Press Center
For Immediate Release
November 29, 2008
Media Contact:
John Dakin
(970) 949-1999
AUDI BIRDS OF PREY SUPER COMBINED
SHOWCASES TRUE ALL-AROUND RACERS
ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST TRACKS
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado--It’s been over 25 years since a new discipline has been added to the World Cup race schedule, but as the Super Combined prepares for its fourth year in existence, this melding of one run of downhill and one run of slalom on the same day has truly evolved into a showcase of the all-around racers, able to handle both the speed and technical aspects of the sport.
Unlike Super-G, which made it’s World Cup debut in 1982 and was created to provide the downhill specialists another opportunity to score World Cup points, the Super Combined not only tests a racer’s versatility, but also his or her stamina, with often less than two hours between the conclusion of the downhill leg and the start of the slalom segment. Factor in an early season Super Combined, Thursday, December 4, on a demanding hill like Birds of Prey and the challenges become that much greater.
A hybrid of the traditional combined event, which features one run of downhill and two runs of slalom on two separate days, the Super Combined was designed to be a spectator friendly competition, where the winner was determined by the lowest combined time for the two runs, rather than a complex mathematical formula that was undecipherable to most ski racing fans. Only Kitzbuhel, Austria remains as the lone traditional two-day combined competition on the World Cup men’s calendar.
“The Super Combined is a great event for both the spectators and the racers”, explained Vail Valley Foundation Vice President of Sales and Operations Michael Imhof. “As a racer, you have to call upon all your skiing skills in order to be successful, while as a spectator, you really get the best of both ski racing worlds. As an organizer, you also need to be on top of your game as there is a great amount of work involved in switching from downhill to slalom on the hill and very little time to get it all done between runs.”
Entering the 2008-09 campaign, American Bode Miller would have to be considered the king of Super Combined, having won three of the five even events contested last winter en route to the 2008 World Cup Combined crown. Austria’s Benjamin Raich also sports a trio of Super Combined wins, although his have come over the course of the past three seasons since the event’s inception in 2006.
While still the youngster among World Cup disciplines, Super Combined seems destined for a long and healthy lifespan as the International Ski Federation has already integrated the event into their World Championships competition slate and the International Olympic Committee will offer Super Combi as a medal sport for the first time at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
The 2008 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week in Beaver Creek 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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