to Beaver Creek December 4-7 for the 2008 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week.
Heading up the American contingent will be 26-year-old Steven Nyman, the Birds of Prey Downhill silver medalists last winter, just 92-hundredths of a second away from the win, despite coming through the Abyss on one ski. The Provo, Utah native has made steady progress in Beaver Creek, finishing third in the 2006 Downhill and capturing the runner-up spot a year ago.
“It seems that Steven has a very methodical, albeit unconventional approach to Birds of Prey,” joked Imhof. “He has already stood on two of the three steps of the podium so perhaps this is his year to complete the hat trick. It might be a bit easier if he could manage to keep both skis on the snow.”
Another U.S. racer that provided the crowd and himself with a shot of adrenaline last winter is Lake Placid’s Andrew Weibrecht. Racing out of the 53rd start position in the 2007 Birds of Prey Downhill competition, the 22-year-old Weibrecht put together a run reminiscent of Franz Klammer’s 1976 Olympic ride to gold, actually leading the race for an instant in the transition from the Golden Eagle Jump to the Harrier Jump, before settling into a tenth place final ranking.
“Andrew really made a statement with that run,” Imhof continued. “He just continued to throw himself down the fall line and kept picking up speed all the way down the course. The conditions were certainly not optimal and he actually pulled a ‘Nyman’ through the Abyss, but it was a spectacular run nonetheless.”
Nyman and Weibrecht will be joined by U.S. veterans Ted Ligety and Marco Sullivan. Ligety will come to Beaver Creek as the reigning World Cup Giant Slalom champion, while “Sully” picked up the first World Cup Downhill win of his career last winter in Chamonix, France.
The “other” top American in the field will be New Hampshire’s Bode Miller, the defending overall World Cup champion. Forming “Team America” for the 2007-08 campaign following his split with the U.S. Ski Team, Miller collected seven individual wins last season en route to the title to become the most successful U.S. skier of all time with 31 career World Cup victories.
“Bode has always done things his way,” offered Imhof, “and it’s tough to argue against the method given his success. One thing is for certain, he is once again a threat to win any race he enters and his podium record at Birds of Prey (three wins and two second place finishes) is pretty impressive.”
While Marino was right about the mix of home field and talent, there is indeed something about Birds of Prey that always seems to bring out the best in the Americans.
The 2008 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week is a project of the Vail Valley Foundation. For more information on Birds of Prey, visit www.bcworldcup.com. For additional information on the Vail Valley Foundation, check out www.vvf.org.
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