Tarvisio: Mancuso 3rd in SG, tied atop overall race

In an improbable scenario, Julia Mancuso finished third Sunday in a super G behind World Cup super G champion Renate Goetschl of Austria — pushing the two into a tie for the World Cup overall points lead. Click here to see video highlights of Mancuso from WCSN.
    Goetschl, who was handed the super G title when Lindsey Kildow decided to rest an ailing knee injury and skip the last 3 1/2 weeks of the season, won in an unofficial 1 minute, 18.66 seconds, with Austrian Nicole Hosp second (1:19.67) and Mancuso third (1:19.88). Mancuso won Saturday's downhill.

TARVISIO, Italy — In an improbable scenario, Julia Mancuso finished third Sunday in a super G behind World Cup super G champion Renate Goetschl of Austria — pushing the two into a tie for the World Cup overall points lead.
    Goetschl, who was handed the super G title when Lindsey Kildow decided to rest an ailing knee injury and skip the last 3 1/2 weeks of the season, won in an unofficial 1 minute, 18.66 seconds, with Austrian Nicole Hosp second (1:19.67) and Mancuso third (1:19.88). Mancuso won Saturday's downhill.
    Stacey Cook, starting 33rd, zipped into sixth place with Kaylin Richardson 11th though 40 racers.
    Mancuso and Goetschl pulled past Austrian Marlies Schild in the points tally — each with 1,199 points and six races remaining. It's believed to be the first time a U.S. woman has led the points since Tamara McKinney won the World Cup title in 1983; after two races in the 1993 season, new U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame member Julie Parisien was second, one point behind Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden.
    Goetschl won her record 17th career World Cup super G with a huge margin, despite almost losing control on the final jump.
    ''My skis were going really fast,'' Goetschl said. ''I don't know the reasons why when I go fast or slow, but today I was very fast.''
    Schild finished 12th and dropped from first to fourth overall.
    Goetschl and Mancuso now lead with 1,199 points each, Hosp is third with 1,183 and Schild has 1,170. Goetschl won the overall title in 2000, while Mancuso is attempting to become the first American woman to win since McKinney in 1983.
    Mancuso made several errors during her run, almost going down in a split at one point on the upper section.
    ''I knew I had to make up some points for the overall so I charged really hard,'' Mancuso said. ''I made a couple of mistakes but I was happy with my run.''
    It was the third straight podium finish this weekend for Mancuso, who won Saturday's downhill and placed second in a super combi Friday.
    Only six races remain this season — two technical events in Zwiesel, Germany, next weekend and four individual races at the World Cup Fnals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, the following week.
    ''It's going to come down to being fast at the last race,'' Mancuso said. ''It's funny to think back to the races where I had absolutely terrible results and think, wow, that could have made the difference.''
    Mancuso started the season slowly following hip surgery last April.
    On the list of career super G victories, Goetschl moved past German great Katja Seizinger, who won 16.
    Goetschl has 540 points in the super G standings. Kildow, the American who ended her season early due to injury, is next with 310 points. Only one more super G remains this season and wins are worth 100 points each, giving Goetschl an insurmountable lead.
    It was the 45th win in Goetschl's career and her seventh this season.
    ''It's a very special moment for me because I've never won seven races in one season before,'' Goetschl said. ''It's a personal record.''
    Goetschl injured both of her knees slightly in a training crash Thursday and has not yet decided if she will compete in Zwiesel. Two technical races — a giant slalom and a slalom — are scheduled for the German resort and Goetschl does not fare as well in the technical disciplines.
    Triple world champion Anja Paerson was on pace for a podium finish before the Swede missed the penultimate gate and failed to finish for the second straight day.

