Dorfmeister wins downhill to end Goetschl's streak
 
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO,( 16/01/2005 13:02 ) Italy (AP) _ Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria won a World Cup downhill Sunday, denying teammate Renate Goetschl a fourth consecutive victory on the Olympia delle Tofane course. Goetschl finished second, still good enough for her to take the lead in the overall World Cup standings from Croatia's Janica Kostelic. Dorfmeister was timed in 1 minute, 36.62 seconds, 0.59 ahead of Goetschl. Germany's Hilde Gerg was third, 0.78 behind. Kostelic came fourth and defending overall champion Anja Paerson of Sweden fifth for her best ever downhill result. Goetschl, a former overall winner, leads the standings with 798 points, followed by Kostelic (789) and Dorfmeister (712), who moved up from sixth. Paerson and Finland's Tanja Poutiainen, who does not compete in downhill, are tied for fourth with 706 points. Goetschl, who won super-G races Wednesday and Friday and Saturday's downhill, also leads the downhill standings. Lindsey Kildow, the 20-year-old American who was the top challenger to Goetschl in the week's previous three races, made a big error on the top part of the course and came in 18th for her worst downhill result this season. Goetschl was the last top skier to hit the course and she was faster than Dorfmeister at the first checkpoint. She could not match her teammate the rest of the way, however. The victory was the 19th of Dorfmeister's career and first in Cortina. 
  

Goetschl unstoppable in Cortina; Kostelic back on top of standings
 
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO,( 15/01/2005 15:56 )Italy (AP) _ Renate Goetschl showed once again Saturday that she is the queen of Cortina. And Janica Kostelic showed she is back at the apex of World Cup skiing after missing all of last season. Goetschl won a downhill for her third victory in four days and record eighth win overall on the Olympia delle Tofane course. The Austrian also matched former German great Katja Seizinger for third place on the all-time list of World Cup victories with 36. "It was a goal of mine to reach Katja. I'm happy that it's now, I didn't expect it so soon," said Goetschl, who had not won this season before arriving in this resort town, which is known as the "Queen" of the Dolomite mountain range.
Kostelic finished second for her best career downhill result and took the lead in the overall World Cup standings. "It's pretty good, but there are still a lot of races to come," said Kostelic, who celebrated wildly after seeing where she finished. "I'm not really into that right now. I'm really not thinking about it. I'm just going race to race." A former two-time overall champion who missed last season due to illness and injuries, Kostelic now leads with 739 points. Goetschl moved into second with 718 and Finland's Tanja Poutiainen, who began the day with the lead, dropped to third with 706. Poutiainen does not compete in speed events and is taking the week off.
Defending overall winner Anja Paerson of Sweden finished 29th and dropped from second to fourth with 661 points. Goetschl regained the lead in the downhill standings for the first time since winning the small crystal globe of discipline champion last season. Her winning time of 1 minute, 37.27 seconds was 0.29 ahead of Kostelic. Lindsey Kildow, a 20-year-old American, finished third, 0.44 behind, for her sixth podium this season. With five super-G wins and three downhill victories here, Goetschl matched Ingemar Stenmark for most wins at one resort. The Swedish great won eight slaloms and giant slaloms at Madonna Di Campiglio between 1974 and 1983. For the moment, Goetschl has no further goals. "I'm just really happy about this now. It's not every day you get three victories day after day," she said.
Kildow, who had to relinquish the red bib of downhill leader to Goetschl after the race, now trails the Austrian in both the downhill and super-G standings. "It's good to be consistently on the podium, despite losing the bib to Renate," Kildow said. Kildow finished second to Goetschl in Friday's super-G. Goetschl also won a super-G on Wednesday, her first win of the season. Racing in her shiny gold helmet and the red boots of the Austrian "Wunderteam," Goetschl was the first top skier to hit the course. She finished a massive 1.02 seconds ahead of previous leader Kirsten Clark of the United States, who ended up eighth. Kostelic, who was also second in Thursday's training session, and Kildow, who led the final practice, were the last elite skiers out of the starting house. Despite perfect conditions that held up throughout the morning, however, no skier could catch Goetschl. "On some other slope maybe," Kostelic said. "Being behind her here is like winning because she's too fast for everyone." 
  

