ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. VAL D’ISERE, France – No one would ever guess that Elisabeth Goergl partially tore her knee ligament less than two weeks ago.

With some intensive physical therapy and a solid base of general fitness, the Austrian veteran handily put down the fastest run in Thursday’s final downhill training in Val d’Isere, finishing in 1 minute, 51.65 seconds, 0.60 seconds faster than runner up Tina Maze and 1.06 seconds faster than third finisher Maria Riesch.

Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, speeds down the course on her way to clock the seventh fastest time during training for an Alpine Skiing women's World Cup downhill race at Val D' Isere, France, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

While performing a tricky recovery in the Dec. 4 downhill in Lake Louise, Goergl partially tore the inside (media collateral) ligament in her left knee. Although doctors initially told her she would spend three weeks off of the racecourse doing physical therapy, Goergl was racing again last weekend in St. Moritz, where she took 11th in the giant slalom.

“I had great therapy – I have a great therapist close to Innsbruck and my whole team – my physio and everbody – did such a good job. That’s why I’m here now,” Goergl said after her run, for which she said she gave about 95 percent effort. “It was a big surprise for me that I [could] do the race. The GS worked fine in St. Moritz and I feel fine on the long skis, too.”

With the sun shining, no wind but freezing temperatures (it was about -16 when the training began), times were considerably faster than in Wednesday’s training run, which was led by Maria Riesch (1:53.86 Wednesday and 1:52.71 Thursday).

Maze’s time was a whopping 6 seconds faster Thursday than Wednesday, although she said that at one point she stopped after being frozen and making several mistakes in the first training run and was motivated to go full gas in the second.

“I tried to attack the slope today quite hard because yesterday I was [being] careful and you make mistakes if you’re careful too much,” Maze said. “Today was so much better –better visibility, I put more clothes on. Yesterday it was so cold my muscles were completely frozen. Today I managed to make a good run and I’m excited for tomorrow.”

As in the first training run, the times were much faster between the third and 10th finishers. Italian Verena Stuffer had a very fast run in fourth (1:52.74), Marie Marchand-Arvier put down some speed once again in fifth 1:52.92, Andrea Fischbacher was sixth (1:53.15) and Lindsey Vonn was seventh in 1:53.21, although she essentially had to do the run twice. Wearing bib No .30, Vonn was flagged off the course after she’d completed about 75 percent of it when the previous racer and her teammate, Chelsea Marshall crashed. Marshall said she would likely be sore but had no serious injuries. Vonn was then brought back to the start via helicopter and ran again before racer No. 45.

“It was definitely a little more bumpy the second time,” Vonn said of the course. “I felt I had a better run the first than the second, but it was another chance to get on the hill. For sure my skis weren’t as fast the second time. Unfortunately Chelsea crashed and I was flagged but I heard she’s OK so that’s good. It was basically two full runs for me so my legs are a little tired but I’ll do some recovery and be OK for race day. It was a fun helicopter ride, at least.”

Lara Gut had another fast run Thursday, finishing eighth in 1:53.31, followed by Britt Janyk in 1:53.46 and Laurenne Ross in 1:53.50.

Racing is scheduled to begin on Friday at 10:30 a.m. local time with the super G rescheduled from last weekend’s cancelation in St. Moritz, followed by the downhill Saturday and super-combined Sunday.

by Shauna Farnell
FISalpine.com
Thursday 16 December 2010

Christof Innerhofer lays down fastest time in 2nd training

A day prior to his 26th birthday, Italy’s Christof Innerhofer surprised once more himself and his rivals in clocking the fastest time in the last training run held on the fast ‘Saslong’ course at Val Gardena.

The talented skier from nearby Gais, located in the valley of Brunico, finished a few hundredths of a second ahead of Austria’s veteran Michael Walchhofer, a two-time winner here in recent years, while Germany’s Andreas Sander, who started in 64th position was an unexpected 3rd ahead of USA’s Bode Miller and another Italian, Werner Heel.

