LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (AP) _ Germany's Hilde Gerg overcame steady snow and fog and won the the second women's World Cup downhill race of the season Saturday, beating Austria's Renate Goetschl by 15-hundredths of a second. Gerg, second in last year's downhill standings, won the race in 1 minute, 36.01 seconds. "It's nice to win (a downhill) so early," said Gerg, who reached the podium for the fifth time at Lake Louise and the winner's step twice. "I had a good feeling today. I concentrated on staying aggressive because it's not easy if you can't see too much. It just worked." Goetschl, last year's downhill champion, was second in 1:36.16 while France's Carole Montillett-Carles was third in 1:36.20. Montillett-Carles was second in Friday's downhill and climbed the podium for the eighth time in the last nine races in Lake Louise. She shrugged when asked why she's skied so well on the 2,580-metre Men's Olympic Downhill course. "I don't know,"

Montillett-Carles frowned.''I don't want to know. I just want to ski, go fast. I don't want to think too much." Austria's Brigitte Obermoser was fourth in 1:36.25, followed by American Lindsey Kildow (1:36.27), Italy's Isolde Kostner (1:36.76) and Germany's Petra Haltmayr (1:36.93). Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister (1:37.02), American Caroline Lalive (1:37.06) and Croatia's Janica Kostelic (1:37.25) completed the top 10. The victory moved Gerg to the top of the downhill standings with 160 points, 15 ahead of Kildow, who won the season's first downhill on Friday.

Montillet-Carles was third 140 points. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who does not ski the speed disciplines, retained the overall World Cup lead with 340 points, 51 more than Sweden's Anja Paerson, who finished 17th on Saturday. Kostelic was third with 238 points while Gerg moved into fourth with 160 points, three ahead of Goetschl and American Kristina Koznick. 

AP  ( 04/12/2004 22:14 )

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Saturday December 4, 11:55 AM 
Kildow claims first World Cup win in Lake Louise downhill

LAKE LOUISE, (AFP) - American Lindey Kildow won the women's downhill, holding off France's Carole Montillet to claim the first World Cup victory of her career.

Kildow clocked 1min 23.44sec in a race shortened because of high winds high on the mountain. Montillet, the reigning Olympic downhill champion who won two downhills here last year, settled for second in 1:23.63. Germany's Hilde Gerg, who won a downhill here in 2002, finished third in 1:23.69.

Kildow, 20, improved on her previous best World Cup performance of a third place in Cortina last season.

"It was pretty awesome," Kildow said. "I wasn't sure how it was going to go but obviously I'm satisfied. I had some problems in training and I had to make some adjustments today. I was very direct."

Kildow's victory upset the form book as she denied two skiers who had dominated here recently.Montillet and Gerg had won the last four downhills run on Lake Louise's Olympic course.

Montillet nearly made her 100th career downhill start a winning one, but a few errors proved costly."I am happy about this result," she said. "It wasn't easy this year with everyone watching me. I felt pressure, and I was a little stressed. Today the conditions were difficult with the wind and no visibility. I wanted to be aggressive as I could, but I am happy to have this finish."

Finland's Tanja Poutiainen remained in the lead in the overall standings with 340 points followed by Sweden's Anja Paerson with 275 and Croatia's Janica Kostelic (212).

Poutiainen, a technical specialist, skipped the speed events of Lake Louise, giving Paerson and Kostelic a chance to gain ground.

Kostelic finished 13th and Paerson 16th

Friday's race was interrupted by several crashes. France's Melanie Suchet had to be helped away from the finish area with an injured knee while American Libby Ludlow was taken to the hospital with a suspected broken leg.

The race was the first of two downhills scheduled here. Saturday's second downhill is to be followed by a

super-G on Sunday. 

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