ALPINE:

Fenninger wins super-combi to secure Austria's 2nd gold

Feb. 11, 201

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany ― With Lindsey Vonn skiing only the downhill and Maria Riesch slowed by a fever, Austria's Anna Fenninger won the super-combined Friday at the World Championships.

Fenninger, who is yet to win a World Cup race, was fourth after the downhill and had a near-flawless slalom run to finish in an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 43.23 seconds. She beat Slovenia's Tina Maze by 0.09 seconds, and Sweden's Anja Paerson was third.

"I don't realize what happened, I can't believe it," Fenninger said. "It was such a difficult race, the course was pretty poor. I got snow on my goggles all the time and all I could do was just fight."

Two-time world champion Vonn, dealing with the lingering effects of a concussion, was 1.60 back in the downhill. She decided to sit out the slalom run to prepare for the downhill race on Sunday.

"Unfortunately, I lost focus about three-quarters, halfway down the course," Vonn said. "It wasn't as bad as it was in the super-G by any means. But I definitely felt it still, and I'm not 100 percent yet."

Vonn's teammate Julia Mancuso was among the fastest in the downhill but lost speed during the middle section. She also lost time in the slalom, which was set by U.S. coach Chris Knight, and finished 1.33 back in seventh.

"It was a little softer than I expected, and I wasn't quite prepared for that," Mancuso said.
Olympic champion Riesch lacked power to attack and was 1.91 back in 11th.

"I definitely wanted to race, it's the worlds at my home town," Riesch said. "It's annoying to be ill, but all I can do is hope to get well soon."

Fenninger, who had her best results in speed races, said she was proud to win the event with a strong showing in the technical part.

"I wanted to prove that I am a good slalom racer as well," the Austrian said.

Maze had a strong run in the middle section, where many other racers struggled to keep the line.
"I am very happy to take second though it's a bit annoying that I lost by just 0.09," Maze said. "I once missed out on gold by 0.05. But second place in combined is just great for me."

Paerson trailed by 0.27 seconds to win bronze for her 11th career World Championships medal.

Fenninger's victory gives Austria its second gold medal of the championships after teammate Elisabeth Goergl won the super-G on Tuesday. Goergl posted the fastest time in the downhill but could not find enough speed in slalom to defend her lead.

The Kandahar downhill course, described by racers as too icy and too bumpy, was softened by warmer weather. It made the snow less icy and offered more grip than during training runs this week.

Switzerland's Lara Gut, who won silver in the super-combined in Val d'Isere two years ago, posted the fastest intermediate but straddled a gate. She lost both skis and fell head-first but was unhurt.

Marie Marchand-Arvier of France fell after braking in the finish area and crashed into the safety boarding.

Canada's Britt Janyk was eighth in the downhill portion but did not race the slalom leg. Marie-Michele Gagnon was 25th in the morning downhill portion, but she skied out in the slalom portion.

Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was 25th in the downhill run but was not able to finish the slalom race. She made a mistake near the top of the course and was not able to recover.

"I've been skiing for more than 10 straight days and I really didn't have anything left in my legs," said a visibly exhausted and disappointed Gagnon. "My legs were burning in the start gate. I tried to do everything I could yesterday in physio and in recovery to get better but it didn't really work.

"For the slalom, I was able to put the downhill behind me and I was ready to attack and get a decent final ranking but I caught an edge and I went out. Everything happened so fast."

Gagnon is coming off a strong weekend in Arber-Zwiesel, Germany, last week, where she had a career-best seventh-place finish in the World Cup slalom event.

"We've been preparing her now for four or five days for this super-combined but even before the race she didn't have any strength left in her legs," said head coach Hugues Anzermoz. "She's been training on a pretty difficult speed track that is very long and bumpy and she is not used to it. She's had a big weekend in Arber-Zwiesel and she's been waking up early every day for the last couple of days."

Gagnon finished 22nd in Tuesday's super-G race and took part in the downhill training run in preparation for Friday's super-combined event. She is also scheduled to take part in the team event Wednesday, the giant slalom the day after and the slalom next Saturday.

"It is very demanding trying to race all the events in this very short period of time," said Anzermoz. "She will take two or three days off. That way she will be rested for the team event next week as well as the GS and slalom race."

The only other Canadian taking part Friday was Whistler's Janyk, who finished eighth in the downhill portion of the event. Initially, Janyk was not scheduled to race in the super-combined event, but talk of training being canceled on Saturday resulted in a change of plans.

"It was a good thing Britt did the downhill race this morning because the training run just got officially canceled two hours ago," said Anzermoz. "So it worked well for her. She had a good run but we still have to put things in place in some of the course's sections where she can easily be 0.10 seconds faster."

The next time Janyk buckles up her ski boots will be Sunday, for the downhill. The race will be live on CBCSports.ca and BOLD starting at 4:55 a.m. E.T.

The men will be racing in the downhill event Saturday and live streaming of the event will also be shown on CBCSports.ca and BOLD starting at 4:55 a.m. E.T.

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

2011 Alpine World Championships women's super-combined results