Standing among the gallery at 2010 Alpine Skiing events, I was impressed with the crowd’s perpetual enthusiasm displayed for every skier who breaks the finish line. The cheers elevate for Canadians, Americans and, especially, the Swiss, but anyone who’s skied on their edges knows how close these athletes ride the medal v. mash-up line. Alpine skiing stands with hockey as the marquee sport of these games. But unlike the latter, the USA Ski Team is a team in name only, as we’ve witnessed again in the media exacerbated Vonn-Mancuso tiff. I interviewed Julia (pictured) this fall for an Alaska Airlines cover story. A true California-Maui girl, she was unapologetic about her love of the spotlight, whether posing for a bikini calendar or designing her Tiara line of panties. “My designs and modeling are ways I express my creative side,” she told me last fall. “If it brings a little more exposure to skiing, all the better.” I keep thinking how hard it’s been for this “kind of beachy and laidback girl” to watch American media’s hyper focus on Vonn, who came into the Games as the most dominant skier in the world. Watching the final alpine event today, I wondered if the 2010 Winter Games will be remembered for Lindsey’s gold and Julia’s silver medal triumphs or Lindsey’s three DNF’s in four races. I hope for the former but, only recalling Bode’s Turin flame out coverage from 2006, fear the latter.
