After landing by helicopter in the Val d'Isère resort where he made his big breakthrough a year ago winning a giant slalom, Alpine skiing's new sensation Carlo Janka could realise how much his life has changed in just over a year as he faced dozens of journalists during a press conference organized by the Swiss Ski team at the beautiful Hotel Barmes de l'Ours situated above the Press-Center.
"I do notice a lot of things around me are different," the 23-year-old Swiss, who will be aiming for more victories in the coming events planned on the treacherous ‘La Face' slope at Val d'Isère. "Yet so far I can handle the changes well, I'm enjoying my life a lot right now," he explained at that conference.
"First of all I took great pleasure in this short trip from my home to here, it was much better than the usual 8-hour-trip it usually takes by car," added the giant slalom World Champion who is aiming for more podium finishes in a Super-combined, a Super-G and a giant slalom here over the next three days.
"It was great, we flew over the course on our approach to the resort," he said. "It's nice for me to be back here."
Janka, a virtual unknown when he won his first World Cup race in this French Alps village just a year
ago, was granted the helicopter treatment as he left Colorado a day later than his teammates following his hat-trick success last weekend.
Because he took too long at the doping control after winning a Super-combined, a downhill and a giant slalom in three days on the ‘Birds of Prey' course, the Swiss sensation missed his plane on
Sunday night and flew out only on Monday.
That means he skipped Wednesday's free practice here and had little time to recuperate, which is why the Swiss team decided he could come by helicopter. "I was very tired after my hat-trick at Beaver Creek, it's difficult to rest there as it's situated at an altitude of 3000 meters, so it was really nice flying home on Monday in business class. I felt much better than usual when he landed at Zurich this time."
The awe-inspiring Bellevarde ‘la Face' is definitely special for Janka, who also won giant slalom gold and downhill bronze on it at the 2009 FIS World Championships in February. "The piste here suits me fine because it's technically demanding and you have to be very precise as well as aggressive," he said. "I like that."
A gifted all-rounder, the quiet but determined Janka had been regarded as a potential great for some time but his status has now changed dramatically with five podium finishes from six starts - and more to come.
For many he is already the skier to beat in the Overall World Cup standings. "It's fun to be in that position but it is way too early to make any prognostics, let's see how the season will go for me. I don't make any plan right now, I'm leaving on a day-per-day basis and I'm only focusing on my next race."
With the Vancouver Olympics just around the corner, he is clearly feeling the pressure. "The expectations are different, clearly higher, but I can live with it, I just need to adapt," he also said.
"Beating the best guys is nice but what I'm interested in is doing it again."
Carlo, who will turn 24 on Sunday, will fly back to Switzerland by helicopter as he has been invited to attend a sports show on national Swiss TV on Sunday evening, has not decided yet which races he will enter next week in Italy where a Super-G, a downhill, a giant slalom and a slalom are scheduled in Val Gardena and Alta Badia.
"I'll see how I feel on Sunday and also next week, it will be a last-minute decision that will also be discussed with my trainers," he also explained. "I may be pretty tired after the coming three races, it's a tough course here and I might be pretty tired again."
Another win in Friday's Super-combined would allow him to equal the performance achieved in recent years by Austria's Hermann Maier in 1998 who captured two Super-.Gs, a giant slalom and a downhill in a row at Schladming,Saalbach and Wengen - as well as his only World Cup combined afterwards with a strong 10th place at Veysonnaz.
Many other skiers including Alberto Tomba, Jean-Claude Killy and Ingemar Stenmark also excelled in several consecutive competitions - yet none of them was able to win more than six consecutive races.
PkL
