Garmisch: Guay tops DH for first World Cup win       
Saturday, 24 February 2007 

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Erik Guay of Canada won Saturday's downhill for his first World Cup victory.
    Guay clocked 1 minute, 56.80 seconds on the 3,455-meter Kandahar course to beat Friday's winner, Andrej Jerman of Slovenia, by half a second and give Canadian men their first downhill victory in 14 years.
    ''I am really excited. This is super stuff,'' Guay said. ''There will be a huge party tonight. It's taken a while, but it's an awesome feeling. It hasn't sunk in yet.''  
    Didier Cuche of Switzerland finished third in 1:57.33 to stretch his lead in downhill standings.
    Guay had placed third in Friday's downhill and picked up his first victory with a blazing run on a course that had frozen overnight. The race was held in bright sunshine and spring-like temperatures.
    The Canadian racer had won a combined downhill in 2005 in Val d'Isere in France, but this was his first win in a proper downhill and it came on one of the most demanding courses on the circuit.
    Guay topped 120 kph (75 mph) in the steeper upper part of the slope and stayed on a good line all the way.
    ''It played out at the bottom, I had a good line and brought a lot of speed into it,'' he said. ''I took as many risks as possible.''
    He led a fine Canadian showing, with three racers in the top 10. Jan Hudec was fifth and Manuel Osborne-Paradis seventh. The last Canadian man to win a downhill was Cary Mullen in Aspen in 1994.
    ''Hopefully, we'll get a few more soon,'' Guay said.
    In Friday's race, most late starters were at a disadvantage because of a rapidly deteriorating course. But the starting order did not appear to be a factor Saturday. Neither of the top three finishers had started among the first 20.
    Guay, 25, has been steadily improving on the circuit and finished fourth in the World Championship downhill in Are, Sweden, earlier this month.
    In the last race before the championship, he finished second in a downhill in Val d'Isere and then came third place Friday.
    ''It's been a while in the works. I came close several times this year, I came close yesterday and finally I put it all together,'' Guay said. ''I feel my skiing has been getting better and better all winter.''
    Jerman had another fine run a day after becoming the first Slovenian to win a downhill.
    ''It was important today to show that it wasn't a one-day wonder,'' Jerman said. ''First and second, it's more than I ever expected."
    Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who won the world downhill title in Sweden, finished 19th on Saturday to stay in front with 807 points, while Cuche moved up to second overall at 748.
    Cuche leads the downhill standings with 507 points, ahead of Marc Buechel of Liechtenstein at 379. Buchel was eighth Saturday.
    ''If I win the title without winning a race, I'll be happy, but it would be good to win a race,'' Cuche said.
    Like Friday, none of the medalists from the world championship finished on the podium.
    Scott Macartney led the U.S. Ski Team, tying for in 23nd place. Steven Nyman was 27th, Marco Sullivan 37th and Erik Fisher 40th. JJ Johnson DNFed. Bode Miller didn't start the race because of a neck injury.
    Hermann Maier, the Austrian star who won his first World Cup race in Garmisch 10 years ago, completed a disastrous two days of racing in 25th place, a slight improvement over his 29th-place finish Friday.
    A slalom is scheduled Sunday in this southern German resort.