Cook "out for revenge"
    “I was very surprised. I didn’t have the best run of my life,” Mancuso said. “I was making little mistakes — nothing big, but messing up all the way … but I kept it going …
    “I’m having a good time. I’m having fun with my skiing and it was so cool today to almost have three of us teammates in the top 10. Stacey almost beat me; she just killed it,” Mancuso added.
    Cook, 15th Saturday in Mancuso’s DH victory, has had problems in super G this season “so I had no expectation and I’m really happy to be smiling in the finish.”
    She conceded, “I was out for revenge today because I wanted to do what I did today yesterday and it didn’t happen. But it’s a California day — sunny, blue skies, a Mammoth Mountain springtime day, spring snow … just perfect.”
    Cook said the course froze overnight “and I thought the sun would warm it up and it would get slushy, but it didn’t.” The result, she said, will give her confidence as she defends her super G title during the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships, which begin March 28 at Alyeska Resort in Alaska.
    “It doesn’t matter that I didn’t qualify for World Cup Finals in super G because this result shows me I can ski it at this level, and I’ll keep working on it more for next year,” she said.
    DH/SG head coach Alex Hoedlmoser said, “No complaints here. This was a course for speed — you had to point your skis down the hill. Julia made mistakes but she still kept it together, even when she hooked up quickly as she was going onto the flats … and I’m totally psyched with the results from Stacey and Kaylin; that was awesome! They did a great job.
    “The course held up well — they put some chemicals into the bottom, but the rest of the run was really hard. The course was pretty straightforward; there were four or five key sections where you had to be totally on it or it was over … and our girls were there,” he said.

THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's SG, Tarvisio, Italy, March 4, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Goetschl, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
3 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
4 Meissnitzer, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
5 Maze, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Cook, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
8 Riesch, Head/Lange/Ty
rolia
9 Brydon, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Jacquemod, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Women's super G, Tarvisio, Italy, March 4, 2007. … It is the 29th race of the women's 37-race 2007 World Cup season. … It is the sixth of seven scheduled super G's. … It is the third and final race at Tarvisio. … With six races remaining, four women are now within 29 points of each other for the overall World Cup title.
    It is the 45th career World Cup win for Renate Goetschl. … She is seventh on the all-time win list, now one win behind Marc Girardelli. … She is the third woman on the list behind Annemarie Moser-Proell (62) and Vreni Schneider (55). … It is her 17th career SG win. … She is second all time behind Hermann Maier (23) but has passed Katja Seizinger (16) for the all-time women's lead. … It is her seventh win of the season and fourth in SG. … She has podiumed in 12 of the 17 races she has completed this season.
    It is the 33rd career podium for Nicole Hosp. … Her fifth in SG. … It is her 11th podium of the season including two World Championships medals (gold GS, bronze DH). … Her third SG podium of the season.
    It is the 13th career podium for Julia Mancuso. … Her third in SG. … It is her 11th podium of the season including a silver medal (super combined) at World Championships.
<!–[if !supportEmptyParas]–>    It is the second-best career result for Stacey Cook and her first top 10 outside of North America. … Her better result is fourth in DH at Lake Louise this season Dec. 1. … Her next-best SG result is 23rd. … It is the sixth-best career result for Britt Janyk. … Her third-best in SG. … She was fourth twice in SG this season also in Italy at San Sicario Jan 26 and 28. … It is the 20th career top -10 result for Emily Brydon. … Her eighth in SG. … It is her seventh top 10 of the season. … Third in SG. … She had a career-best third in the downhill at Tarvisio on Saturday. … Kaylin Richardson matches her second-best career World Cup result and establishes her career best in SG. … She was also 11th in the Tarvisio combined two days ago. … She has one slalom result better (eighth Kranjska Gora Jan. 7) also from this season. … It is the 21st career top-20 result for Libby Ludlow. … Her third of the season.
    Renate Goetschl had already cinched the super G title, but pads her standings lead to 540-310 over the absent Lindsey Kildow (season ended to injury). … Nicole Hosp holds third at 307. … Julia Mancuso is fourth at 237. … Goetschl, Mancuso and Hosp pass Marlies Schild (12th in race) at the top of the overall standings. … With six races remaining, Goetschl and Mancuso are tied for the overall at 1,199 and Hosp is at 1,183. … Schild is fourth at 1,170. … Winning margin is 1.01 seconds. … Top 19 skiers are within two seconds.

Tarvisio women's World Cup super G results

Did not finish 1st run:
HOLAUS Maria (AUT)

Disqualified 1st run:
GRUENER Angelika (ITA), PAERSON Anja (SWE), AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi (SUI)