Goetschl wins second straight super-G
 
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO,( 14/01/2005 12:21 )Italy (AP) _ Austria's Renate Goetschl won her second straight super-G race Friday, confirming her role as a favorite in the speed disciplines for the upcoming world championships. Goetschl's record seventh victory on the Olympia delle Tofane course followed her victory in Wednesday's race at this Italian resort and vaulted her to the top of the super-G standings. Winless this season before coming to Cortina, Goetschl covered the sun-drenched course in 1 minute, 13.98. She donated her winner's check of ¤22,645 to a tsunami relief fund.
Lindsey Kildow of the United States finished second, a slim 0.08 seconds behind, for her fifth podium this season. Austria's Silvia Berger came third at a gap of 0.73. With the 35th World Cup victory of her career, Goetschl now trails Germany's Katja Seizinger by only one win for third place on the all-time list. Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell tops the list with 62 wins. "To be on the same level as Seizinger would be a big thrill for me, because she was one of the best ever," said Goetschl, who could equal or surpass the German in downhills scheduled for the Tofane course Saturday and Sunday.
Janica Kostelic finished 10th and moved into a tie for second with Sweden's Anja Paerson in the overall World Cup standings. Kostelic's father Ante Kostelic, who is also the coach of the Croatian team, set the course as part of World Cup rules that rotate the course setters for each race. Paerson skied off the piste midway through her run. Finland's Tanja Poutianen, who does not race speed events and is taking the week off, leads the standings with 706 points. Kostelic, a former two-time winner and Paerson, the defending champion, each have 659 points. Goetschl moved into fourth with 618.
"I wasn't thinking about it, but now I'm getting my mind back into it," Goetschl said of her chances of winning the crystal globe for the overall World Cup champion. "I think it will be an open race until the end with Tanja, Janica and Anja." With two super-G races left this season, Goetschl, who battled with Paerson all of last year and finished second overall, leads the discipline standings with 309 points, ahead of Kildow (290) and Michaela Dorfmeister (233). Dorfmeister, who entered the race with the red bib of discipline leader, finished 14th. The 20-year-old Kildow, who leads the downhill standings and has become the surprise of the season, came down before Goetschl and posted the fastest time to that point despite making a big error and nearly skiing off course at the beginning of her run.
Kildow watched Goetschl's run on a TV monitor in the finish area, leaning down for a closer look as the Austrian crossed the line. She reacted by slamming her hands at her sides. "Yeah, obviously I wanted to win as many races as I can. Today I just made too many mistakes," Kildow said. "Fortunately, I know there are things I can correct in my skiing. I was only 0.08 behind and I think my mistakes were quite costly." What annoyed Kildow even more than finishing second was failing to take the super-G lead. "That's why I'm upset. I really did want to get that red bib," she said. Goetschl's last split time was slower than Kildow's but the Austrian made up time in the final section.
"I made some mistakes, but I was confident because I know how to ski the middle and lower part here," Goetschl said. Goetschl has now won five super-G races in Cortina (in 1999, 2003, 2004 and two this year) and two downhills (in 2002 and 2003), for a total of 15 podium finishes. Italy's Isolde Kostner, who was 23rd Friday, is next with five wins in Cortina. "When I come here, I know I can ski fast," Goetschl said. The world championships will be held in Bormio from Jan. 29 to Feb. 13. 