— The Associated Press

 
Garmisch: Jerman gives Slovenia first WC DH win       
Friday, 23 February 2007 
 
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Andrej Jerman gave Slovenia its first World Cup downhill win Friday, mastering a difficult course in tough conditions.
    Jerman covered the 3,455-meter long Kandahar course in 1 minute, 56.82 seconds to beat Hans Grugger of Austria by 0.22 of a second. Erik Guay of Canada was third in 1:57.26.
    Jerman's previous best finishes on the circuit were a pair of fourth places, one of them in a combined.
    ''This is amazing,'' the 28-year-old Slovene said. "I've been working a lot for this and I had to overcome many injuries in my career. This is a great reward."
    Jerman took advantage of a relatively early starting number (11), when the course was still holding up in mild weather.
    ''The course was getting bad and soft, but I had no problems,'' he said.   
    "This is quite sensational, I did not really expect it to happen here today, but for sure I fought hard for this," Jerman said after the race. "I like demanding courses which require aggressive skiing. I already felt comfortable in Bormio last December. The snow was quite soft here but I could stay on the best line in the difficult turns and let run my skis in the fast parts. This win is huge for me but also for my team which has not done so well this winter. I worked hard for years to become a good downhiller. So far our team had better results in the technical events but downhill is much more fun and exciting."
    Jerman finished 17th in downhill at the World Championship in Are, Sweden, less than two weeks ago.
    Slovenia has produced a number of excellent technical skiers and winners in slalom and giant slalom races but until now it had no notable results in downhill and stages no World Cup downhill races.
    Grugger, meanwhile, was not selected for Austria's World Championship team and made his first podium since 2005. Starting seventh was a help, the Austrian said. ''For late starters, it was incredibly difficult,'' he said.
    Guay, who started 21st, agreed.
    ''It was surely a disadvantage to start late in these really tough conditions,'' the Canadian said. ''But I truly believe the best skiers can perform in any conditions.''
    Friday's race replaced a downhill from Kitzbühel, Austria, that had to be called off in January because of bad conditions. Another downhill is scheduled for Saturday in this southern German resort, with a slalom to follow on Sunday.
    Later starters that included several top-ranked skiers were well off the pace. Austria's Fritz Strobl, a former winner here, was the best of the top-guns in 11th place. He started in 25th position. Marco Buechel was 14th and reigning World Champion Aksel Svindal 16th. Hermann Maier finished 29th just behind Bode Miller while Michael Walchhofer, a two-time winner here two years ago, crashed once in the difficult last left turn situated a few seconds prior the finish line. Walchhofer was taken to a local hospital. Tests revealed no serious injuries, Austrian team officials said.
    World Cup downhill leader Didier Cuche of Switzerland was already on the course when Walchhofer went flying into the safety netting. Cuche had to restart, also finishing well down the field, but 20th was still good enough for him to reinforce his lead in the downhill standings.
    Steven Nyman led the U.S. Ski Team in 12th place, one spot ahead of Scott Macartney. Macartney started second out of the gate. Bode Miller struggled to find any speed on the lower section of the course in finishing 2.29 seconds back of Jerman in 28th place. Erik Fisher (40th) and JJ Johnson (42nd) rounded out the U.S. finishers. Marco Sullivan failed to finish.
    "It was a late start [12:45 p.m. local time] because the race was picked up last month and this was the only time available on TV," U.S. downhill coach Chris Brigham explained. "It's full-on springtime here, grass and flowers growing, so early numbers played a role in how a skier did ... and I think after bib 16 no one moved up very much, if at all."
    The temperature at the start was more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit., more than 50 at the finish, indicating the soft conditions of the snow. "Steven and 'Mac' did a good job, and Mac moved closer to the top 25 to make World Cup Finals [he's 27th, 20 points away from 25th]...
    "We've got another good opportunity [Saturday] with some early start numbers because they're saying the weather should hold, have some sunshine ... and then rain Sunday for the slalom."

