Goergl upsets Fenninger in Altenmarkt

By Published On: January 11th, 2014Comments Off on Goergl upsets Fenninger in Altenmarkt
Canada's Larisa Yurkiw powers to a career-best result (GEPA/Daniel Goetzhaber)

Canadian Larisa Yurkiw powers to a career-best result (GEPA/Daniel Goetzhaber)

The women’s return to a demanding Altenmarkt-Zauchensee downhill course was all about local lady Anna Fenninger. The Austrian was fastest in the lone training run, favorited by the fans and, after her blistering run on race day, expected to win — until Elisabeth Goergl, running 28th on a course that appeared to be speeding up for the later racers, found some magic.

“I had blast on the piste today and it’s just great it ends up with a victory,” said Goergl. “Last year was a tough one, it’s quite a relief to experience that feeling again.”

The 32-year-old Austrian had been written off by some, but certainly the prospect of qualifying for a third (and likely final) Olympic Winter Games on a competitive Austrian team lit a fire for the veteran on Saturday.

The course at Zauchensee, visited for the first time in three years, starts off notably fast, almost resembling a speed skiing hill, with racers reaching 70 mph within the first four seconds. The track makes its way into some wide-open, high-speed turns, with a couple of jumps and, on Saturday, at least one rut in the snow that gave some of the racers, including Fenninger, trouble. A third jump takes racers into “The Forest,” which consists of a series of sweeping turns — but speeds are still high, and it can be easy to get lost in the dark conditions. The course spits racers out onto the final pitch at fairly high speed, followed by one last jump into the finish.

Despite getting kicked forward and nearly crashing as a result of the aforementioned rut, Fenninger was able to one-up tour leader Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who ran 16th and looked smoother and more confident than just about everyone else, further suggesting the course got faster. The German ultimately finished third on the day and extended her lead in the overall standings. Tina Weirather, also competing for a crystal globe, finished fourth, while Austrian Nicole Hosp, starting outside the the top 30, was able to crack into the top 5.

For the North Americans, independent Canadian Larisa Yurkiw was the pleasant surprise of the day. Perhaps taking advantage of a later start, the downhiller was jubilant, skiing to a personal best of sixth-place, just her third career top 10.

“I’m super happy for Larisa,” said Marie-Michele Gagnon, who also produced a career-best downhill result in 29th. “I always knew she had it in her. Her injury (in 2009) was a huge setback but she fought through that and it’s so cool to see.”

Gagnon’s result created an additional downhill starting spot for Canada.

“That was the goal today, just to score some points and get (Canada) another spot in downhill,” head coach Hugues Ansermoz said. “Without skiing her best she was top 30 so anything is possible for her in the combined.”

For the Americans, Julia Mancuso, who spent part of the day in the hospital Friday tending her sister Sara who was injured while skiing, looked sharper than she had all season. Frankly, it was the first time she’s looked sharp this season. The team veteran took some scheduled time off recently, which may have recharged the batteries. Unaided by a later start position — she kicked out ninth — Mancuso finished 13th on the day for her best speed race of the winter. Just one other racer who started in the first 15, Regina Sterz, ultimately finished ahead of Mancuso.

“We’ve skied here a lot,” said Mancuso. “It’s definitely nice, but especially right now with how I’m feeling on my equipment, I would like more training runs. But racing is racing and the snow was forgiving. It was soft. It wasn’t too gnarly anywhere. It was fun.

“I finally have some really good splits,” added Mancuso. “I was one mistake away from being in the top ten and having a really good result, so it’s really positive. We have two more races that hopefully have good training runs that I can get feeling a lot better on my equipment and I’m definitely more positive. It was nice to go home and get a little time with my trainer and just kind of refocus and know that all the tools are there and it’s really now just about believing that I can ski well and go fast.”

Stacey Cook, Laurenne Ross and Leanne Smith all seemed to suffer from a similar affliction: not knowing the course terribly well. With only a single day of training and having not raced the hill in a few years, the Americans seemed a little lost, skiing a low line, which wasn’t particularly fast. They finished 22nd, 23rd and 25th respectively.

See more pictures from today’s race in our gallery.

 

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

Women’s World Cup downhill, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Jan. 11, 2014

Equipment – Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Goergl, Head/Head/Head

2 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head

3 Hoefl-Riesch, Head/Lange/Head

4 Weirather, Atomic/Tecnica/Atomic

5 Hosp, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

6 Yurkiw, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

7 Ruiz Castillo, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

8 Kaufmann-Abderhalden, Head/Nordica/Head

9 Sejersted, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

10 Sterz, Volkl/Fischer/Marker

Women’s World Cup downhill, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Jan. 11, 2014. …It is the 17th of 32 races on the women’s schedule. … The fifth of nine downhills. … It is the 26th World Cup race hosted by Altenmarkt/Zauchensee… the 11th downhill.

It is the fifth World Cup win for Elisabeth Goergl… the second in downhill, the other Jan. 7 2012 at Bad Kleinkirchheim, the most recent win prior to today. … It is the first Austrian DH win since Hannes Reichelt tied for first at Bormio Dec. 29, 2012. … The last Austrian woman other than Goergl to win a Cup DH was Renate Goetschl in 2007.

It is the 23d career World Cup podium for Anna Fenninger… her fourth in DH. … It is her sixth podium of the season and second in DH.

It is the 77th career World Cup podium placing for Maria Hoefl-Riesch… her 25th in DH. … It is her fifth podium of the season and third in DH.

It is a career best placing for Larisa Yurkiw, topping her previous best scored at Lake Louise Dec. 6 by one placing. … It is the second best placing of the season for Julia Mancuso, easily her best of the season in DH. … It is the sixth scoring result of the season for Stacey Cook. … The second of the season for Laurenne Ross… fifth of the season for Leanne Smith. … It is the first career downhill scoring result for Marie-Michele Gagnon.

