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In
four consecutive seasons, Paralympic slalom gold medalist Stephani
Victor (sit-ski; Park City, UT) has been second in the Disabled Alpine
World Cup overall standings. After two Crystal Globes for slalom ('04,
06) and a handful of World Championship medals Victor decided that 2007
was the year, then went on take seven World Cup podiums, including four
wins, en route to World Cup titles in slalom, giant slalom and the
coveted overall championship.
You've been dominant in
slalom for a number of seasons, so what was the difference to turn it
on in giant slalom and, really, in all events?
It wasn't so much something I did differently; it was listening to my
coaches and setting my mind on the goal. I did work with a trainer
[Adam Friedman] in California following the Paralympics, which helped,
but it was my coaches saying, "Good for you, you won at the Paralympics
- now what's next?" My answer was to win the overall and to do that you
have to consistently be on the podium in every discipline. I've been
second for four years, won my fair share of silver and bronze medals
and [this season] I set my mind completely on winning.
What was it like to carry three globes home from World Cup Finals?
Well, I don't trust myself to carry my own glass - or even a plate
across the living room, so my husband Marcel [Kuonen] did most of the
hauling. He's a carpenter, so he made special boxes to bring them back
to the U.S., but when we got to the Munich airport, security decided
they needed inspect the boxes - you should have seen their faces when
we opened them up. We were taking pictures with the German security
guards for a while. It's a good thing that some people only travel with
one bag; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get on the plane with
all my stuff.
How did you step up your game in giant slalom?
Anyone can look great arching turns at high speed, so it's tough to
tell just from how you look or feel on the snow, but it's the small
things that you can't see where you can shed the tenths of a second you
need to win. And this season, for the first time in a while, I was
completely injury free and I made myself accountable. I declared to my
coaches, my trainers and myself that I was going to win the overall. I
made myself accountable.
How did that translate onto the snow?
I did win the U.S. title for GS in 2006, but, boy, do people forget
that quick, so I came out at the first World Cup this year at Aspen
with my guns a-blazin' and blew right past a gate in the opening super
G. It's a big deal if you don't finish a race because we don't have
that many. Actually, I've never seen anyone not finish a race and still
win the overall. But we had two races that day and I had another shot
in SG later that afternoon and I was flying, then missed the second to
last gate, so right there I was already 200 points back in the World
Cup. So I decided to win the GS title and over the next couple of days,
I won two slaloms, a GS and was second in another GS and walked out of
Aspen with the overall lead.
There was a coaching change at the beginning of the season with Ray
Watkins taking over the alpine program when Kevin Jardine retired -
and, coincidentally, took over the Aspen adaptive program. Did that
help as well?
Ray and I go back a long time. He was an Olympic coach in 2002 and
having him join the team was a huge boost - we connect so well. Kurt
Smitz was also a big help; he has a martial arts background and that
translated well into my spirit on the hill because skiing, after all,
is art. I told both of them my goals and they said, 'No, no - write
them down.' So we sat down and got very specific.
Do you enter the start gate for each race with a certain mindset?
I have a different strategy than most people. I was talking to Japanese
racer Kuniko Obinata and she said she was going to take it easy this
season because the Paralympic year in '06 was so tough. I just don't
know how to do that. Once the World Cup season begins, I'm in it and I
just don't like to give anything away.
Are you able to wind down over the summer before ramping up again in the fall?
That's always hard for me, for sure. Usually it takes the whole month
of April to wind down. I have to ask myself how I feel and what do I
want to do. I was already analyzing things for next season at World Cup
Finals and Kurt Smitz was like, 'Whoa, that's what people say at the
beginning of the season, not the end.'
Did Marcel build a new trophy case to house the newly acquired hardware?
Ha, we have a Swiss-style coffee table that filled pretty quickly with
medals, but we don't have anything new for the globes. Right now, the
big one is on our dining room table, which is cool because I look at it
and say, 'Wow, we did it.'
Multimedia:
A selection of photos from the 2007 season are available at http://ussa.smugmug.com/Disabled |
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