L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Heel wins Super G in Val Gardena with Defago and Jaerbyn on the podium ... Paerson wins Super combined from Hosp and Suter ... Walchhofer retains King of the Hill in Downhill, Miller 2 and Osborne Paradis 3 ... Gut wins Super G in St Moritz from Suter and Fanchini

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Mickel fulfils promise

By Neil McQuoid

Val Gardena, Italy, AUDI FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup

The light snow that had fallen overnight was not enough to stop Finlay Mickel from delivering what he has been promising to do all season: Finish in the top 20 of a World Cup Downhill.  Starting from 8 following a spectacular training run that had seen him run as high as 9^th during the majority of the splits, Mickel was good at the top but came into his own lower down the Saslong Course.  Down the lower section of the course, Mickel was quicker than eventual winner Max Raufer, carving almost half a second out of the Germans early time.

“I am very pleased with that,” said the man from Edinburgh as he looked back up the lower section of the course.  “I was a little scrappy in sections but I kept the skis running!”  Talking with Mickel prior to the race, he has a new relaxed attitude that he feels is working wonders: “Last year I was hyping myself up and then getting too stressed in the races and as a result was not performing, this year along with my coach Mick Branch and the pooling of resources with the Australians and also with the Americans, this is paying dividends.

This result banishes yet another millstone from around his neck: Last year now points were scored and this year with the exception of Beaver Creak, Mickel has scored results in all the Downhills.  After some great split times in training, Mickel was given a dressing down by his coach for not scoring a result there as well.  “This Val Gardena course is a real gliders course and this suits me very well,” remarked Mickel.

The surprise of the day was the victory by Max Rauffer, a German who has so often threatened to produce but disappointed more often.  Markus Wasmaier was the last German male to win a downhill in Garmisch in 1992.

This result of Mickel brings him into real contention for the forthcoming World Championships and the classic races in Bormio, Chamonix, Kitzbuhl and Wengen after Christmas.  The Men’s Slalom team will be looking to gain some inspiration from Mickel’s relaxed outlook as they go into their last race before Christmas in Flachau on Wednesday.

1.         Max Raufer                 GER     1.50.59

2.         Juerg Grunenfelder    SUI       1.50.64

3.         Johann Gruger            AUT     1.50.72

18.      Finlay Mickel               GBR     1.51.98