Hilde Gerg of Germany wins second downhill in Lake Louise{mosimage}Hilde Gerg of Germany won the second women's World Cup downhill of the season Saturday, battling through heavy snow and fog to win in 1 minute, 36.01 seconds. Lindsey Kildow, who won her first World Cup the day before, finished fifth.

Renate Goetschl of Austria was second in 1:36.16. Carole Montillet-Carles of France was third in 1:36.20. A Super G is scheduled for Sunday at Lake Louise.
-Staff and wire reports



World Cup
Women's Downhill
Lake Louise, Alberta
Dec. 4, 2004
1. Hilde Gerg, GER 1:36.01
2. Renate Goetschl, AUT 1:36.16
3. Carole Montillet-Carles, FRA 1:36.20
4. Brigitte Obermoser, AUT 1:36.25
5. Lindsey Kildow, USA 1:36.27
6. Isolde Kostner, ITA 1:36.76
7. Petra Haltmayr, GER 1:36.93
8. Michaela Dorfmeister, AUT 1:37.02
9. Caroline Lalive, USA 1:37.06
10. Janica Kostelic, CRO 1:37.15
11. Katja Wirth, AUT 1:37.34
12. Sylvaine Berthod, SUI 1:37.35
13. Bryna McCarty, USA 1:37.37
14. Janette Hargin, SWE 1:37.41
15. Ingrid Jacquemod, FRA 1:37.45
16. Melanie Turgeon, CAN 1:37.50
17. Anja Paerson, SWE 1:37.66
18. Emily Brydon, CAN 1:37.74
19. Kelly Vanderbeek, CAN 1:37.92
20. Kirsten Clark, USA 1:38.06
21. Daniella Ceccarelli, ITA 1:38.11
22. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, SWE 1:38.14
22. Barbara Kleon, ITA 1:38.14
24. Anne Marie LeFrancois, CAN 1:38.17
25. Monika Dumermuth, SUI 1:38.21
26. Catherine Borghi, SUI 1:38.23
27. Selina Heregger, AUT 1:38.29
28. Elisabeth Goergl, AUT 1:38.35
29. Jonna Mendes, USA 1:38.39
29. Chimene Alcott, GBR 1:38.39
other North Americans:
31. Stacey Cook, USA 1:38.47
32. Julia Mancuso, USA 1:38.48
36. Genevieve Simard, CAN 1:38.72
50. Christina Risler, CAN 1:39.42
55. Kaylin Richardson, USA 1:40.95
DNS: Libby Ludlow, USA.

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

equipment
Women's DH, Lake Louise Dec. 4, 2004 Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Gerg, Volkl/Lange/Marker
2 Goetschl, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3 Montillet-Carles, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Obermoser, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
5 Kildow, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Kostner, Fischer/Lange/Tyrolia
7 Haltmayr, Fischer/Lange/Atomic
8 Dorfmeister, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Lalive, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
10 Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Women's Downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta, Dec. 4, 2004. ... It is the sixth race of a 32 race (plus one combined) women's World Cup schedule. ... It is the second of eight scheduled downhills. ... Top seven skiers are with a second. ... Top five are within .26 of a second. ... Top three finishers started 29th-30th and 28th respectively.

It is the 19th career win for Hilde Gerg. ... Her seventh in DH. ... Her second in DH at Lake Louise. ... Gerg sustained an anterior cruciate tear of her left knee at Lake Louise in DH 12/7/02, a day after winning. ... Her most recent win came at Cortina d'Ampezzo DH 1/17/04. ... It is her second scoring result of the season, and her second podium of the season. ... She was third at Lake Louise 12/3.

It is the 81st career podium for Renate Goetschl. ... her 42nd in DH. ... It is her first podium of the season. ... She has won the World Cup DH title three times: '97, '99 and '04. ... Her first DH podium was at St Anton 12/18/93. ... In 24 scoring races at Lake Louise, Goetschl has posted nine podiums.

It is the 24th career podium for Carole Montillet-Carles and second of the season. ... She was second 12/3/2004. ... In 24 scoring finishes at Lake Louise, Montillet-Carles has earned 10 podium results.

It is the fourth top five result for Lindsey Kildow. ... She won the 12/3 race. ... It is the 26th career top 10 for Caroline Lalive. ... and her second consecutive ninth place finish. ... In nine scoring races at Lake Louise she has been top 10 five times. ... Bryna McCarty matches her third best career placing in 13th. ... She has only been better in two consecutive DH races at Haus im Ennstal 1/30-31/04 (5th and 9th). ... Melanie Turgeon got her first point of the season in 12/3 race in 30th and moved up to 16th 12/4. ... Emily Brydon got her first points of the season in 18th after failing to finish the 12/3 race. ... Kelly Vanderbeek scored for the fourth time in her career. ... It was her first scoring result on Canadian snow. ... Kirsten Clark was 20th for the second consecutive day. ... It was her third result of the season. ... It was the 74th career scoring result for Jonna Mendes. ... Her 19th at Lake Louise. ...Stacey Cook and Julia Mancuso were less than a tenth of a second from scoring points.

Tanja Poutiainen (did not race) maintains the overall World Cup lead with 340 pts. ... Second ranked Anja Paerson (17th in race) adds her total to 289. ... Janica Kostelic (10th in race) is third with 238pts. Gerg displaces top American Kristina Koznick and holds fourth with 160 over Koznick's 157. ... Kildow with 145pts is seventh. ... Gerg takes the lead in the DH standings 160-145 for Kildow. ... Montillet-Carles is third with 140pts. ... Austria leads the women's Nations Cup 758-562 for USA. ... Sweden stands third at 460.