Sierra Nevada: Kirchgasser wins; Mancuso 6th

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain — Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria won a highly technical World Cup giant slalom Saturday.
    Kirchgasser had been third in the first run on the steep Fuente del Tesoro course.
    Nicole Hosp, the Austrian who won the giant slalom at the worlds 11 days ago and leads the World Cup GS standings, was second. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who had led after the first run, was third.
    Julia Mancuso led three American racers in the top 30, finishing sixth and a second-and-a-half behind Kirchgasser. Resi Stiegler, who started the race No. 51, laid down the fifth-fastest second-run time to help her finish 10th. Jessica Kelley was 17th.

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain — Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria won a highly technical giant slalom Saturday for her first World Cup victory.
    Kirchgasser moved up from third after the first leg and skied the steep Fuente del Tesoro course in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 14.41 seconds.
    ''My first run wasn't perfect, so I was thinking maybe I could get on the podium, but not victory,'' Kirchgasser said. ''There are so many good giant slalom skiers and normally you need two great runs.''
    Nicole Hosp, the Austrian who won the giant slalom at the worlds 11 days ago and leads the World Cup GS standings, was second, 0.42 seconds behind. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who had led after the first run, was third, 0.58 out.
    Julia Mancuso led three American racers in the top 30, finishing sixth and a second-and-a-half behind Kirchgasser.
    Resi Stiegler, who started the race No. 51, laid down the fifth-fastest second-run time to help her finish 10th, the Wyoming native's first career top 10 in a World Cup GS. Jessica Kelley was a WC career-best 17th. Libby Ludlow didn't qualify for a second run.
    "We've got a GS team again," said U.S. GS head coach Chris Knight. "We had one going into Aspen [in November] and it kind of went into hiding for a while, but it came back today. We know Julia can do better but a personal best for two skiers on the same day … that's pretty cool."
    The World Cup circuit has not raced at Sierra Nevada since the 1999 season finals and very few of the skiers are familiar with the course. The GS run starts out with a gradient of 54 percent, levels out in the middle section, then drops off sharply again before the finish.
    ''It's steep on the beginning and down here at the finish,'' Poutiainen said. ''At the middle it's flat but it goes really fast and you really have to be quick on your feet. It's not an easy course.''
    The 21-year-old Kirchgasser finished fourth in the giant slalom at the worlds. She sprained her thumb in training Friday but said she took painkillers before the race and the injury did not affect her.
    ''You ski with your feet, not your thumb,'' she said.
    Kirchgasser replaced Hosp, who was ill, on Austria's squad that won the team event at the worlds.
    ''That was special. And I skied well. It gave me confidence,'' Kirchgasser said.
    Kirchgasser's previous best World Cup results were second in a super-combi in Reiteralm, Austria, in December, and third in a giant slalom at Aspen, Colorado, in November.
    She was the 2003 world junior slalom champion.
    ''I knew I could win, but I wasn't expecting it today,'' said Kirchgasser, who let out a big scream when she crossed the finish line and saw her name atop the leader board.
    Anja Paerson, coming off a five-medal performance at her home worlds in Are, Sweden, finished fourth. Marlies Schild finished seventh and Austrian teammate Renate Goetschl was 14th.

    Knight: rest did Mancuso "a world of good"
    "The time off did Julia a world of good," Knight said of Mancuso's trip back home after the World Championships. "She was a little off on her timing — she wasn't able to stay over her right-footed turns [i.e., to the left] as well as she can, but that'll come back. We'll see more good results from her.
    "But that 10th for Resi was unbelievable," Knight continued. "She was just three-tenths off the fastest time on that second run; she just let it and fully charged the course. She really brought her 'A Game' to GS today."
    Course conditions, Knight said, "were perfect. We're at 10,000 feet, and they injected [i.e., inserted water into the snow to stabilize it] this week and there was some decent chatter, but this is the best GS hill we've had all season — even sitting in the sun all day it was rock hard. Resi moved up to 22nd, even with a big mistake … and without that mistake, she could've easily been top 15, even coming out of 51st.
    "She really showed her potential in GS. It's what she's really capable of…and it can get better, too."
    Kelley was 21st in the first run, one-hundredth of a second faster than Stiegler and came up with her first World Cup top-20.
    "Jess was a little conservative, skiing a little round [versus taking a tighter line through the gates] on the top of her second run. If she'd just trust herself a little more, and risk it a little more, she could be a World Cup top-15 skier in GS. She can do it," Knight said.

