Sölden: Confidence builder for top U.S. racers

The preseason is finally over as the Sölden women’s FIS World Cup opener is in the can, giving many of the girls a sigh of relief. “I am just so glad the first race is over with,” said Resi Stiegler, who placed 15th with a strong second run. “I was so nervous for the first run, I was about to pass out.” She kept it together, and with teammate Lindsey Vonn’s 13th-place finish, gave the U.S. women a degree of depth that has been missing in giant slalom.
SÖLDEN, Austria — The preseason is finally over as the Sölden women’s FIS World Cup opener is in the can, giving many of the girls a sigh of relief. “I am just so glad the first race is over with,” said Resi Stiegler, who placed 15th with a strong second run. “I was so nervous for the first run, I was about to pass out.” She kept it together, and with teammate Lindsey Vonn’s 13th-place finish, gave the U.S. women a degree of depth that has been missing in giant slalom.
    “This is definitely my favorite GS hill,” said Stiegler. “And this year it was very smooth, with almost no chatter.” Moving up from 22nd after her first run, Stiegler got loose after the rollover on the Rettenbach Glacier. “The first run, I had trouble in the flats, but the second it was the steeps. I was trying really hard just to get back on my line.” She did, and gave her surrogate Austrian fan club something to cheer about.
    Vonn was very pleased with her day, finding new form in a discipline that has never been her strongest. “I feel really good with a top 15,” she said. “I don’t even think I have been in the top 30 for a while in GS.” When asked why she was skiing like a new person today, she replied, “It feels really cool to start fresh and make a new name for myself as Lindsey Vonn.”
    But the big story Saturday for the U.S. team was Julia Mancuso’s podium. “It’s really motivating to get back out here and race again,” Mancuso said. “I never really know if I’m skiing that fast in training until I’m racing against everyone else.” Mancuso’s first run had her tied for 12th with France’s Ingrid Jacquemod, .99 seconds out of the lead. “I skied well until the flats on the first run, and I guess I just cruised a little bit. I was disappointed that I didn’t charge it more.”
    She knew she needed to pull it all together for the second run, as afternoon shadows began to cross the course, obscuring the icy ruts. “So I just went for it,” she said. “My technique wasn’t that pretty, but it was fast. I thought I’d made too many mistakes, but even if you make mistakes, you can get away with it if you’re going faster.” She took the lead and held it until Italy’s Denise Karbon bested her by .33 with a flawless second run. Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen, leader after the first run, finished fifth.
    “We had a pretty good day and we’re certainly super-psyched about it. But I don’t agree that Jules wimped out on her first run,” women’s slalom/GS head coach Chris Knight said. “She skied really well; she had two mistakes and that cost her. But to go from 12th to second shows how well she’s skiing right now. Her technique may not have been perfect, but her determination and drive brought her home with a great result.
    “Starting the season, especially on this course, with a podium and two more women in the top 15 is great for the team. It shows the depth and how well they’re skiing, especially on really difficult terrain,” Knight said.
    Karbon said, “There were some differences with the course set for the second run. The first was much rounder, and for the second, you really needed to ski it light and clean and precise, which worked really well with my style.”
    The diminutive Italian has recovered from last year’s ankle injury as well as injuries to both knees and an elbow in past seasons. She said it was a funny feeling to be on the podium, as this year’s race wasn’t even televised in Italy. “But I was really moved to hear the Italian anthem, and it made me think how much I have had to fight to come back. I just want to ski really fast at every race and keep having fun,” she said.