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VAIL — Seventeen days of Olympics weren't enough for you?
Well, here you go —the J3 Junior Olympics start today with downhill training at Golden Peak in Vail. The girls start at 10:30 a.m., followed by the boys at 11:45 a.m.
Today's and Friday's training runs set up five days' worth of racing from Saturday's downhill all the way to Wednesday's slalom at Beaver Creek.
And keeping in the Olympic spirit of things, it's not lost on the host, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, that local Olympians like Chris Del Bosco, Sarah Schleper and Lindsey Vonn all cut their teeth at the J3 JOs.
“It's always a good thing,” SSCV J3 coach J.J. Jensen said. “It's nice to see Lindsey and Sarah skiing well. It pumps them up to do what these girls used to do.”
Schleper was a five-time JO champion and won J3s here, earning a trip to the Whistler Cup in British Columbia, which will be the reward for all medalists in the 10 races this week.
We aren't sure if Vonn won the J3 JOs because when she was that age she earned a trip to the Topolino Games in Italy, where she became the first American to win there (slalom). But there's no doubting the JOs were a part of her start.
SSCV will have 14 athletes taking park in the races of the next week — Caroline Byrne, Olivia Swift, Katie Talbot, Erika McCormick, Genevieve Soden, Haley Wallace, Sara Gezon, Leah Newton, Nicholas Romano, Nick Sataniello, Clayton Kirwood, Quin Davis, Alex Leever, and Kevan Aubel.
Since these 14 train on Golden Peak constantly, they do have home snow advantage, but there's another factor.
“Everyone will ski the same tracks,” Jensen said. “Yes, these kids are a little more comfortable here. The advantage they have is that they get to sleep in their own beds and eat dinner at home and stay as much as possible in their own routine. I think that's probably more of an advantage than anything else.”
The locals will need it. The J3 JOs field comes from the Rocky and Central regions. The Rockies include the best skiers from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming. The Central is the Dakotas and Big 10 country (Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio).
Conventional wisdom is that usually, the Rocky Region racers have the advantage in the speed events, while the Central skiers hold court in the technical races. But that's why they race the races and train for the next two days.
“I grew up in the Central region, so did (fellow SSCV coach) Scott Meyers,” Jensen said. “You can't count any kids out. The kids come out here to play. Everyone's going to inspect the course and it's the first of three runs (including Saturday's downhill). Everyone will get a feel for the course.”
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.
Junior Olympics
At Golden Peak
Today
Downhill training, 10: 30 a.m.
Friday
Downhill training, 10:30 a.m.
Saturday
Downhill, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday
Super-G, 10:30 a.m.
Monday
Girls giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Tuesday
Boys giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Wednesday
Slalom, 9:30 a.m., at Beaver Creek's Bear Trap
Well, here you go —the J3 Junior Olympics start today with downhill training at Golden Peak in Vail. The girls start at 10:30 a.m., followed by the boys at 11:45 a.m.
Today's and Friday's training runs set up five days' worth of racing from Saturday's downhill all the way to Wednesday's slalom at Beaver Creek.
And keeping in the Olympic spirit of things, it's not lost on the host, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, that local Olympians like Chris Del Bosco, Sarah Schleper and Lindsey Vonn all cut their teeth at the J3 JOs.
“It's always a good thing,” SSCV J3 coach J.J. Jensen said. “It's nice to see Lindsey and Sarah skiing well. It pumps them up to do what these girls used to do.”
Schleper was a five-time JO champion and won J3s here, earning a trip to the Whistler Cup in British Columbia, which will be the reward for all medalists in the 10 races this week.
We aren't sure if Vonn won the J3 JOs because when she was that age she earned a trip to the Topolino Games in Italy, where she became the first American to win there (slalom). But there's no doubting the JOs were a part of her start.
SSCV will have 14 athletes taking park in the races of the next week — Caroline Byrne, Olivia Swift, Katie Talbot, Erika McCormick, Genevieve Soden, Haley Wallace, Sara Gezon, Leah Newton, Nicholas Romano, Nick Sataniello, Clayton Kirwood, Quin Davis, Alex Leever, and Kevan Aubel.
Since these 14 train on Golden Peak constantly, they do have home snow advantage, but there's another factor.
“Everyone will ski the same tracks,” Jensen said. “Yes, these kids are a little more comfortable here. The advantage they have is that they get to sleep in their own beds and eat dinner at home and stay as much as possible in their own routine. I think that's probably more of an advantage than anything else.”
The locals will need it. The J3 JOs field comes from the Rocky and Central regions. The Rockies include the best skiers from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming. The Central is the Dakotas and Big 10 country (Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio).
Conventional wisdom is that usually, the Rocky Region racers have the advantage in the speed events, while the Central skiers hold court in the technical races. But that's why they race the races and train for the next two days.
“I grew up in the Central region, so did (fellow SSCV coach) Scott Meyers,” Jensen said. “You can't count any kids out. The kids come out here to play. Everyone's going to inspect the course and it's the first of three runs (including Saturday's downhill). Everyone will get a feel for the course.”
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or cfreud@vaildaily.com.
Junior Olympics
At Golden Peak
Today
Downhill training, 10: 30 a.m.
Friday
Downhill training, 10:30 a.m.
Saturday
Downhill, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday
Super-G, 10:30 a.m.
Monday
Girls giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Tuesday
Boys giant slalom, 10 a.m.
Wednesday
Slalom, 9:30 a.m., at Beaver Creek's Bear Trap
