Bode Miller gets some air... Photo by Agence Zoom

Alongside Miller, Rahlves, Schlopy and Ligety, whose names top the news, are skiers who, while not as well known, have worked their way into top spots this year. Steve Nyman took fourth in the Kandahar downhill just last week, while Scott Macartney took his first ever World Cup podium in Garmisch just a day later, skiing the best race of his career. Two-time Olympian Chip Knight, a slalom and giant slalom skier, Jimmy Cochran, a tech skier, and Marco Sullivan, an all-around gem, round out the team.

The Coaches
This team's talent extends beyond the athletes. Understanding their success means taking a look at the supportive team of forward-thinking coaches, led by U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) president Bill Marolt. The organizational shift that made winners out of losers began with the four words that most accurately described what Marolt wanted the team to become, “Best in the World.”

Athletic excellence and financial strength are the top two components to the USSA's mission. To be the best, Marolt knew, athletes needed the best. So he recruited corporate sponsors and fleshed out the team's coffers. The hired the best coaches, each with varying approaches, to balance each other out. Head coach Phil McNichol, alpine director Jesse Hunt, tech coach Mike Morin and speed coach John McBride rewrote the way American skiers trained. They started watching and training with the Austrians, who have dominated the sport for nearly forty years, changing everything from stances to the intensity and frequency with which the Americans trained. Every run became race day. The skiers started training on frozen courses. Skiers sat with coaches, watching videotapes of opponents and teammates, comparing form and technique. It all came together—the coaches coached better, the skiers skied faster and champions rose from 25-year old dust.

The Results
Best in the world is more than a pipe dream. The Austrian's aren't too stoked to have the Americans training with them anymore. For the first time in a long time they're perceived as a threat to that country's dominance. Bode Miller's face is plastered everywhere, on magazines and, through his Nike campaign, in magazines, on billboards and TV. The top guys on the team graced the cover of Sport's Illustrated last week. It's in your face and everybody's watching. According to Jesse Hunt, the U.S. team's goal is to win eight of the 30 possible medals for Alpine skiers at the Olympics. The Austrian's won nine in Salt Lake City. This team isn't greedy; they're just good. And in just under a week, America won't be able to forget it.

By Leah Greenstein