Andrew Weibrecht and Bode Miller after finishing bronze and silver in the super G (Doug Haney/U.S. Ski Team)
Andrew Weibrecht is usually a speed skier, putting his best foot forward at the most opportune time. Andrew smoked most of the competition, winning a bronze medal at the Vancouver Olympic Games in Super G.
Born February 10th, 1986 in Lake Placid, “War Horse” as many call him, has been on the World Cup tour for several years and every year has gained consistently better results. In 07, you would have seen him hovering around 30th or even 40th position, then in 08/09 around 20, and in this current season, he’s been in and around the top 10, making him a serious threat on any given day.
When he came through early in the Olympic Super G and waited through the long laundry list of racers to come after him, he probably would not have imagined that his time would stick. Only Bode and Aksel bested him by .03 and .31 respectively, basically a blink of an eye.
This is definitely someone to keep an eye in the future and if you happen to catch him in a tech event, you will see him wearing his Slytech Nervous Guards.
Today’s Men’s Alpine Ski Slalom is lining up to be a stacked field of competitors. With tough tight technical turns, each requiring the athlete to slap the gate out of the way with the pole guard and shin guard, aerodynamics and reduced friction of the guard on the pole is of utmost importance.
Slytech’s 3 raised fin concept does exactly that… it keeps the contact surface of the shin and arm guards to a minimum on the gate, thereby reducing drag.
Also important is the back protector. Often times, racers will catch an edge and literally get launched into the air several feet and slammed down hard on their back (that happened to Lindsey Vonn in the Women’s GS a few days ago). Skiing is a dangerous sport and protective gear is an absolute must if you want ski another day.
Amongst today’s Shredders who use or have used Slytech (either the guards or the back protector) are:
Ted Ligety(USA)
Jimmy Cochran (USA)
Marc Gini (SUI)
Reinfried Herbst (AUT)
Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
Nolan Kasper (USA)
Sandro Viletta (SUI)
and many more…
The first run starts at 10AM PST, so make sure to tune in to your country’s TV coverage to see the drama and glory unfold!
No explanation why Julia Mancuso decided to start using the Slytech 2nd Skin Back Protector she’s been lugging around for a year or so now, but she did. An amazing game-day competitor, Julia is, and now she can be called…
“The Most Decorated Female American Olympic Alpine Skier with 3 Medals!”
And what back protector has she worn for the past 2 silver medal performances?
SLYTECH, BABY!
Check out this little video of the crowd going nuts as she crossed the finish line to take over the top spot at the Vancouver Olympic Super Combined.