Transalpine Republic Reconsiders Alpine Skiing Program
Only 4 Alpine Skiing Medalists
Although Transalpine Republic's position in these Olympics has been nominally better than last year's Olympics, with a total of 17 medals, five golds, six silvers, and six bronzes, Free Republics and Electrum have totally overshadowed the Transalpine delegation, Free Republics with 34 medals and Electrum with 31, both among the highest totals in recent memory. In contrast, Transalpine Republic finished second place last year with only ten medals, showing that competition has increased. This increased competition is the backdrop for the changes in Alpine Skiing. Of the gold medalists in the Alpine Skiing events, three were from the Free Republics, two from Kelssek, and only one each from Transalpine Republic, Gregoryisgodistan, and Chiata. Transalpine Republic's gold medal count, in contrast to last years, includes one each from alpine skiing, snowboarding, short track, cross country skiing, and biathlon, several of those medals surprising. More surprising was the lack of medals in alpine skiing.
In fact, alpine skiing seemed to be in a state of torpor. In the women's slalom event, defending champion Christina Kathe finished far off the podium at only nineteenth place. Meanwhile, high hopes were placed on Christina Mendelssohn and Sophia Von Essen, but both failed to finish. In the giant slalom event, Christina Mendelssohn finished seventh, Sophia Von Essen finished eleventh, and previous bronze medalist Alina Lorenzen finishing seventeenth. The Super-G defending champion Lisa Bähr finished seven hundredths of a second off the podium; Sophia Von Essen placed seventeenth. In the women's downhill, Sandra Korošec finished second for a silver medal. Men's events were a little more hopeful. Carl Brodbeck, last year's slalom champion, got a silver medal in the giant slalom; Stefan Schroter managed to ski onto the podium with a bronze medal. In the men's downhill, Benjamin Solberg scored Transalpine Republic's only gold medal of Alpine Skiing so far. So far, the total for women's - one silver; men's - one of each medal.
What can be done to improve Transalpine Republic's medal count in alpine skiing? Minister Gabi Hochberg attempted to answer the question. "We're definitely considering several measures to improve alpine skiing here in Transalpine Republic. One is removing our superiority complex in these events - I think that we are all deluding ourselves into thinking we are the best when we are clearly not. Still, some of that could be chalked up to home field advantage for the Free Republics competitors, but Transalpine Republic needs to realize it's not perfect at this event and that we need to change our training policy. In short, we need to be less complacent."
Hochberg also hoped that the forthcoming Alpune Skiing World Cup might help Transalpine skiers. "We'll have some home field advantage when the tour comes here to Transalpine Republic - that will get people interested and help support our athletes. Also, our athletes will be training more for the tour, so hopefully that will extend to the Olympics." Thirdly, Hochberg said that recruiting talented youth could make up for a gap. "People who we have never considered before to be on our Olympic team - instead of the experienced thirty- or forty-year-olds, maybe some eighteen- or nineteen-year-olds could help make up the difference between Transalpine Republic and the rest of the world."
Skier Sophia Von Essen partially agrees with Hochberg's plan. "I like the idea of having more crowd support during my races. Here in Baseton, the only people the crowd gives a hoot about are the Free Republican competitors. With more Transalpinians supporting me, I definitely think I should be able to do better." Considering she is one of the younger athletes competing, she also supports the idea of having younger professionals competing for Transalpine Republic. "I'm only twenty-one," she says with a giggle, "and I'd love it if more skiers my own age were able to compete here at the Olympics and also at the World Cup." She had one more suggestion for the organizers. "Bring the Olympics to Transalpine Republic," she said. "It would work wonders for our performance."
Hochberg liked the idea, but he said it would require some deep assessments of Transalpine Republic's hosting capability. "We've never hosted anything of this magnitude before, and we'd need to show the world that we could host something like the Olympics. The Alpine Skiing World Cup might be a chance to do that, and if we can successfully bring maybe a luge or skeleton competition, we could do that. Hochberg also had another worry - price. "Holding an Olympics is expensive. If you don't have deep pockets, your grandiose plans might run into a wall - really quickly." If the Committee were frugal, though, Hochberg opined, "I think it could be done. With us, of course, I think the sky's the limit."