La Plagne is an expansive resort in the heart of the Savoie region of France. It was the Bobsled site during the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games. But this year they turned to Freestyle to host the 2009 World Cup Finals.

The U.S. mogul team had a rough go in their Dual Mogul event. They had a stacked team ready to score but they ran into some bad luck and got skunked on the podium. However, Hannah Kearney still walked away with a crystal globe signifying her overall mogul victory.

Then it was my turn to try and pull off a victory of my own. The overall was out of my grasp but I still had a chance to take 3rd away from Lars Lewen. So there were two races going on. The big race was between Thomas Krauss and Chris DelBosco for first place and then there was a smaller race between Lars Lewen and me for 3rd place.

DelBosco closed the gap on Krauss in the race in Meiringen and he was the only one that had a shot at defeating the Ski Cross Champ. He came up short, however, catching his buckle on the B-net and crashing in the final. Thomas Krauss managed to defend his World Cup title. It was not an easy feat considering how strong the competition was this year.

Just like every race since the middle of February I felt ready for a great showing. My body was in good shape and I was skiing well. I was the 4th seed based on my overall ranking for the season so I had good gate picks. I had a great start in the first round and won the heat by a good 20 meters. Then in the quarterfinal I missed the timing of the start and it was all over. It was one of my worst starts all year. I had the best start position and I was 4th to the hole shot. Then I followed Stanley Hayer and Xavier Kuhn down the mountain hoping for them to make a mistake so I could capitalize and pass. Xavier made a great pass on Stanley. Then Stanley made an amazing pass on Xavier to get the transfer spot.

I was left in the back kicking myself for making such a terrible start. That was it. The year was over. I set out to win the World Cup overall and I ended up 4th. It was a respectable finish. But I did have something to celebrate. I finished this year healthy. For the first time in 3 years I walked away without crutches or slings. I didn’t have to make any appointments at the Steadman Clinic. It was great.

I am now set up to have a strong off-season to prepare for the upcoming Olympic Games in Vancouver. Life is good.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 11:39 am and is filed under caseypuckett. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.