WITH just two days remaining of the Winter Olympics the Turin Games are still seeking their defining moment, glorious or poignant, heroic or dastardly. With the exception of the Austrian cross-country skiing coach Walter Mayer's theatrical dash across the Italian border, proceedings have so far lacked a dramatic edge.
But for many in this country, and elsewhere, this evening's slalom will contain more than enough poignancy, when Alain Baxter arrives in the start house and eyeballs the floodlit Sestriere course that will represent his one and only shot at redemptio
n.
The 32-year old from Aviemore has travelled to Sestriere more in hope than expectation. He has also left it late, and it is difficult to escape the impression that Baxter has been trying to avoid the Olympics, or at least to delay his re-entry into this world for as long as possible.
And no wonder. In the miscarriage of justice that saw Baxter stripped of his slalom bronze medal after the 2002 Games in Salt Lake, and after his explanation was accepted by the British Olympic Association and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, only one body refused to acknowledge that he had been guilty of an innocent mistake: the IOC.
Baxter's feelings about the Olympics are ambivalent. Standing on the podium in Salt Lake, and then experiencing the reception he received back home in Aviemore, opened his eyes to the Games' ability to capture the imagination, and imbued him with positive feelings.
But they didn't last. "It was a different scale to a World Cup, I only learned that last time," said Baxter. "But then again, they [the IOC] didn't exactly treat me very well."
Baxter's build-up to these Games, his shot at redemption, or revenge, has been undermined by his continuing poor form and by the question of whether his career was catastrophically derailed in Salt Lake. He travelled there on the back of a career-best fourth in the World Cup finals, prompting Austrian legend Franz Klammer to tip him as an outside prospect for a medal. But since then Baxter has struggled to find consistency. Puzzling is a better description of his form than poor. World class in training, he has struggled to finish races, careening into slalom gates with worrying frequency.
On Wednesday he left his temporary base in Oulx, around an hour from Sestriere - note that he did not enter the Olympic Village until Thursday - to travel to Madesimo for a Europa Cup race. After skiing to fifth in the first run, he then encountered a familiar problem, hitting a slalom gate full in the face. His younger brother Noel had a far more positive outing, skiing to sixth in his second run and 17th overall.
For the elder Baxter that ended a period where he felt he was beginning to overcome these problems. Two weeks ago in the Europa Cup in Andorra he was fifth and twelfth, and he sits 11th in the overall standings.
Just before leaving for Italy, though, he acknowledged that the legacy of Salt Lake could be deep rooted. "It's obviously very possible that, deep down, it's shaken my confidence," said Baxter. "I've definitely taken a big blow mentally."
He also admitted that his problems on race day have nothing to do with ability. "I just need to relax for the 45 seconds of a race but it's like a little mental block comes down."
Some who are close to Baxter reckon that he hasn't been the same skier since Salt Lake, and in other comments he has hinted that it has affected him more than he generally lets on, but he has also had problems with injury. A knee problem dating back to a heavy training crash in the days prior to that fateful slalom in Salt Lake was operated on last summer, and a herniating disc in his back is a regular source of discomfort.
Klammer said yesterday what many others are thinking. "I just don't think he will win a medal this year," the Austrian told the BBC. "It was a shame what happened to him regarding the medal and I don't think he deserved to have it taken away. He didn't do anything wrong in my opinion.
"He has had a problem finding his form since what happened to him in Salt Lake. Before the last Olympics he was performing well but this season he has not been on the scene much. You cannot just switch from having bad form to becoming a gold medallist. You have to be there all season."
Baxter, though, maintains that, "It's like I am just waiting for something to click," and he remains convinced the ability is there, even if the form comes and goes. Like Klammer, a lot of people feel that Baxter was the victim of a ruling that defied commonsense, but they will watch tonight's men's slalom more in the hope that his form will return than in the expectation that he can repeat his bronze medal-winning performance of 2002.
