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Repeat sweep: U.S. women take gold, silver, bronze in mono-ski giant slalom
By Ray Grass
Deseret News Paralympics specialist
SNOWBASIN — The giant slalom was a rerun for three women mono-skiers on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, and the second time through was just as sweet as the first.
Thursday's finish in the women's mono-ski GS was identical to Monday's finish in the women's mono-ski super-G — Sarah Will, gold; Muffy Davis, silver; and Lacey Heward, bronze.
The U.S. women have, in fact, swept all three medals in all three events skied thus far in the mono-ski LW10/11 class in the Paralympics. The one difference was that Stephani Victor instead of Heward won a bronze in the downhill on opening day.
It was, said Will, the goal of the women to take all 12 medals in the class. A 1-2-3 finish in the slalom on Saturday would fulfill the goal.
The U.S. did well in other events, too. Allison Pearl of Reno won a gold in the women's LW12 mono-ski; Mary Riddell of Dove Creek, Colo., won a gold in the women's stand-up LW3/9 for disabilities in two legs or an arm and leg; Allison Jones of Colorado Springs won a silver in the stand-up L2 for a leg amputee; Csilla Kristof of Las Vegas won a silver in the LW6/8 stand-up for disability in one arm or hand; and Andy Parr of Rockland, Maine, won a silver in the visually impaired men's class.
The story of the day, however, focuses on the three-peat by the U.S. women.
And, said Park City's Davis, it shows just how strong the team is.
"We train with each other and we push each other to do their best. We take this very seriously," she said as she waited in the finish area for Pearl to finish her race. "We're just trying to keep up with the men's snowboard team."
The U.S. Ski Team swept all three events in the snowboard halfpipe in February's Olympics.
And despite the sweep, the wins didn't come that easily. Fresh snow over Wednesday and Thursday made skiing difficult.
Heward, who moved from Idaho to Park City three years ago, had her troubles and nearly fell on the steep face leading to the finish on her second of two runs. "I really wanted to ski that section well. I was able to recover and finish, and that was nice," she said.
Davis ran into trouble on her first run. "I went down, got back up and was able to get back on course without losing a lot of time," she said. "I felt better on the second run. But heck, we've got a three-peat. The U.S. women are pretty strong."
Will, from Vail, Colo., said Thursday's win was special because it came on her father's birthday. She now has 11 gold medals won over four Paralympics.
She admitted, however, she didn't come to these Games with a four-gold sweep in mind. "I just hoped it would happen. I just wished," she said. "Everything right now is a surprise to me. From the downhill on, everything else has been a bonus for me."
Riddell came to the Games with high hopes of winning a medal in every event. She missed on the downhill, won a silver in the super-G and now has her gold in the GS.
She said she was a little discouraged after her second-place finish in the super-G. "Not so much with anyone else, but I knew I could ski faster than I did," she said. "The winner that day was the best skier, and I didn't ski my best. Today, I did."
It almost didn't happen that way, however. On her second run, she made a mistake at the top and nearly missed a gate, then hit a rut and almost lost a ski, and coming over the face on the last steep pitch, the first couple of turns were not clean.
"It was the kind of snow where you don't feel good, but need to fight, fight, fight all the way down. People who fight the longest do the best," she said with a smile.
So, will the women be able to go for the complete sweep in the mono-ski class?
Davis thinks they can. "The slalom is Lacey's best event, and it's been one of my best events. And Sarah — well, as you've seen, she's great in all four events," she reported.
The men's slalom was scheduled for today. The women will wrap up the Games on Saturday with a slalom at Snowbasin.
E-MAIL: grass@desnews.com
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March 15, 2002
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