Eberharter out to break Soelden jinx
Julia Ferguson, Reuters, Soelden, Austria
Olympic champion Stephan Eberharter is on a mission this weekend to break his jinx of being runner-up three times in a row at the World Cup season-opening giant slalom in Soelden.
The overall World Cup champion and triple medalist at the Salt Lake City Olympics in February summed up his ambition for the race on Sunday, saying: "It's high time that I won here, isn't it?"
The Austrian has had to settle for second place the last three times the race has been held on the treacherous Rettenbach glacier.
"This race is part of the World Cup so it's certainly very important for whoever wants to win it to gain the 100 points -- that's why I take it very seriously," the 33-year-old Eberharter added.
If last season's fight for supremacy in the technical discipline is anything to go by, this year should be thrilling. No fewer than five men were contesting the crown until the very last race of the 2001-2002 season in March.
The circuit's eight races were won by seven different men.
Frederic Covili burst on to the World Cup last year with a maiden win in Soelden and crowned his success by grabbing the season's title with a total of two wins and two podium finishes.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old Frenchman will be keen to get off to a good start and prove that he was no one-season wonder.
"Last season, I learnt to have confidence in myself, to be consistent, to cope with the pressure and the worry, to have the will to succeed," said Covili this week.
"So now I feel well equipped. I know what to expect. Starting as one of the favorites doesn't bother me."
But pipping Eberharter to the finish line will be tough.
The Austrian, who clinched gold in the giant slalom at Salt Lake and added the downhill and super-G crowns to his overall World Cup title, is brimming with confidence and says he is in his best form ever this year.
Eberharter, burning to win at Soelden which lies close to his Tyrolean home in Stumm, is also having the time of his life.
"I've pretty much won everything there is to win so the incentive just comes from the love of the sport, my job -- so I'll do it for another year, maybe two," he said.
American Bode Miller, winner in Val d'Isere in December and who trains with the Austrian men, is one of the many hoping to put a spanner in Eberharter's spokes.
"To be honest, I would never have thought he'd have such an incredible season," the 25-year-old New Hampshire racer said. "I'm curious about Soelden and whether he can do the same again this year," he added.
The other racers who fought for domination last season are Swiss defending world champion Michael von Gruenigen, Swede Fredrik Nyberg, Austrian Benjamin Raich and Swiss Didier Cuche.
Eberharter, although pleased to dominate the sport in the absence of injured team mate Hermann Maier -- a double Soelden winner -- is acutely aware that Austrian might is weakening the sport.
"We've got the same problem as in Formula One," he said in reference to fan fatigue in seeing Ferrari, and most notably five-times world champion driver Michael Schumacher, win race after race.
"Through the domination of the Austrians we are probably weakening the sport a bit," Eberharter said.
After Soelden, the World Cup takes a break for nearly three weeks before the North American leg of the circuit begins in Park City, Utah, on Nov. 22.
The men return to Europe in mid-December and also have races in South Korea and Japan before the season ends with the finals in Lillehammer, Norway, in March.