BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — The slalom in a J3 Junior Olympics has a certain finality to it.
For second-year J3 racers, who are generally the contenders, it's the last chance, the last JO race of their careers, and for most, the lone-remaining ticket to the Whistler (British Columbia) Cup.
SRD's and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail's Alex Leever came up just short of his Canadian dreams with an improbable comeback, taking silver
“So close,” Leever said. “I made a huge mistake first run and I felt like maybe, maybe I could catch up. But it wasn't quite enough. (Kjos)'s a good slalom skier. But I'm still really glad I made it on the medal stand.”
Leever made a critical mistake in the middle of the pitch during his first run, boot-topping a gate, losing precious time. He was eighth after the first run.
“I used that anger from the first run to go,” Leever said. “People at the start probably said that I yelled out of the start and went all out.”
Leever stomped his second run, racing 23rd in the afternoon, and as his fellow competitors came down after him, it looked for a while as he might have mounted a comeback.
For Leever, though, merely competing this week was quite a comeback. He suffered a right tibia-plateau fracture six weeks ago in Steamboat Springs, and could not put any weight on his leg.
Leever just got back on snow two Mondays ago to get ready for the JOs. And as the racing started, the ninth-grader from the Vail Mountain School got his groove back in a big way. After 19th in the downhill, Leever was fourth in the super-G, sixth in the GS and second Wednesday.
“It would have been great to make Whistler, but it's not the end,” Leever said. “Next year is J2s and FIS races. That's when the competition really starts.”
SRD's and Taos racer Nicolas Veth picked up the overall boys title for the week with an eighth-place finish.
Now off to Whistler for the Whistler Cup!
No comments:
Post a Comment