ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria, Jan 9 AP - Less than five weeks before the Sochi Olympics downhill, the US women's Alpine ski team is still trying to click into gear.
Going into Saturday's World Cup race in Austria, the team is looking for its first top-10 result of the season in downhill - a sharp contrast to last year, when six American speed skiers reached the podium at least once.
"Last year, they pushed themselves to a different level," coach Alex Hoedlmoser said.
"This year we are not there yet but we know why we are not there yet. We targeted those areas and it is going to be better."
Results, however, won't easily improve without Lindsey Vonn, who has curtailed her brief season to undergo surgery again on her injured right knee and will miss the Olympics.
A five-time World Cup downhill champion and 2010 Olympic gold medallist, Vonn has been the standout performer of the team for a long time.
Julia Mancuso, runner-up to her teammate in the downhill at the Vancouver Games, said they're missing Vonn not just for her results but also for inspiration.
"Lindsey is so consistent," Mancuso said. "So knowing that someone from the US team will always be good, helps the team. ... Having a good, positive environment, people winning, it all helps the team spirit. I am sure we are missing that a little."
Asked about the reasons for his team being collectively out-of-form, Hoedlmoser said, without elaborating, "there has been some internal stuff that we know that happened and that we don't really want to present to everybody."
According to Mancuso, "it's really hard to explain" what the team has been going through.
"Everyone has been skiing really well, it's just a matter of doing it in the races," Mancuso said.
Struggling with the aftermath of two torn ligaments, Vonn started in just four of the seven World Cup speed races.
Still, her best results - 11th in downhill and fifth in super-G, both in Lake Louise - are unmatched by any of her teammates.
Leanne Smith finished sixth in the same super-G but no American was a threat to the winner in any race.
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