Carlo Janka delivered quite an extraordinary performance at Beaver Creek on Saturday, beating four of the most established speed specialists on the tour with his tremendous run at Beaver Creek. Beating skiers such as Didier Cuche, Aksel Lund Svindal and Michael Walchhofer is a true feat after all. Yet, is it really a surprise?
In fact, it seems to have only been a matter of time for Janka to win his first World Cup downhill. The 23-year-old giant slalom World Champion reached three podiums so far in the past year in that event, including at Val d'Isère 2009, where he clinched bronze a few days prior his triumph in giant slalom.
A week before enjoying his latest triumphs in super combined and downhill on Beaver Creek's treacherous ‘Birds of Prey' course, Janka earned another promising 3rd place at Lake Louise, confirming his strength on that slope on which he stunned his friends a year ago, claiming 2nd place despite his high start number 65!
The 21st Swiss racer to win a World Cup downhill since 1967, Janka could now dream of becoming the fourth skier in the Swiss men's team to clinch the overall World Cup standings after Peter Luescher, Pirmin Zurbriggen and Paul Accola. Yet that's not his first priority for the moment.
"It is part of my plans for the coming years, but not for now, I still need to improve my routine and be more consistent throughout the entire season," he said earlier this season. "The winter is just starting now, so let's wait a little. There are so many more races left," he recently commented at Beaver Creek.
The skier from Obersaxen, a village of 800 inhabitants situated in the South East of Switzerland, entered the World Cup tour in December 2005 at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, at age of 19. Two years later, he scored his first top-10 finish at Val d'Isère, as he came in 8th in the super combined in February 2008.
Val d'Isère brought him even more luck later on as he won his first World Cup race there in December 2008, dominating the technically demanding giant slalom on the steep ‘La Face' course. In January, he captured a super combined event at Wengen en route to his first crystal globe in that event. A month later, he amazed once more the skiing community and his fans in winning - on Friday the 13th - the giant slalom at Val d'Isère 2009 after getting bronze in the rough downhill.
Carlo's strong season-start - two wins, two podiums and a 6th place in five competitions since Soelden - has surprised his team and even himself. He has not been able to train for several weeks last summer after being infected by an unknown virus apparently caught during his spring holidays in Thailand.
"I couldn't train for a long time so I was not sure at the start of this season to find back my rhythm so soon," he said at Beaver Creek. "Yet I'm still not in my very best shape for the moment, I see that I need more time than normal to recover after doing strong efforts."
His very ‘down-to-earth' and cool attitude soon earned him the explicit nickname of ‘Iceman' in his team and in the Swiss press. Even though Carlo is talking much more now that two years ago - even in English - he still likes to use few words to express his feelings and his thoughts after his races, showing no special emotion on race day even after impressive achievements. This attitude reminds other great giant slalom specialists as Sweden's legend Ingemar Stenmark or two-time world champion Michael von Grünigen of Switzerland.
"Yes, that's not bad, I'm pleased, it's no big deal," he mostly says when asked to comment his good results. "I'm not especially nervous before a competition, I take it as it comes," he sometimes adds. The young champion is appreciated by his colleagues for his dry humor. They also appreciate his mental strength and his very controlled style on snow that allows him to perfectly master the most treacherous of courses.
"It will help him to save energy and be ready to fight hard when it really matters," commented former champion Pirmin Zurbriggen, one of Switzerland's top stars in the 1980s. "He seems to have no nerves at all."
In fact, the new Swiss leader remained so relaxed prior his first ever FIS race many years ago that he even missed the start! He was having such a great time watching the competition from the finish line that he forgot to go early enough at the start. His trainer didn't like it so much and he was sent back at home to reflect about it.
Fortunately, Carlo came back and slowly moved up in the rankings, proving his potential in 2006 when he grabbed bronze in giant slalom at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Quebec. He also reached five podiums on the Europa Cup tour yet no single win. This didn't prevent him to explode onto the World Cup scene two years ago.
Janka frankly admits he is much more nervous before a football match of the English Premier League, especially when it involves his beloved team of Manchester United! Last spring he travelled to England to attend the classic Derby against Manchester City and said he was quite tense in the hours before it began.
"This was a big deal," he explained, "I played football a lot when I was younger, in defence. People told me I had talent but I preferred to focus on ski racing after a while but I still take time to play a little when I can," he said.
Ski racing is the main sport practiced in his region. His older brother Pirmin was also racing for a while although without great success while his younger sister Fabienne entered her first World Cup race earlier this season at Soelden. The 20-year-old didn't qualify for the second run but her victory last season in a FIS giant slalom at Zinal shows that she has talent too.
Carlo, called ‘Jänks' by his teammates, also an established expert using his play station, is always ready for exhilarating experiences. Last summer, he fully appreciated the exciting escape he made with a Hunter fighter jet flying over the Alps along other planes from the famous ‘Patrouille Suisse'.
"That was amazing, we were so close that I could clearly see the other pilots next to our jet, it was pretty thrilling," he said after his 40-minute-flight in the sky above his country.
His World Championships gold medal at Val d'Isère allows him to receive special treatment while travelling in the World Cup tour such as the use of a single room in the team hotel. He mostly declines this exclusive service since he enjoys sharing his time and his room with his good friend Sandro Viletta, another great Swiss talent.
As the other member of the Swiss team, Carlo Janka has been very affected by the terrible accident sustained by Daniel Albrecht at Kitzbühel last January. He was extremely relieved when Albrecht awoke from his coma in February during the World Championships and he dedicated him his triumph afterwards. As Didier Cuche, Janka knows that the margin between triumph and disaster is often very slim.
"He is a huge talent, I needed a long time before having the same feeling as him for the best line in downhill," commented the Swiss veteran at Beaver Creek after the downhill. "I'm sure he doesn't need to learn something from me," Cuche added. "He has such an instinct. He has it in the blood. I told him in the finish I would like to go back ten year and have the same God's gift."
Future will show how long Carlo Janka may need to achieve other outstanding performances - winning the big crystal globe or an Olympic medal at Whistler Mountain. But for sure he will create great interest for ski racing in Switzerland and in the rest of the world.
MMJL