Anna Fenninger takes the lead of the World Cup overall standings 677-671 over Maria Hoefl-Riesch. … Tina Weirather (fourth in race) sits third with 659pts. … Mikaela Shiffrin (did not race) is fifth overall with 514pts. … Marie Michele Gagnon is eighth with 327pts.

Hoefl-Riesch holds the downhill standings 325-291 over Maria Kaufmann-Abderhalden (eighth in race) with Weirather in third with 260pts. … Yurkiw leads Canada in 12th with 99pts. … Julia Mancuso is top U.S. racer in 22nd with 56pts.

Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup standings 2887-1677 over Switzerland. … Sweden is third with 1415pts. … U.S. is sixth with 919pts and Canada tenth with 576pts.

 

Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time Diff.
 1  28  55576 GOERGL Elisabeth 1981 AUT  1:47.45
 2  21  55947 FENNINGER Anna 1989 AUT  1:48.01  +0.56
 3  16  206001 HOEFL-RIESCH Maria 1984 GER  1:48.08  +0.63
 4  18  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE  1:48.36  +0.91
 5  31  55690 HOSP Nicole 1983 AUT  1:48.47  +1.02
 6  25  106849 YURKIW Larisa 1988 CAN  1:48.58  +1.13
 7  11  495318 RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina 1981 SPA  1:48.59  +1.14
 8  22  515782 KAUFMANN-ABDERHALDEN Marianne 1986 SUI  1:48.62  +1.17
 9  26  425880 SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth 1991 NOR  1:48.72  +1.27
 10  6  55766 STERZ Regina 1985 AUT  1:48.73  +1.28
 11  19  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:48.79  +1.34
 12  17  565243 MAZE Tina 1983 SLO  1:48.82  +1.37
 13  9  537545 MANCUSO Julia 1984 USA  1:48.84  +1.39
 14  15  515747 GISIN Dominique 1985 SUI  1:48.91  +1.46
 15  10  55913 MOSER Stefanie 1988 AUT  1:49.09  +1.64
 16  5  505886 KLING Kajsa 1988 SWE  1:49.11  +1.66
 17  14  296008 MERIGHETTI Daniela 1981 ITA  1:49.17  +1.72
 18  2  55750 FISCHBACHER Andrea 1985 AUT  1:49.29  +1.84
 19  12  515806 JNGLIN-KAMER Nadja 1986 SUI  1:49.44  +1.99
 20  45  565320 FERK Marusa 1988 SLO  1:49.65  +2.20
 21  13  196460 MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie 1985 FRA  1:49.90  +2.45
 22  8  537582 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  1:49.92  +2.47
 23  30  538573 ROSS Laurenne 1988 USA  1:49.93  +2.48
 24  34  56125 PUCHNER Mirjam 1992 AUT  1:49.95  +2.50
 25  7  296431 STUFFER Verena 1984 ITA  1:50.06  +2.61
 25  3  538305 SMITH Leanne 1987 USA  1:50.06  +2.61
 27  24  515766 SUTER Fabienne 1985 SUI  1:50.08  +2.63
 28  39  297702 MARSAGLIA Francesca 1990 ITA  1:50.12  +2.67
 29  32  105269 GAGNON Marie-Michele 1989 CAN  1:50.17  +2.72
 30  38  155563 KRIZOVA Klara 1989 CZE  1:50.22  +2.77
 31  46  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole 1989 AUT  1:50.26  +2.81
 32  47  206460 WENIG Michaela 1992 GER  1:50.32  +2.87
 33  43  516248 FLURY Jasmine 1993 SUI  1:50.40  +2.95
 34  53  538855 FORD Julia 1990 USA  1:50.56  +3.11
 35  40  197295 PIOT Jennifer 1992 FRA  1:50.58  +3.13
 36  41  297134 BORSOTTI Camilla 1988 ITA  1:50.60  +3.15
 37  23  296729 FANCHINI Nadia 1986 ITA  1:50.66  +3.21
 38  36  56088 TIPPLER Tamara 1991 AUT  1:50.67  +3.22
 39  49  539536 WILES Jacqueline 1992 USA  1:50.72  +3.27
 40  51  245066 MIKLOS Edit 1988 HUN  1:50.85  +3.40
 41  27  565360 STUHEC Ilka 1990 SLO  1:50.86  +3.41
 42  50  56087 SIEBENHOFER Ramona 1991 AUT  1:50.91  +3.46
 43  48  297910 CURTONI Elena 1991 ITA  1:50.93  +3.48
 43  1  296427 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA  1:50.93  +3.48
 45  35  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:51.21  +3.76
 46  37  516219 NUFER Priska 1992 SUI  1:51.46  +4.01
 47  44  297153 CIPRIANI Enrica 1988 ITA  1:51.93  +4.48
 48  54  196968 BAILET Margot 1990 FRA  1:52.03  +4.58
 49  56  197641 GAUCHE Laura 1995 FRA  1:52.36  +4.91
 50  57  375018 COLETTI Alexandra 1983 MON  1:52.80  +5.35
 51  59  705349 GANTNEROVA Jana 1989 SVK  1:53.22  +5.77
 52  58  35089 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena 1984 ARG  1:55.03  +7.58

 

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About the Author: Geoff Mintz

Geoff Mintz is a former alpine ski racer who cut his teeth at Ragged Mountain and Waterville Valley, N.H. After graduating from Holderness and UVM, he relocated to Colorado, where he worked on the hill prior to pursuing a career in journalism. Mintz served as associate editor for Ski Racing Media from 2011 to 2015. He later reconnected with his local roots to manage all marketing and communications for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail before resuming work at SRM as editor-in-chief.