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).

Bormio, Italy...location and host to the 2005 Alpine Skiing World championships.  What to expect! Who will win the medals?

Every two years the attention of the ski racing world focuses on the Alpine Ski World Championships.  2001 they were in St Anton, Austria; 2003 saw the races go to St Moritz, Switzerland... 2005 Bormio, Italy!  With the coverage on the television being brought to the public by the BBC, Racer Ready will be bringing daily reports from all 11 races.  11? Yes this year sees the inaugural Nations Cup.  Sarah Lewis, Secretary General of FIS explains: "We have seen events like the Ryder Cup generate such good national honour and excitement so the team event is something new that we are trying."

Racer Ready has been talking to other media and trainers as to who people think will win the medals and who will surprise the world.  The common thread of media wisdom says that Bode Miller will be taking a number of medals home with him.  Miller started the season in emphatic form winning with ease in all events.  He has already won in each discipline (bar the combined) and heads to Bormio looking for favourable snow conditions.  In the last few weeks leading up to the World Championships some journalists have been commenting that maybe he had lost his edge.  The wind and snow conditions have halted the Miller bandwagon more than the ability of other racers.  No matter which of the five events, Miller will be a threat and could, given the right conditions, take home five medals.  (At the time of writing he has already won the Super G!)

So who will halt the Miller bandwagon? In the downhill his compatriot Daron Rahlves will be looking to add to his World Championships tally of titles (he won the Super G title in 2001) yet may find that the crash he had in Adelboden is still hampering his fitness.  Rahlves some argue is over that and his second place in Kitzbuehel is testament to that but Kitzbuehel is special and as Rahlves himself admitted the body was still hurting yet "the mind overcame the pain of the body" in Kitzbuehel.  The Austrians cannot be counted out either.  With five starting places, Walchhofer is guaranteed a place due to being the reigning title holder, the remaining four spots will be between Grugger (winner of two races this year), Werner Franz (winner of one race) and then two from Fritz Strobl (Olympic champion), Maier, Christoph Gruber and Klaus Kroell.  Due to the effect of sponsors and him being a big race skier it would be a foolish man who betted against Maier making the start.  The remaining two places will be decided from the times on the training runs. For the medals in the downhill, Grugger is in good form and could spring a surprise as could Kristian Ghedina.  Ghedina racing at home has the fans support but the legs are not what they used to be.  Walchhofer, current leader on the World Cup circuit certainly has the form having won in Wengen and it will be a fascinating race watching him against Miller.  Bronze will be a shock and the resurgent Didier Defago could swing it.  Watch out to for the form book to be ripped up and see Finlay Mickel take a top 10!

The men's Giant Slalom is as open a race as you can imagine.  Pick from Miller, Blardone, Palander, Raich, Defago even, Chenal or even the old warhorse himself Lasse Kjus.  Kjus will be looking to add to his growing swag of medals from the major games.  He has already won in the World Cup this season (Beaver Creak) so the form book shows that although his missed Kitzbuehel, the legs are still there.  The Norwegians have a habit of getting it right for the big events.  Thomas Grandi, winner of two races back to back this season cannot be counted out for a podium finish either.

The Slalom! For so long mention the slalom and thoughts of a great day in Park City sprung to mind.  Alain has not had the best season by his own admission this year so it would be great if he could pull something special out of the bag.  He certainly has the talent to banish the nightmare of the last two years and bring something home.  The pressure is off him and with Finlay Mickel producing headline catching performances, Baxter has the chance to grab the headlines again for himself.  Noel Baxter and James Leuzinger also go in the Slalom.  Two years ago "Leuzi" stunned the racing world by finishing 29th= after the first run.  Although he crashed out, the man who changed from the Swiss team could yet make a name for himself.  With Noel also struggling for results, this could be the place for any or all of the British Team to put two runs together.  The pressure of making the top 30 is off so this will give them the chance to attack even more.

The medals for the Slalom?  Rocca, Kostelic, Pranger, Raich are all in form so to are Schoenfelder, Miller, Sasaki and Zurbriggan.  Watch out to for Patrick Biggs, Canada's latest sensation and his compatriots JP Roy and Thomas Grandi. Tom Rothrock could also add the North American medal haul.

The Combined is where the Austrian WC3 Team will be looking to show its prowess.  Raich won in Wengen at the only Combined to take place this year yet that man Miller will also be looking for added luggage to be taking home at the end of the season.  With Aamodt and Kjus also in the hunt, Zurbriggan also will be looking to add to the Silver he won at St Moritz in 2003.

For the girls, well Janica Kostelic's name will feature heavily as will Anja Paerson.  Both are now skiing all four events in their quest for the Overall Crystal Globe.  Whether Paerson and Kostelic will do all five races at the World Championships remains to be seen.  They may rest and save energy for the events they believe that they have the best opportunity of winning.

The Women's Super G is their first race and the form book says this will be a tussle between the Queen of Cortina, Renate Goetschl and American Lindsey Kildow.  Kildow is certainly in her element at the moment yet one cannot count out the Germans or the Italians.  Maria Riesch may be injured but the strength in depth the German women have should see them bring home a medal either through Gerg or Ertl.  Add to that the Olympic silver medallist, Janica Kostelic, and this is a fascinating tussle.  American Julia Mancuso is rediscovering the art of racing and recently has been racing well.

The Downhill will see the main protagonists back at it: Goetschl, Gerg and Dorfmeister along with Kildow, Clark and Simard from North America.  Add to the fight France's Ingrid Jacquemod and the Italians, Kostner and Putzer.  If Carole Montillet has rediscovered her will and desire she too could challenge for a medal.

The technical events will be the most interesting races for the women.  This year for the first time in a long time, the fight for Supremacy has been a three way fight but with others taking the fight up as well.  Paerson and Kostelic have been joined by Finnish star Tanja Poutiainen (who has already won the Slalom Crystal Globe).  Marlies Schild and Nikki Hosp from Austria are rising to the challenge and could also take a medal home.  For the outsider Julia Mancuso is a heavily backed stalker on the outside rails (in horse racing parlance!) especially in the Giant Slalom.  In both technical events Team Koz (Kristina Koznick) could also spring a surprise.  Tina Maze (Slovenia) will be one to watch after her victory in Maribor.

To sum up, Racer Ready thinks the medals will go as such:

OK so with hindsight the Super G result for the men is already known!  If you think you can do better then let us know by emailing us and for the person that gets closest we will give them Noel Baxter's start number from Schladming, signed by Noel!