Way off topic?
Read a story. Thought I'd share it. Congrats Thomas. You make us look good.
Then it occurred to me, the changes he made in mental preparation, etc, and how it improved his results. Thought it was an interesting parallel to poker. Just something to ponder. lol
Veteran skier blossoms into star
By JAMES CHRISTIE
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Thomas Grandi unclenched his teeth and clinched a gold medal Tuesday, his second in as many World Cup giant-slalom ski races, upstaging Austrian legend Hermann Maier on the very course that bears his name.
Mr. Grandi is the first Canadian in 22 years to post back-to-back World Cup victories.
The 31-year-old from Canmore, Alta., is doing what was unthinkable until recently: beating the Europeans at their own game. He is the marquee product of Alpine Canada's new approach: The national ski federation poured resources into grooming skiers for the super-giant-slalom, giant-slalom and slalom events, instead of specializing in the risky, high-speed downhill.
After 12 years of zigzagging grittily between the gates on European mountains, often as Canada's only respectable technical skier, Mr. Grandi is being treated as an overnight sensation.
He will accept those plaudits in any of the four languages he speaks, English, French, Italian and German. That success has come his way is no surprise. He worked for it since he first thought of becoming a World Cup skier at age 7.
It would take more than 25 years before Mr. Grandi would become the first Canadian man in the 38-year history of the World Cup to win a giant slalom.
Kathy Kreiner last won the title on the women's side in 1974, at Pfronten, Germany.
Canadians have not won back-to-back races since 1982, when Gerry Sorensen did it in women's downhills at Grindelwald, Switzerland.
Steve Podborski had back-to-back wins in 1981, at Kitzbuehel, Austria, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Ken Read, now president of Alpine Canada, had consecutive downhill wins in 1980, at Wengen, Switzerland, and Kitzbuehel.
Mr. Grandi had been good but not great. His Italian-born mother, Kika, a part owner of Banff's Mount Norquay ski resort, had urged him to make use of his Italian birth certificate (she went into labour on a ski trip to Bolzano) to represent a country that spent more lavishly on technical skiers, such as Alberto Tomba.
"I told her being here made it tougher, but I wanted to ski for Canada," Mr. Grandi said.
That faith is being repaid, said Mr. Read, who took over as president of Alpine Canada after a disappointing 2002 Olympics. He introduced a vision of success-oriented skiing, saying a broader range of skiing talents would be developed and that Alpine Canada would find the sponsors to outfit and train Canadians, as well as their European counterparts.
Part of the improvement has been the Max factor, the elevation of Austrian-born Max Gartner to vice-president of athletics from vice-president of development, essentially putting him in charge of conditioning athletes for the high-performance program. He brought Mr. Grandi together with sport psychologist Terry Orlick to work on Mr. Grandi's prerace routine and strategy.
What surprised Mr. Grandi is that the key to his success lies in loosening up. His wife, Canadian cross-country ski-team member Sara Renner, said that in an exuberant postrace phone call, he told her: "I finally know how to race! It's like I'm learning to ski now, and it's easy."
In a conference call with reporters later, Mr. Grandi said: "I think technically and physically I had all the skills before I won my first race Sunday in Alta Badia [Italy]. But it was at Alta Badia I freed myself enough to ski the way I could, and [Tuesday] it was even easier."
That's the way the skis work best; no tension in the knees and ankles, really supple.
Mr. Grandi posted a combined two-run time of two minutes 15.90 seconds, 15/100ths of a second faster than Didier Cuche of Switzerland. American Bode Miller was third for his eighth podium finish this season, including six wins.
Mr. Grandi has two previous podium finishes, a second in a slalom in Kitzbuehel in January and a third in a giant slalom in Park City, Utah, in 1997-98. He has 20 Top-10 finishes in his career, 11 giant slalom and nine slalom.
He has been solidly competitive through a dozen years but said he would compete pressing hard, teeth gritted. Tuesday, it was the celebrated Mr. Maier who felt the pressure to perform for his home crowd. He missed a gatebut picked himself up to finish for the disappointed spectators. He was 28th.
An 11-time Canadian champion and three-time Olympian, Mr. Grandi finds himself leading the World Cup giant-slalom standings. He is also a medal favourite for the world championships, to be held in Bormio, Italy, at the end of January. He is seventh in the overall World Cup standings for all disciplines and will be seen as a medal contender at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
"Grandi and Cuche were absolute world-class," Mr. Miller said. "They were invincible today. No matter what we did, it seemed they always had a better reply. I guess not even a shortcut would have helped to beat Tom today."