Bode Miller of the United States speeds down the hill on his way to clock the fourth fastest time during training for an Alpine Skiing men's World Cup downhill race at Val Gardena, Italy, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazzi)

Innerhofer, who has not finished a World Cup downhill among the best 10 since his 6th place at Kitzbühel in January 2009, was much faster in that timed trial than Didier Cuche on Wednesday with his time of 1.57,76.

Cuche, 6th today with a delay of half a second on the Italian, needed a little more than two minutes today to come down the 3,446 meters of the course with a vertical drop of 839 meters.

Other favorites such as Austria’s Klaus Kroell or Canada’s Erik Guay also skied into the top 10 while Aksel Lund Svindal came in 14th and last year’s winner Manuel Osborne-Paradis got 17th.

“I didn’t expect this today, I guess I’m inspired by the local air, it’s always special to race on home soil,” Innerhofer said after his run. “I felt relaxed this morning and ready to charge after my promising training run yesterday,” added the Italian, a far 23rd last month at Lake Louise.

“I’m happy that my back is not hurting for the moment. The course if perfect for me, very fast and not too bumpy, I’m having much fun,” also said Christof who confirmed his class two years ago winning his first World Cup race on the challenging ‘Stelvio’ course at Bormio.

He proved with two top-10 finishes in Super-G at Lake Louise and Beaver Creek that he has recovered part of his thrilling form that allowed him to be considered a few years ago as one of the most promising young speed specialists.

In March 2009, Innerhofer was a strong 10th in the final downhill World Cup standings – and 11th in the general classification after being able to score points in all disciplines, even in slalom. Last year he was only 28th in that specialty and didn’t qualify for the Finals at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in that event.

“I hope to achieve a similar smooth run on Saturday, but first of all, I wish to do well again tomorrow in the Super-G. It’s a difficult race to win. I would be happy with another top-10 result,” he also commented after his run.

On Saturday, the skier to beat may well be once more a very confident Michael Walchhofer who strongly enjoys each stop on his last World Cup tour. His six top-3 finishes here since December 2001 confirm that he feels extremely comfortable on the Italian slope which perfectly suits his technique and his gliding skills.

“I know I can do well on Saturday and this gives me much confidence,” he told the press. “I foremost hope that the race conditions will be fair for everybody, it’s crucial here. It’s sometimes windy at the top on the long flats. The course is perfect for a great race and I feel ready for another strong run.”

Friday’s Super-G should also be exciting as a dozen of racers have a chance to win it. Interestingly enough, nobody managed to win it twice since it became part of the program of the event here.

Swiss Tobias Gruenenfelder and Austria’s Georg Streitberger won the first two Super-G races in Lake Louise and Beaver Creek but Didier Cuche, Carlo Janka were 2nd here a year ago. There are also Svindal, Bode Miller, Erik Guay and many more ready to fight back here.

Austria’s Mario Scheiber, very fast in North America a few weeks ago, didn’t train today after suffering a bad crash in Wednesday’s training run. He feels pains in his right knee but hopes to be fine again for Friday’s competition.

Tomorrow the men's super G will be held with the first skier on course at 12.15 local time. Stay tuned!

Contributed by Patrick Lang
FISalpine.com
Thursday 16 December 2010

Switzerland's Lara Gut suspended for the World Cups in Semmering

In a hearing in Val d’Isere on Thursday, Lara Gut (SUI) was suspended by Swiss-Ski for the World Cup races in Semmering (28 and 29 December 2010). This disciplinary measure is a reaction by Swiss-Ski to the athlete’s verbal criticism of her head coach Mauro Pini in several national and international media outlets.

"We do not accept that an athlete voices her opinion in such inappropriate and unjustified ways in the public and particularly in the media about the head coach," said Dierk Beisel, chief of competitive sports. Beisel mentioned the disrespectful behavior against the chief of competitive sport during the hearing and the repeated violation of the athlete to adhere to the dress codes of Swiss-Ski as other reasons for the measure taken. Despite several verbal warnings, Gut did not adhere to the guidelines in a similar fashion to the rest of the Swiss-Ski athletes. Swiss-Ski stressed that there needs to be a clear line also out of respect for other athletes and the sponsors and partners of Swiss-Ski.

FISalpine.com
Thursday 16 December 2010