Kildow speaks the language of Alpine skiing _ German 
 
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO,( 13/01/2005 18:25 )Italy (AP) _ Lindsey Kildow hasn't just put herself on the same level as the top Austrian and German skiers this season. The 20-year-old American is talking to the likes of Renate Goetschl and Hilde Gerg in their own language. Kildow, who leads the World Cup downhill standings, has been studying German since middle school. One of her best friends on the circuit is Germany's Maria Riesch, who crashed Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season. "I just did an interview for (German) radio about Maria," Kildow said Thursday. "I'm getting better at it under pressure. I took it in middle school, two years in high school." Kildow also attended two sessions of the intensive German course at Dartmouth College.
"The reason I wanted to learn it is so I could do interviews in German and also because Austria is the hub of World Cup skiing. They are just totally fanatical about ski racing and I figured that if I could speak German then maybe they would recognize me a little bit more, or at least like me a little more," Kildow said. Kildow also uses her German in between races while living at the U.S. team's apartments in Austria. "I'm really good friends with the Austrians and Germans," she said. Kildow's father, a former racer, also speaks some German, learned during his days working with coach Erich Sailer, who also coached Kildow. Defending overall World Cup winner Anja Paerson of Sweden also speaks German. "In Alpine skiing, the universal language is German," Paerson said. "All the servicemen speak it, so it helps if you know it." 
   
Goetschl wins first race of season
 
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO,( 12/01/2005 15:40 ) Italy (AP) _ Austria's Renate Goetschl won a super-G at one of her favorite stops on the World Cup circuit Wednesday, snapping a 10-month winless streak and moving to third place in the discipline standings. A former overall World Cup winner, Goetschl secured her sixth career victory at Cortina, moving past local favorite Isolde Kostner of Italy, who has won five times on the Olympia delle Tofane course. "There is nothing better than to win in Cortina. I have a special feeling for this course," said Goetschl after covering the 1.85-kilometer (1.15-mile) layout in 1 minute, 15.57 seconds.
Defending overall World Cup champion Anja Paerson of Sweden was second, 0.22 seconds behind, in the best super-G result of her career, and Germany's Martina Ertl came third, 0.45 back. Paerson jumped into second place in the overall standings ahead of Croatian rival Janica Kostelic, who finished 13th. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who does not race super-G or downhill and is taking the week off, still leads with 706 points, followed by Paerson (659) and Kostelic (633). In the super-G standings, Goetschl is third with 209 points behind fellow Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister (215), who finished fifth, and American Lindsey Kildow (210), who was fourth.
Paerson was coming off a difficult week in Santa Caterina, where she injured her hip in training and questioned whether racing all four disciplines was a good idea. After the first podium in a speed event of her career, she was a little more optimistic. "This is my first year racing all four. I'm still learning, so hopefully next year I'll do better," Paerson said. "I don't feel tired, but sometimes I feel stressed that I don't have enough time for everything." Paerson still has not win since taking the opening race of the season, a giant slalom, at Soelden in October. With the 34th World Cup victory of her career, Goetschl moved into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time list. Germany's Katja Seizinger is next with 36 victories, while Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell tops the list with 62 wins.
"There hasn't been any problem, it just took some time," said Goetschl after winning her first race since a downhill in Sestriere last March. "I was in good shape. I was just making little mistakes and didn't have great conditions, which makes it tough to win races." Nine skiers did not complete their runs, among them Maria Riesch, who is considered the future star of Germany's ski team. Midway through her run, the 20-year-old Riesch lost control and slammed into protective fencing backward, hitting her head first. After laying still for several minutes, she eventually got up and skied down the slope crying.
German team officials said she was taken to a nearby hospital to have her right knee checked out. She also suffered bruises to her face and was bleeding on her chin and upper lip. Another super-G race is scheduled for the Tofane course Friday, followed by downhills Saturday and Sunday.  
 

General Standing 
  
World cup Leader

Gцtschl Renate
06.08.1975 (Obdach)
Ski: Salomon
 
  Gцtschl Renate  798
  Kostelic Janica  789
  Dorfmeister Michaela  715
  Poutiainen Tanja  706
  Paerson Anja  706
  Kildow Lindsey C.  638
  Gerg Hilde  589
  Schild Marlies  437
  Maze Tina  382
  Montillet Carole  376
 
Next Races

20.01.2005 Zagreb (CRO) NSL
21.01.2005 Kitzbьhel (AUT) SG
22.01.2005 Kitzbьhel (AUT) DH
22.01.2005 Maribor (SLO) GS
23.01.2005 Kitzbьhel (AUT) SL
23.01.2005 Kitzbьhel (AUT) K
23.01.2005 Maribor (SLO) SL