Then it occurred to me, the changes he made in mental preparation, etc, and how it improved his results. Thought it was an interesting parallel to poker. Just something to ponder. lol
Veteran skier blossoms into star
By JAMES CHRISTIE
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Thomas Grandi unclenched his teeth and clinched a gold medal Tuesday, his second in as many World Cup giant-slalom ski races, upstaging Austrian legend Hermann Maier on the very course that bears his name.
Mr. Grandi is the first Canadian in 22 years to post back-to-back World Cup victories.
The 31-year-old from Canmore, Alta., is doing what was unthinkable until recently: beating the Europeans at their own game. He is the marquee product of Alpine Canada's new approach: The national ski federation poured resources into grooming skiers for the super-giant-slalom, giant-slalom and slalom events, instead of specializing in the risky, high-speed downhill.
After 12 years of zigzagging grittily between the gates on European mountains, often as Canada's only respectable technical skier, Mr. Grandi is being treated as an overnight sensation.
He will accept those plaudits in any of the four languages he speaks, English, French, Italian and German. That success has come his way is no surprise. He worked for it since he first thought of becoming a World Cup skier at age 7.
It would take more than 25 years before Mr. Grandi would become the first Canadian man in the 38-year history of the World Cup to win a giant slalom.
Kathy Kreiner last won the title on the women's side in 1974, at Pfronten, Germany.
Canadians have not won back-to-back races since 1982, when Gerry Sorensen did it in women's downhills at Grindelwald, Switzerland.
Steve Podborski had back-to-back wins in 1981, at Kitzbuehel, Austria, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Ken Read, now president of Alpine Canada, had consecutive downhill wins in 1980, at Wengen, Switzerland, and Kitzbuehel.
Mr. Grandi had been good but not great. His Italian-born mother, Kika, a part owner of Banff's Mount Norquay ski resort, had urged him to make use of his Italian birth certificate (she went into labour on a ski trip to Bolzano) to represent a country that spent more lavishly on technical skiers, such as Alberto Tomba.
"I told her being here made it tougher, but I wanted to ski for Canada," Mr. Grandi said.
That faith is being repaid, said Mr. Read, who took over as president of Alpine Canada after a disappointing 2002 Olympics. He introduced a vision of success-oriented skiing, saying a broader range of skiing talents would be developed and that Alpine Canada would find the sponsors to outfit and train Canadians, as well as their European counterparts.
Part of the improvement has been the Max factor, the elevation of Austrian-born Max Gartner to vice-president of athletics from vice-president of development, essentially putting him in charge of conditioning athletes for the high-performance program. He brought Mr. Grandi together with sport psychologist Terry Orlick to work on Mr. Grandi's prerace routine and strategy.
What surprised Mr. Grandi is that the key to his success lies in loosening up. His wife, Canadian cross-country ski-team member Sara Renner, said that in an exuberant postrace phone call, he told her: "I finally know how to race! It's like I'm learning to ski now, and it's easy."
In a conference call with reporters later, Mr. Grandi said: "I think technically and physically I had all the skills before I won my first race Sunday in Alta Badia [Italy]. But it was at Alta Badia I freed myself enough to ski the way I could, and [Tuesday] it was even easier."
That's the way the skis work best; no tension in the knees and ankles, really supple.
Mr. Grandi posted a combined two-run time of two minutes 15.90 seconds, 15/100ths of a second faster than Didier Cuche of Switzerland. American Bode Miller was third for his eighth podium finish this season, including six wins.
Mr. Grandi has two previous podium finishes, a second in a slalom in Kitzbuehel in January and a third in a giant slalom in Park City, Utah, in 1997-98. He has 20 Top-10 finishes in his career, 11 giant slalom and nine slalom.
He has been solidly competitive through a dozen years but said he would compete pressing hard, teeth gritted. Tuesday, it was the celebrated Mr. Maier who felt the pressure to perform for his home crowd. He missed a gatebut picked himself up to finish for the disappointed spectators. He was 28th.
An 11-time Canadian champion and three-time Olympian, Mr. Grandi finds himself leading the World Cup giant-slalom standings. He is also a medal favourite for the world championships, to be held in Bormio, Italy, at the end of January. He is seventh in the overall World Cup standings for all disciplines and will be seen as a medal contender at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
"Grandi and Cuche were absolute world-class," Mr. Miller said. "They were invincible today. No matter what we did, it seemed they always had a better reply. I guess not even a shortcut would have helped to beat Tom today."