A long and winding road for Baxter

Published on Sunday 2 November 2003 00:00

YOU have to move fast to keep up with 29-year-old Alain Baxter. When we meet up, Britain’s No.1 skier is just back from a race in Austria and prior to catching a flight to London, he is now preparing to launch himself into yet another gruelling fitness session at Glenmore Lodge, near Aviemore.

Arguably, the mercurial talent of The Highlander has served to highlight, more than any other British racer in recent years, just what the nation’s skiers can achieve on the international circuit. After more than a decade on the British Team, Baxter appears more committed than ever to reach the podium.

However, in his first world cup race of the season last weekend, a giant slalom (GS) in Solden, Austria, Baxter failed to qualify for the second run. Ranked only 107th in the world in GS, you sense his disappointment:

"I’m not happy with the result, but my coach (Christian Schwaiger) was happy with the way I skied. It’s going well in training but I’m still a little bit hit and miss (in GS). It’s always going to be a battle to get a great result with a start number of 50 or more. That said, I know I’ve just got to bide my time and keep thinking positively."

Baxter will have plenty of opportunities to make amends in the weeks and months ahead. This week, he will head for the US to compete in NOR-AM Cup races, culminating in his first world slalom race of the season in Park City on November 23rd. Subsequently, he will chase more of the vital world cup points that eluded him so often last season. By Baxter’s own standards, last season was disappointing with an 11th in Japan his best world cup slalom result.

However, he has already shown that he has the qualities to finish consistently in the world top ten. In 2001, he finished 4th in a World Cup slalom in Sweden and there was a 7th the same year in Wengen, Switzerland. Baxter, currently ranked 31st in world cup slalom, can deliver the goods. It’s a fact that his manager, John Clark, points out:

"Britain has got more skiers ranked in the top 100 in the world than ever before. Chemmy (Alcott) scored world cup GS points last weekend and Alain is right on the verge of being on world cup podiums."

Despite this, the latest round of allegations of doping and drug abuse in world sport have meant that Baxter has once again found himself asked to comment on the furore, following his own well documented cruel experience at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Awarded and then stripped of Britain’s first-ever medal in an alpine skiing event, Baxter is reticent to comment further about the "Vicks inhaler" episode that saw his Olympic dream evaporate just days after taking bronze. However, after a long pause, he offers up a brief, poignant comment:

"For sure, if someone is innocent, I would not wish them to go through what I went through." Having been training in Austria when the story broke on 100m runner, Dwain Chambers, Baxter has been largely unaware of the latest outcry in British sport. As far as Baxter is concerned, the whole issue is firmly in the past:

"As much as I can’t forget about it and what I went through, I really now wish the subject would simply move on. After all, I was cleared by the sports court of arbitration over a year ago." Knowingly, he adds:

"If you look at what happened to me (at the Olympics) there’s a hard lesson there for my fellow skiers and other sportspeople, in terms of just how careful you always have to be as an athlete in every area of your preparation."

Clark believes the events of that period have made Baxter a stronger person and the skier himself appears to have little time for bemoaning his Olympic misfortune. If anything, the episode appears to have galvanised his determination to realise his world cup skiing ambitions. He is clear of his priorities:

"To be in contention in Turin (2006 Winter Olympics) you first have to get your start number down through consistent performances on the (World Cup) circuit. For me, the FIS World Cup has got to be my bread and butter; every race and point counts throughout the season."

Baxter has been training hard on and off the snow throughout the summer. As he leaves to begin his latest fitness session, it’s clear from his final comment that events of the past have not diminished his self-belief:

"If I ski to my potential and everything clicks, I’ll be back on the podium."