Tarvisio: Hosp edges Mancuso; Stiegler 5th in SC

Austrian Nicole Hosp won a World Cup super combined Friday, edging American Julia Mancuso, who closed the gap in the chase for the overall title. Click here to see video highlights of Mancuso from WCSN. Austrian Marlies Schild was third to clinch the crystal globe for super combined.
    Sweden's Anja Paerson, the leader after the downhill, was fourth, just ahead of Resi Stiegler, who made a strong run for her first World Cup podium.
    Kaylin Richardson was 11th and Stacey Cook 16th in a solid day for the Americans.
    Check out the updated FIS women's World Cup overall standings leaders.

TARVISIO, Italy — Austrian Nicole Hosp won a World Cup super combined Friday, edging American Julia Mancuso, who closed the gap in the chase for the overall title. Austrian Marlies Schild was third to clinch the crystal globe for super combined.
    Sweden's Anja Paerson, the leader after the downhill, was fourth, just ahead of Resi Stiegler, who made a strong run for her first World Cup podium.
    Kaylin Richardson was 11th and Stacey Cook 16th in a solid day for the Americans.
    Schild kept her overall points lead (1,112) with Hosp moving into second (1,089) and Mancuso third (1,039), moving up a spot from fourth at the start of the day. Austrian Renate Goetschl, also in the overall title picture, did not race as she rested her injured knees. Check out the updated FIS women's World Cup overall standings leaders.   
    Schild wrapped up the season's slalom title last weekend and now has won two small crystal globes. This was the third and final super combi of the season.
    ''It's an important trophy. It's a new discipline but every trophy is very important,'' said Austria Alpine Director Hans Pum. ''You have to ski good in downhill and slalom. You always see a perfect skier.''
    Schild won the opening race in Reiteralm, Austria, in December, and Mancuso won in Altenmarkt, Austria, in January. Schild finished with 220 points in the super combi standings. Mancuso took second with 195 and Hosp third with 190.
    ''I was very happy with my downhill. I was a little disappointed with my slalom, but I'm happy I won the title,'' said Schild, who was also third after the downhill leg.
    Warm weather and soft snow conditions made it nearly impossible for the final skiers in the slalom leg to maintain their advantages. Hosp was 19th after the downhill leg and had the fastest slalom run.
    It was the seventh World Cup win of Hosp's career and first in super combi. She also won gold in giant slalom at the worlds, and took a surprise bronze in downhill.
    ''The downhill wasn't great, but I took advantage of a good start number in slalom,'' Hosp said.
    Hosp skied one shortened downhill leg and one slalom run in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 10.15 seconds on the Prampero course. Mancuso was second, 0.32 seconds behind, and Schild was third, 0.33 back, and retained her lead in the overall World Cup standings.
    In the morning DH portion, World Championships super combined silver medalist Mancuso picked up speed at every timing split for the second-fastest downhill run in the foggy opening stage, four-hundredths of a second behind new world champion Paerson.
    In the first World Cup held in Tarvisio, Paerson had an unofficial DH time of 1 minute, 25.59 seconds, with Mancuso second at 1:25.63 after being three-tenths out at the first checkpoint. Cook was 17th, Richardson 21st and Stiegler 23rd in that leg.
    The start of the race was delayed Friday due to rain and foggy conditions. The downhill portion of the race was put back 75 minutes until 11:45 a.m. locally. A steady rain had been falling on the Prampero course for several hours and fog made visibility difficult on the upper section.
   
