Papa Paerson feels Anja is an icon
ARE, Sweden: Anja Paerson's rivals may be planning to end her stunning gold run once the technical slalom events begin here at the world ski championships.
However her father and coach Anders is confident he can help maintain his 25-year-old world-beating daughter's streak.
"I have to believe that, otherwise I'm not doing my job very well," he said.
Paerson on Sunday won her third gold medal here, the seventh of her career, to become the first ever skier to win titles in all five disciplines having previously won gold in the slalom, giant slalom, super-G and super-combined.
For a girl who grew up skiing the technical slalom on small hills in the northern town of Taernaby, which also famously produced alpine legend Ingemar Stenmark, winning the downhill is a huge achievement.
Paerson senior has no doubts about its significance and belives she can now safely be put on the same pedestal as the likes of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong or Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer.
Front and back images show Anja Paerson of Sweden diving into the snow to celebrate her gold medal win in the women's downhill event at the Alpine Skiing World Championships 2007 in Are on Sunday. Reuters |
"It's really big," he said of her win on Sunday. "It's like the Formula One of skiing, and she's beaten everybody.
"Now I feel that when we're talking about guys like Federer and Armstrong we can also talk about Anja. We're not ashamed to say she is now one of the world's best athletes."
The success of Paerson, a two-time winner of the tough, season-long World Cup, is all the more surprising given her miserable season on the circuit.
The Swede was forced to have a knee operation after the Olympics last year, where she claimed a first gold in the slalom, and along with equipment issues that setback has played havoc with her confidence.
After a series of bad results in January, her father's instinct took over when he decided they should return home instead of competing in three World Cup races in Italy.
But he admitted they were far from being confident.
"A lot of people in Sweden thought 'Anja is coming for the world championships, it's no problem'," he added.
"But they didn't know that we were totally nervous and didn't know what to do.
"We had to get her mentally strong again and sent her to her sister in Umea, to live a normal life for a couple of days and forget about skiing.
"Then we came back and sat with the (ski) serviceman, myself, physios and everybody who is involved so Anja felt we were all behind her.
"She soon began to feel calm, and was thinking 'if I have those people behind me, all I have to do is ski'."
The rest is history. Paerson claimed gold in her first race here when she defended her super-G crown before going on to win the super-combined and the downhill.
The giant slalom and slalom gold remain possibilities, although Paerson will face stiff competition from American Olympic champion Julia Mancuso, among others.
Her father's touch has worked so far, especially when Anja had a dose of the alpine blues.
"When you talk about your own daughter, she can do whatever she wants but if she's not happy then it's the worst feeling you can have as a parent," he admitted.
He will be hoping his influence, and her skiing, can keep her on track for more gold starting on Tuesday.
AFP
(China Daily 02/14/2007 page24)
