Chodounsky speeds his way into top 10 in World Cup race

One step closer to Sochi

David Chodounsky posted the best World Cup result of his career on Sunday, December 1, placing seventh in the slalom race at Val d’Isere, France and taking one big step toward reaching his Olympic dream.
Chodounsky started ski racing at age seven at Buck Hill in Minnesota. His family eventually moved to Crested Butte, where he raced for the Crested Butte Ski Club and finished his high school ski-racing career at the Crested Butte Academy. He went on to a very successful collegiate ski-racing career at Dartmouth, including a national slalom title.
With college finished, he returned to his initial dream of making the U.S. Ski Team and ultimately the Olympics. He reached his first goal three years ago and then got called up to the A team last year.
It was a great turnaround last weekend for Chodounsky after a tough run earlier this month at a World Cup race in Levi, Finland, where he fell shy of reaching the finals.
“I skied well but the snow and hill were pretty easy so you had to punch it,” says Chodounsky. “It was a really tight race and I didn’t have a horrible run, I was just a little too conservative.”
As a result, Chodounsky had to make a subtle, yet critical, mental shift leading up to his race in Val d’Isere.
“Heading in I was thinking, I have to give it a little more gas,” says Chodounsky.
Giving it more gas at Val d’Isere was pushing it, though. Not only is the course notoriously tricky with several rolls into steep sections, but conditions on race day varied from the top of the course to the bottom. While the top of the slalom course proved to be sticky, the bottom was slick. Therefore, too sharp an edge can kick a skier out of the top of the course but not sharp enough could result in a wash-out at the bottom.
“It was a tough surface for sure,” says Chodounsky.
Nevertheless, Chodounsky laid down one of his best first runs on the slalom circuit, finishing in 15th place and setting him up to make a run at top 10 with a solid second run.
“It was a perfect first run for me,” says Chodounsky. “I did exactly what I wanted.”
As he waited for his second start, Chodounsky flirted mentally with returning to his conservative style but once he stepped into the starting gate, he opted otherwise.
“I got into the gate and I was thinking, you know what to do, just go, you got more,” says Chodounsky.
As he headed down the run, things were clicking and he kept pushing the envelope, ultimately laying down his best run to date and earning the “green light” when he crossed the finish line, an indication that he was in the lead.
“I felt like I was in full control even though I was pushing it more,” says Chodounsky. “When I came through the finish line I saw the green light. It’s a great feeling.”
Chodounsky finished with the fourth-fastest run in the round to move him into seventh place overall.
“It was really close, I was just on the right side of the clock and only 2/10ths off the podium,” says Chodounsky.
The U.S. Ski Team won’t announce their Olympic squad until mid-January. Basically, they’re waiting to see who’s hot and who’s not in this Olympic year. Chodounsky’s result in Val d’Isere takes him one step closer.
“It doesn’t lock it up but it’s a step in the right direction,” says Chodounsky. “If I get one more top 10 that should lock it up for me. I feel like I’m skiing really well and Sunday’s race really helped with my confidence.”
He returns to the World Cup circuit in January with four more races in Europe starting in Zagreb, Croatia.