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| ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP 1997/98 |
Cortina d'Amoezzo (ITA) Women's 5th Downhill. 22,Jan,1998
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3rd win for Isolde Kostner
Italy's Isolde Kostner made an
impressive
comeback in her preferred event
today in
winning the fifth downhill of
the season
held in fine weather conditions
on the demanding
"Tofana" course in
Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The double Super-G World Champion,
who celebrated
her third success in this specialty
since
1996, beat by 15/100 Austria's
Renate Goetschl
winner last week in Altenmarkt,
Austria.
Florence Masnada achieved her
season's best
performance with a strong 3rd
place at 56/100.
The French racer came ahead some
of the top-favorites
such as America's Picabo Street
or Germany's
Hilde Gerg and Katja Seizinger.
Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg, racing
in her first
downhill this season after several
injuries
including two broken ribs at
Lienz, late
December, obtained a very encouraging
9th
place at 1,36 second.
With fifth win in her career,
"Isi"
moved up in the downhill World
Cup standings.
She is now 3rd behind Seizinger
and Goetschl.
Seizinger is still far ahead
in the Overall
standings.
After a strong season's start
in Canada's
Lake Louise where she was 3rd
in a downhill,
Kostner was not able to keep
her strong form
during the European competition.
13th in Val d'Isere, she was
only 7th on
the challenging course in Altenmarkt.
She found back all her momentum
as soon as
she skied again down the beautiful
"Tofana"
course used in 1956 during the
Olympic Winter
Games. She knew she could again
aim for a
place on the podium after clocking
the fastest
time in the first training run
on Tuesday.
"This place brought much
happiness in
the past years and I was really
motivated
when I came back here "
she said. "The
course is for sure one of the
nicest in our
program with its very steep schuss
on the
upper part and the fast turns
in the middle.
You also need to be a good glider
in the
lower part."
"I was not so pleased by
my run while
I was going down the hill: I
couldn't keep
the line I had chosen during
the inspection
but obviously I was very fast
all along the
run."
"It's wonderful to win here
in front
of my fans and my friends. I
like to compete
in Italy. This success comes
at the right
moment to boost my moral three
weeks before
the beginning of the Olympics.
I know for
sure now that I will have good
medal chances
in Japan".
Twice 3rd in Lillehammer in downhill
and
Super-G, Kostner will compete
for her first
Olympic title this time on the
Hakuba course
which includes a lonf final gliding
section.
Another skier who will also fight
for Gold
in Nagano in downhill is the
1996'downhill
World Champion Picabo Street,
excellent 4th
at only 25/100 from the podium.
The American celebrated this
result as if
she would have won. "It
was my goal
to reach a top-5 position here
after being
10th in the past two downhills
and I'm more
than happy to be 4th today"
she explained.
"I really could release
the tiger in
me this time.
It's a great feeling to be moving
again near
my limits. No I'm on the right
track for
Nagano".
"I feel great when I'm in
Cortina which
is a very special place for me.
This course
suits me perfectly because you
have to be
aggressive on some parts and
more smooth
on others. I have been thinking
for more
than a year about this race and
it was always
on my mind when I faced difficult
moments
after my crash in Vail. I will
aim for a
top-3 in Sweden next week".
Great satisfaction also for Masnda
who had
to wait for almost three years
to conquer
another place on the podium.
Winner in a Super-G in 1995 in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
she was 3rd in Bormio, again
in Super-G during
the World Cup Finals. 4th last
week in Austria,
the 29-year-old veteran fought
hard for this
superb result which gives her
great momentum
for the coming Olympics.
"It's a strong satisfaction
to find
myself back among the best after
all the
injuries I had in the past years"
she
said. "I needed much time
to overcome
a luxation at my right hip done
three years
ago after a bad fall in the finish
line in
Veysonnaz. I crashed again on
it last November
during the Super-G in Mammoth
Mountain and
I was somehow afraid to take
all risks afterwards.
The excellent results of the
French team
since the season start helped
me a lot: I
could take much energy and pleasure
sharing
the top-performances of some
of my colleagues.
I also wanted to have my part.
My 4th place
in Altenmarkt showed me that
I was on the
right way. Now I can look ahead
for my last
Olympics with a more relaxed
attitude: I
will also be fighting for medals
there".
Austria's Goetschl also confirmed
her strong
form: the combined World Champion
from Sestriere
was the fastest skier on the
upper part of
the course but she couldn't catch
up with
Kostner's great gliding technique
on the
last flat section. She was not
so pleased
by her 2nd place. "The visibility
was
not always good when I raced
down and I had
a hard time to see the ruts"
she said.
"I couldn't be as precise
as I wished...At
least I know that my skis are
really competitive
in this moment".
Also disappointed was Germany's
Katja Seizinger,
only 6th at almost a second.