Worth the wait for Mancuso
   "It's not a really tough hill — not hard by any means, but it could be tough depending on the snow. We waited a while, and then waited some more before the downhill," Mancuso said.
    "The snow was slushy, but they did a good job with the chemicals. It wasn't foggy for me [skiing 30th in DH] but we did have a hold for one of those crazy fog clouds that rolled through. The slalom was a really fun course. They set an open course and I skied some of my best slalom for those conditions.
    "I could have skied faster, but I survived. I've still got tons of work to do, but I skied the bottom really well," she said.
    Stiegler was stoked about once again having one of the top two fastest slalom runs. "I'm always second fastest. I need to be the fastest," she said, "and then I could win a World Cup, or be on a podium.
    "I started fifth in the slalom, so I was pretty lucky that I had a good course. But I made a mistake at the top, after the first combination where it goes over a pitch, from the flat to a pitch … and I wasn't forward enough, but then I skied pretty good down to the bottom."
    "Can't ever complain about a podium, and two in the top five, all four in the first 16," said women's SL/GS head coach Chris Knight. "She's really elevated her slalom in the last couple of weeks. And Resi had a mistake on the top and then skied conservatively for 10 to 15 gates after that, but then really got into it. Both of them had decent mistakes, too, on the top section of downhill and that obviously cost them, but they held in there.
    "And it was great to see Kaylin and Stacey ski so well, too … really good effort from both of them. They took advantage of snow conditions when they went. Kaylin looked like she's found some confidence again in her slalom," Knight said. "She's getting that back."
    "It was really, really wet snow which they salted. That held well for the snow condition. It was a nice little slalom hill at the bottom of the downhill."
    The race marked the debut of a new resort on the World Cup circuit. The women run a downhill Saturday and complete their first visit to Tarvisio with a super G Sunday before heading to Zwiesel, Germany.

THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's super combined Tarvisio, Italy, March 2, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
2 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
3 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Sa
lomon
5 Stiegler, Dynastar/Lange/Look
6 Goergl, Blizzard/Lange/Marker
 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Robnik, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Schnarf, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Jacquemod, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

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Women's super combined, Tarvisio, Italy, March 2. 2007. … It is the 27th race of the women's 37-race World Cup schedule. … It is the third of three scheduled women's combineds. … It is the first of a three-race set at Tarvisio. … It is the first World Cup race held at Tarvisio.
    It is the seventh career win for Nicole Hosp (17th DH, 1st SL). … Her first in combined. … She has now won in four disciplines and needs a DH win to complete the cycle. … It is her second World Cup win of the season after the Kranjska Gora GS Jan. 6. … She also won the gold medal in GS at World Championships.
    It is the 11th career World Cup podium for Julia Mancuso (2nd DH, 7th SL). … She finished one-hundredth of a second ahead of third place. … It is her second Cup podium in combined, having won at Zauchensee Jan. 14. … It is her eighth World Cup podium of the season. … She also won silver in combined at World Championships.
    It is the 32nd career World Cup podium for Marlies Schild (3rd DH, 6th SL). … Her third in combined, all from this season. … It is an even dozen Cup podiums for her season. … Plus two World Championship medals, silver in slalom and bronze in combined.
    The result matches Resi Stiegler's (21st DH, 2nd SL) career second-best. … She has been fourth twice, in slalom at Are March 17, 2006, and in combined at Zauchensee earlier this season (Jan. 14). … She was also fifth in slalom at Zagreb earlier this season (Jan. 4). … It is the second-best career result for Kaylin Richardson (18th DH, 11th SL)… She placed eighth in the Kranjska Gora slalom Jan. 7. … It is her best combined result. … It is the fifth career combined result for Emily Brydon (6th DH, 25th SL). … Her third-best of the season. … It is a career-best combined result for Stacey Cook (15th DH, 18th SL). … Her previous best had been 20th at Zauchensee earlier this season (Jan. 14). … It is the fifth career scoring result for Shona Rubens (17th DH, 26th SL), third of the season. … It is her second-best result of the season.
    Schild wins the combined title 220-195 over Mancuso. … Hosp is third at 190. … Resi Stiegler finishes fifth, Lindsey Kildow seventh and Emily Brydon 10th in final Cup combined standings. … Schild pads her lead in the overall standings as Hosp and Mancuso leapfrog Renate Goetschl in the standings. … Schild leads Hosp 1,112-1,089 with Mancuso third at 1,039 and Goetschl (did not race) fourth at 1,019. … Kildow holds fifth at 808. … Winning margin is .32. … Top five are within a second. … Top nine within two seconds. 

Tarvisio women's World Cup super combined results