    Slalom Sunday, then off to Italy   
    The women ski slalom Sunday and then head to Tarvisio, Italy, with a super combined Friday, followed by a downhill and super G. First run of the slalom is at 3 a.m. ET with second run at 6 a.m.; live interval timing is available at https://livetiming.usskiteam.com.   
    Goetschl leads the overall World Cup standings with 1,019 points. Schild is second with 952 points, Mancuso sits third with 943 and Hosp is fourth with 939.
    Hosp increased her lead atop the giant slalom standings, and now has 310 points. Poutiainen is second with 274 and Kirchgasser moved up from fifth to third with 237.
    Denise Karbon of Italy, who was second after the opening run, fell during her second trip down.

— The Associated Press and USSA contributed to this story

THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's giant slalom, Sierra Nevada, Spain, Feb. 24, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
3 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
4 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Putzer, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
6 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
7 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Moelgg, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
9 Zeiser, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Stiegler, Dynastar/Lange/Look

Women's giant slalom, Sierra Nevada, Spain, Feb. 24, 2007. … It is the 25th race of the women's 37-race World Cup schedule. … It is the sixth of eight originally scheduled GS's (with Solden having been canceled). … It is the first women's GS since Jan. 21.
    It is the first ca
reer World Cup win for Michaela Kirchgasser. … She has two additional podium results all coming this season. … She was Europa Cup GS champion in 2005. … She is the eighth Austrian to win a World Cup this season. … The third to win a women's GS (Nicole Hosp and Kathrin Zettel) this season.
    It is the 31st career World Cup podium for Hosp. … The 16th in GS. … It is her seventh Cup podium of the season. … She has placed no worse than fourth in any GS this season and won the World GS Championship.
    It is the 21st World Cup podium for Tanja Poutiainen. … Her 10th in GS. … It is her third podium of the season, all in GS.
    It is the 13th time this season Julia Mancuso has been in the top six of a race, including three World Championship races. … She has not placed worse than seventh in any completed GS this season. … It is the 12th top 10 World Cup result for Resi Stiegler, but her first in GS. … Her best previous result in GS at World Cup was 20th at Aspen earlier this season (Aspen Nov. 25). She started 51st. …It is a career best placing – of four – for Jessica Kelley, all in GS. … Three of the four coming this season.
    Nicole Hosp maintains the World Cup GS standings lead 310-274 over Tanja Poutiainen. … Michaela Kirchgasser is third at 237. … Kathrin Zettel (DNF in race) is tied with Julia Mancuso in fourth at 206. … Renate Goetschl (14th in race) leads the overall standings 1019-952 over Marlies Schild (7th in race). … Mancuso is third at 943. … Winning margin is .42 of a second. … Top four skiers are within a second. … Top eight within two seconds.

Sierra Nevada women's World Cup giant slalom results

Did not finish 1st run: LOLOVIC Jelena (SRB), LEINONEN Sanni (FIN), DESFORGES Emilie (CAN), FENNINGER Anna (AUT), BORSSEN Therese (SWE), ROBNIK Mateja (SLO), SUTER Fabienne (SUI), DREV Ana (SLO), FISCHBACHER Andrea (AUT), ZETTEL Kathrin (AUT)

Did not finish 2nd run: BERTRAND Olivia (FRA), FANCHINI Nadia (ITA), SIMARD Genevieve (CAN)

Did not qualify 1st run: MORLANS Leyre (SPA), BRYDON Emily (CAN), JELUSIC Ana (CRO), COSTAZZA Chiara (ITA), WORLEY Tessa (FRA), RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina (SPA), GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka (POL), LONGHINI Hilary (ITA), FERNSEBNER Carolin (GER), GRAND Rabea (SUI), RUBENS Shona (CAN), BERGER Silvia (AUT), KELLY Gail (CAN), LUDLOW Libby (USA), BERTRAND Marion (FRA), MAZE Tina (SLO)