       — The Associated Press, Manuele Lang and USSA contributed to this report

Sierra Nevada: Kirchgasser wins; Mancuso 6th       
Saturday, 24 February 2007 

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain — Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria won a highly technical giant slalom Saturday for her first World Cup victory.
    Kirchgasser moved up from third after the first leg and skied the steep Fuente del Tesoro course in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 14.41 seconds.
    ''My first run wasn't perfect, so I was thinking maybe I could get on the podium, but not victory,'' Kirchgasser said. ''There are so many good giant slalom skiers and normally you need two great runs.''
    Nicole Hosp, the Austrian who won the giant slalom at the worlds 11 days ago and leads the World Cup GS standings, was second, 0.42 seconds behind. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who had led after the first run, was third, 0.58 out.
    Julia Mancuso led three American racers in the top 30, finishing sixth and a second-and-a-half behind Kirchgasser.
    Resi Stiegler, who started the race No. 51, laid down the fifth-fastest second-run time to help her finish 10th, the Wyoming native's first career top 10 in a World Cup GS. Jessica Kelley was a WC career-best 17th. Libby Ludlow didn't qualify for a second run.
    "We've got a GS team again," said U.S. GS head coach Chris Knight. "We had one going into Aspen [in November] and it kind of went into hiding for a while, but it came back today. We know Julia can do better but a personal best for two skiers on the same day ... that's pretty cool."
    The World Cup circuit has not raced at Sierra Nevada since the 1999 season finals and very few of the skiers are familiar with the course. The GS run starts out with a gradient of 54 percent, levels out in the middle section, then drops off sharply again before the finish.
    ''It's steep on the beginning and down here at the finish,'' Poutiainen said. ''At the middle it's flat but it goes really fast and you really have to be quick on your feet. It's not an easy course.''
    The 21-year-old Kirchgasser finished fourth in the giant slalom at the worlds. She sprained her thumb in training Friday but said she took painkillers before the race and the injury did not affect her.
    ''You ski with your feet, not your thumb,'' she said.
    Kirchgasser replaced Hosp, who was ill, on Austria's squad that won the team event at the worlds.
    ''That was special. And I skied well. It gave me confidence,'' Kirchgasser said.
    Kirchgasser's previous best World Cup results were second in a super-combi in Reiteralm, Austria, in December, and third in a giant slalom at Aspen, Colorado, in November.
    She was the 2003 world junior slalom champion.
    ''I knew I could win, but I wasn't expecting it today,'' said Kirchgasser, who let out a big scream when she crossed the finish line and saw her name atop the leader board.
    Anja Paerson, coming off a five-medal performance at her home worlds in Are, Sweden, finished fourth. Marlies Schild finished seventh and Austrian teammate Renate Goetschl was 14th.

    Knight: rest did Mancuso "a world of good"
    "The time off did Julia a world of good," Knight said of Mancuso's trip back home after the World Championships. "She was a little off on her timing — she wasn't able to stay over her right-footed turns [i.e., to the left] as well as she can, but that'll come back. We'll see more good results from her.
    "But that 10th for Resi was unbelievable," Knight continued. "She was just three-tenths off the fastest time on that second run; she just let it and fully charged the course. She really brought her 'A Game' to GS today."
    Course conditions, Knight said, "were perfect. We're at 10,000 feet, and they injected [i.e., inserted water into the snow to stabilize it] this week and there was some decent chatter, but this is the best GS hill we've had all season — even sitting in the sun all day it was rock hard. Resi moved up to 22nd, even with a big mistake ... and without that mistake, she could've easily been top 15, even coming out of 51st.
    "She really showed her potential in GS. It's what she's really capable of...and it can get better, too."
    Kelley was 21st in the first run, one-hundredth of a second faster than Stiegler and came up with her first World Cup top-20.
    "Jess was a little conservative, skiing a little round [versus taking a tighter line through the gates] on the top of her second run. If she'd just trust herself a little more, and risk it a little more, she could be a World Cup top-15 skier in GS. She can do it," Knight said.

    Slalom Sunday, then off to Italy   
    The women ski slalom Sunday and then head to Tarvisio, Italy, with a super combined Friday, followed by a downhill and super G. First run of the slalom is at 3 a.m. ET with second run at 6 a.m.
    Goetschl leads the overall World Cup standings with 1,019 points. Schild is second with 952 points, Mancuso sits third with 943 and Hosp is fourth with 939.
    Hosp increased her lead atop the giant slalom standings, and now has 310 points. Poutiainen is second with 274 and Kirchgasser moved up from fifth to third with 237.
    Denise Karbon of Italy, who was second after the opening run, fell during her second trip down.

— The Associated Press and USSA contributed to this story