ALPINE:

Goergl wins, Mancuso 2nd, Vonn 7th as alpine worlds kick off

Feb. 8, 2011     ♦ Photo: Elisabeth Goergl (www.lizz.at.)

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany ― Elisabeth Goergl of Austria won the women's super-G in the opening race of the World Championships on Tuesday, mastering a difficult, icy course that produced several crashes.

Julia Mancuso of the United States earned the silver and Maria Riesch of Germany was third.

Defending champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States started despite a concussion last week and finished seventh.

"I think maybe it was the wrong decision to even try to race today, but I'm too stubborn," Vonn said. "I couldn't give up."

Canada’s Britt Janyk was 15th, with Marie-Michele Gagnon 22nd and Marie-Pier Prefontaine 24th.

Goergl sang the official song of the championships at the opening ceremony on Monday and blazed down the Kandahar course to beat Mancuso by .05 seconds.

"I looked at the board and I saw that it was a fast time," the Austrian said after winning her first major title. "It was a good run. ... You have to be aggressive and attack this course and I did what I'd planned to do.

The Austrian clocked 1 minute, 23.82 seconds over the 2,180-meter (7,152-foot) course that was set by Austrian coach Juergen Kriechbaum. Riesch was third in 1:24.03.

"I like such conditions because I can put on the pressure," said Goergl, who was the bronze medalist in the downhill and the giant slalom at last year's Olympics. "I did nearly everything right, except for some small mistakes at one or two gates. I wasn't nervous at the start and I wasn't nervous during my singing, but I was tense at the finish waiting for the others to come down."

The championship had been billed as a showdown between Riesch and three-time overall World Cup champion Vonn, but Goergl stole the show on opening day with a nearly flawless performance.

Mancuso added another silver to her collection ― she was silver medallist in the downhill and the super-combined at last year's Olympics and giant slalom champion four years earlier. She also had a super-combined silver at the 2007 worlds, plus bronze medals in the giant slalom and super-G in 2005.

"You had to have guts to charge and just fight to the finish. Of course I wanted to fight and do my best and get a medal, so I'm stoked," Mancuso said. "I didn't start out too great on the top, I had a hard time getting into the rhythm and it was really bumpy and I guess I was a little bit nervous because it just didn't get into a really great rhythm right away, but just then I started to pick up momentum down the course I started to get a really good feeling and ski better and better."

Vonn hit her head in a fall six days ago in practice and had been uncertain to race because she had trouble keeping her focus in the lower sections of the course.

On Tuesday, she was not the same racer that had made the podium in her last 19 super-G races, winning 13 of them.

"Every time I ski I can't concentrate. It's like I'm skiing in a fog," Vonn said. "My head just isn't thinking fast enough. I can't process the information fast enough and that's why I'm behind the course, all the bumps are throwing me around. It's because my body is one gate ahead of where my mind is, and that's not a good way to ski."

Vonn said she was not sure about the upcoming races.

"I have to really take the time to figure out what's more important to me: my health or trying to defend titles," she said. "Today was actually one of the worst days since the crash. I've had a really bad headache for most of the day, and inspection was awful. I couldn't really remember the course, I couldn't stay focused long enough to be able to inspect properly.

"When I was in the starting gate I felt OK, but three or four gates down I already knew I was out, it was done."

Vonn, who is the Olympic downhill champion, sharply criticized the course on the eve of the race, calling it unsafe.

"I knew it was dangerous. It's a dangerous hill because of the way they prepared the ice," Vonn said. "I knew that crashes were going to happen and that didn't really weigh in on my decision."

Several skiers crashed, including Olympic super-G champion Andrea Fischbacher of Austria, who slid down the icy slope for several hundred meters (yards) after clipping a gate, her skis flying off into the air. She went through one safety net and stopped in the second. Austrian team officials said she was unhurt.

Gina Stechert of Germany also crashed and injured her hand.

Riesch, the overall World Cup leader who is racing in her hometown on the slope she got to know as a child, was ahead of her rival and good friend Vonn.— The Canadian Press contributed to this report

"I think I was more nervous during her run then during my own," Riesch said.

Riesch was worried that Vonn would bump her from a medal place, but the American wasn't close.

"Now, some of the pressure is off since I already got a medal in my first race. It's a big relief," Riesch said. "This is a great start, and thanks to the fans. There was a lot of pressure before the event. The course is really hard to race. I am so happy that I managed such a great run."

Janyk clocked 1:24.40 on the tough and icy track.

"My race was good," said the 30-year-old. "It's a tough hill but I like it. The conditions were nothing like we have seen so far this year, it's really icy and bumpy, but because of the warm conditions the organizers had to make it that way.

"I felt ready to race and I raced hard. I'm a little further back than I expected but by being in the top 15 I scored some World Cup points, so for the next World Cup race I'll be back in the top 15. The bottom part of my race was really good and I didn't lose any time, so I'm happy about that. I'm not too far out from the winner."

Gagnon was 22nd in 1:26.32, while Préfontaine finished 24th in 1:27.25.

"I'm happy with my race," said Gagnon. "I had great intervals in the top section of the course but I lost some time at the bottom. At least I know that if I attack and if I'm aggressive I can compete with the top-15 girls."

Préfontaine, who recorded her first FIS World Cup top 10 last weekend, had another good day of skiing.

"I had some really good sections," said Préfontaine. "I didn't really know what to expect today since I haven't done a lot of super-G races, but I did what I had to do and it paid off. The course was really icy but it wasn't as bad as I had expected.

"The giant slalom race will be on the same hill, so having skied on it today will be great for the GS race. I know the hill better and I know I can ski well in a lot of those sections."

Having three racers in the top 30 represents Canada's best result this season in a super-G race.

"The girls had good races," said team veteran Janyk. "It's a tough hill and I had raced it before but they hadn't, so they had to make some adjustments. This shows that they are starting to learn how to inspect super-G. It also shows that they can execute what they inspected, and that is a key component in speed racing. It was a good day for us. 

The women will start their downhill training Wednesday, while the men will race the super-G. The men's super-G race will be live 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-G results