The leader in
the Overall standings who came
nine times
on the podium here in the last
five years,
was hoping to win again the downhill
after
she set the best time in the
last training
run held earlier in the morning
before the
race. She had also some problems
to handle
the bumps when some clouds came
in front
of the sun. The next two Super-G
may give
her an opportunity to take a
nice revenge.
Also to mention the strong 10th
place of
Canada's Melanie Turgeon, her
best finish
in the last five years. Kate
Pace Lindsay
was a far 28th at over three
seconds. |
Women's 6th Downhill, 22.01.1998
| Rank |
Name |
Nat. |
Total |
| 1 |
KOSTNER Isolde |
ITA |
1:28.48 |
| 2 |
GOETSCHL Renate |
AUT |
1:28.63 |
| 3 |
MASNADA Florence |
FRA |
1:29.04 |
| 4 |
STREET Picabo |
USA |
1:29.29 |
| 5 |
GERG Hilde |
GER |
1:29.31 |
| 6 |
SEIZINGER Katja |
GER |
1:29.39 |
| 7 |
CAVAGNOUD Regine |
FRA |
1:29.75 |
| 8 |
SCHUSTER Stefanie |
AUT |
1:29.81 |
| 9 |
WIBERG Pernilla |
SWE |
1:29.84 |
| 10 |
TURGEON Melanie |
CAN |
1:29.88 |
| 11 |
ZURBRIGGEN Heidi |
SUI |
1:29.90 |
| 12 |
MEISSNITZER Alexandra |
AUT |
1:29.93 |
| 13 |
MARKEN Ingeborg Helen |
NOR |
1:30.11 |
| 14 |
ZELENSKAJA Warwara |
RUS |
1:30.22 |
| 15 |
BORGHI Catherine |
SUI |
1:30.32 |
| 16 |
GUTENSOHN Katharina |
GER |
1:30.56 |
| 16 |
MONTILLET Carole |
FRA |
1:30.56 |
| 18 |
OBERMOSER Brigitte |
AUT |
1:30.68 |
| 19 |
GLADISHIVA Svetlana |
RUS |
1:30.78 |
| 20 |
BERTHOD Sylviane |
SUI |
1:30.83 |
| 21 |
BRACUN Spela |
SLO |
1:30.85 |
| 22 |
SCHNEIDER Tanja |
AUT |
1:30.90 |
| 23 |
DALLOZ Leatitia |
FRA |
1:30.98 |
| 24 |
SUCHET Melanie |
FRA |
1:31.08 |
| 25 |
VOGT Miriam |
GER |
1:31.12 |
| 26 |
BRAUNER Sibylle |
GER |
1:31.24 |
| 27 |
STROEM Grete |
NOR |
1:31.65 |
| 28 |
PACE LINDSAY Kate |
CAN |
1:31.72 |
| 28 |
REY BELLET Corinne |
SUI |
1:31.72 |
| 30 |
MERLIN Alessandra |
ITA |
1:31.82 |
| 31 |
KRISTIANSEN Kristine |
NOR |
1:31.93 |
| 32 |
BASSIS Patrizia |
ITA |
1:31.95 |
| 33 |
SUHADOLC Mojca |
SLO |
1:31.98 |
| 34 |
CLARK Kirsten L |
USA |
1:32.14 |
| 35 |
GIMLE Trude |
NOR |
1:32.17 |
| 36 |
BRESCIANI Elena |
ITA |
1:32.30 |
| 37 |
SALCHINGER Marianna |
AUT |
1:32.43 |
| 38 |
FORTKORD Martina |
SWE |
1:32.79 |
| 39 |
TAGLIABUE Elena |
ITA |
1:32.85 |
| 40 |
CECCARELLI Daniela |
ITA |
1:32.89 |
| 41 |
BRANDNER Elisabeth |
GER |
1:32.93 |
| 42 |
MENDES Jonna |
USA |
1:33.00 |
| 43 |
HEREGGER Selina |
AUT |
1:33.08 |
| 44 |
TSCHIRKY Monika |
SUI |
1:33.44 |
| 45 |
LARIONOVA Anna |
RUS |
1:33.62 |
| 46 |
KALAN Anja |
SLO |
1:34.25 |
| 47 |
NESTERENKO Ekaterina |
RUS |
1:34.94 |
| 48 |
KHARKIVSKA Yulia |
UKR |
1:38.53 |
| 49 |
KOVACS Monika |
HUN |
1:40.26 |
Did not start 1st run:
PUTZER Karen (ITA)
Did not finish 1st run:
LEMBERGER Diana (GER), PEREZ Bibiana (ITA), DORFMEISTER Michaela (AUT),
HAEUSL Regina (GER), NORHEIM Tonje (NOR), WELF Sovrana (ITA)
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