Sierra Nevada: Mancuso, Austrian trio square off

By Published On: February 24th, 2007Comments Off on Sierra Nevada: Mancuso, Austrian trio square off

Super combined world silver medalist Julia Mancuso faces a tough challenge in the last month of World Cup racing as she battles for her first overall World Cup win against three of Austria’s best.
    Renate Goetschl — the overall winner in March 2000 who earned this season’s super G World Cup title this week when injured Lindsey Kildow decided to sit out the rest of the season — leads the overall standings over teammate Marlies Schild before the pair of technical events planned this weekend in Sierra Nevada.
    Goetschl has totaled 1,001 points, 85 more than Schild as the women’s tour resumes racing at the host site of the 1996 World Championships. Mancuso, who returned at home last weekend to rest after her exhausting World Championships in Sweden, is now third behind Goetschl with 903 points.
    A giant slalom will be held Saturday followed by a slalom on Sunday.


SIERRA NEVADA, Spain — Super combined world silver medalist Julia Mancuso faces a tough challenge in the last month of World Cup racing as she battles for her first overall World Cup win against three of Austria’s best.
    Renate Goetschl — the overall winner in March 2000 who earned this season’s super G World Cup title this week when injured Lindsey Kildow decided to sit out the rest of the season — leads the overall standings over teammate Marlies Schild before the pair of technical events planned this weekend in Sierra Nevada.
    Goetschl has totaled 1,001 points, 85 more than Schild as the women’s tour resumes racing at the host site of the 1996 World Championships.
    A giant slalom will be held Saturday followed by a slalom on Sunday.
    Meanwhile, Mancuso, who returned at home last weekend to rest after her exhausting World Championships in Sweden, is now third behind Goetschl with 903 points. She leads new giant slalom world champion Nicole Hosp in fourth with 859 points.
    Chris Knight, the U.S. technical coach, doesn’t think Mancuso would be affected by jet lag.
    “I think she'll be OK. Arriving and getting right into it is one way to handle it,'' he said.
    A total of 11 events — six technical and four speed races plus a super combined, are scheduled in the next four weekends in Spain, Tarvisio, Italy; Zwiesel, Germany; and at the Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
    Goetschl, who also leads the downhill standings, has been extremely consistent this winter, finishing nearly all of her speed competitions on the podium. Goetschl said she doesn’t consider herself as a favorite to clinch the overall crystal globe. But her disappointing World Championships, where she only got bronze in super G, may boost her determination in the coming weeks.
    Schild, who may secure her slalom World Cup title this weekend with a top-10 finish, has only three slaloms left to strongly increase her total amount of points since she has not been a consistent podium finisher in giant slalom, and she seldom reached the top-10 in downhill or super G.
    Mancuso on the other hand, has the potential to podium in all disciplines. This season the Californian has excelled in downhill, super G and super combined and was also second in giant slalom.
    If she manages to recover her form from early January, when she reached five consecutive podiums in Austria and Italy, Mancuso may well be leading the overall standings no later than next week after the races in Tarvisio.
    The last American woman to win the overall title was Tamara McKinney in 1983.  Interestingly enough, McKinney once trained Mancuso when she was a teenager.
    Mancuso, who won Olympic gold last year at Sestriere in giant slalom, feels ready for that fierce battle after her short break at home.
    “It was nice to get back and tank some energy after the tough days at Are,” she said. “I don't think too much about the overall title right now but I will certainly try my best in each single race as usual. It could be fun.”
    Knight said focusing too early on the overall title won’t help Mancuso.
    ''Look at Marlies Schild,” Knight said. “Before the World Championships she had a real grip on the overall and was really focused on it, and her form dropped right off.
    ''I think if it comes down to World Cup Finals and she [Mancuso] has a chance, then she'll start thinking about it and will probably get nervous.''
    Hosp, who leads the giant slalom standings, is also a good all-rounder. She finished third in downhill at Are and already won a super G last year. She suffered a cold at the end of the World Championships that prevented her from competing for another gold medal in the nations team event, which Austria won handily even without her.
    Hosp may well become the biggest Austrian rival of Mancuso in the next four weekends if she maintains her form and remains as relaxed as she was in Sweden earlier this month.
    While Kildow, who injured her right knee in training slalom at Are and is hanging it up to get healthy for next season, Sweden’s Anja Paerson will aim to win her first World Cup race of the season in Spain.
    The triple gold medalist from Are has twice finished third in downhill, but she showed in recent weeks that she has recovered her momentum in the technical events too.
    Paerson is only seventh in the overall standings now after taking a week off during the last stop at San Sicario, Italy, but she certainly wishes to end among the top three.
    Also fighting for her first World Cup victory in Sierra Nevada is Sarka Zahrobska, the surprising slalom world champion in Are. She was twice on the podium in January but she certainly wishes more now.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story

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About the Author: Pete Rugh