TORINO: Alpine: Dorfmeister wins super G for second gold; Kostelic 2nd

TORINO: Alpine: Dorfmeister wins super G for second gold; Kostelic 2nd{mosimage}SAN SICARIO, Italy – Janica Kostelic keeps making history. And Michaela Dorfmeister keeps the debate going over who the most dominant women’s skier is at these Torino Games.

Austria’s Dorfmeister won her second gold medal of the Olympics on Monday, and Kostelic became the most decorated woman in Olympic alpine skiing history with a silver in the super G.

Austria’s Alexandra Meissnitzer won the bronze, .59 behind the 32-year-old Dorfmeister, who is retiring after this season.

“The two medals are a big dream for me,” Dorfmeister said. “Two golds is not easy, my emotions were so high. I saw the Austrian men win two medals in the GS and I said to Meissie, ‘Why not us?’ “

Dorfmeister, the final of the top 30 skiers out of the gate, overcame a course softened by the sun to edge Kostelic by .27 seconds.

“This is my last season and I’ve had success throughout the season,” Dorfmeister said. “I don’t know what happened — I‘m having fun. I go with more fun this last season of mine. I have no pressure on myself.”

The 24-year-old Kostelic’s silver was her sixth Olympic medal — four of them gold — and the Croatian’s second these Games. No other woman alpine skier has more than five.

“I’m really happy, maybe more happy than for the combined medal,” Kostelic said. “With me and super G you never know — I can be first or 25th. I don’t think about my six Olympic medals now, I’ll think about that later. I’m just going to continue skiing and enjoying it.”

Kostelic offered a big hug to Dorfmeister at the press conference. “She’s always been on top, she’s skied so well,” Kostelic said. “I especially like her this season, because she’s enjoying skiing. Sometimes when you want something so bad, it can’t happen, so this season I really like her. I’d say that even if she wasn’t here.”

American Lindsey Kildow placed seventh, with Julia Mancuso 11th, Kirsten Clark 14th and Libby Ludlow 28th.

As Dorfmeister entered these Olympics, a gold medal was the only award missing from her impressive career. She’s taken care of that, and then some.

At the finish, Dorfmeister was hugged by Kostelic, then stared at the scoreboard in disbelief and asked her challenger if it was true she had won.

“When I got to the bottom, I couldn’t find my name,” Dorfmeister said. “Finally Janica told me that I had won and then I started celebrating.”

Kostelic, fighting off illness throughout these Games, was going to sit out the race to rest on Sunday after winning the storm-delayed combined on Saturday, but she decided to ski after bad weather postponed the race until Monday.

The super G was delayed for nearly 27 hours by a storm that dumped 25 centimeters (10 inches) of snow on the Italian Alps near the French border. Crews cleared the course through the morning and early afternoon, and the race was held on a course softened by freezing temperatures under a sunny sky.

The Olympic super G course came under heavy criticism last year from skiers who said it was too easy. A petition was signed by most of the top skiers to move the race to the men’s venue in nearby Sestriere.

Dorfmeister, the downhill gold medalist, was one of the leaders of the protest. Organizers responded by enlarging jumps and adding bumps and rolling terrain over the summer.

Canadian Kelly Vanderbeek was a tantalizing fourth just an hour or so after teammate Francois Bourque was agonizingly just off the podium in fourth in the men’s GS.

“Yeah we’ve had three fourths as a team [Erik Guay, Bourque and her],” Vanderbeek said. “We’re a young team. For me I skied really well. … I skied with passion, I skied like I could today. Definitely I can find consolation in that. I won my first training here at the Olympics, I had my best super G result here at the Olympics, I definitely performed well.

“It was great being the leader, my heart was racing a mile a minute. I mean I wanted a medal sooo bad. I can’t even describe it. Fourth is great, but I wanted that bronze.”

Mancuso said gliding was the key, light edge pressure. “Most of the way down was spot on on my line,” she said. “I lost a bit more time on the bottom than on the top, but the snow gets warmer and warmer as you go down. I don’t know if my skis were the best for those conditions or I didn’t go straight enough. The track was clear and you wouldn’t have known it snowed last night.

“[Dorfmeister’s} an awesome glider, she looks for speed, and she always has fast skis, which is a key in all downhill races. … Regarding the medal goal, it’s a realistic goal, we’re capable of getting a medal in every event. The conditions just weren’t favoring certain individuals — it’s a tough sport.”

Kildow was still feeling the effects of her training run crash from last week. She said she may take some time off after the Olympics to help the injury heal.

“I just was disappointed,” she said following Monday’s race. “I tried as hard as I could. Skied as best as I could. I still didn’t come away with a medal. It’s just frustrating and I’m pretty sad, but life goes on. And I’m lucky to be skiing today. I have to put everything in perspective and be happy for the good things that I have in my life.

“I’m still hurting when I ski. I’m doing OK. I can walk normally now. I have this pocket of fluid in my back and it doesn’t want to go away, causing a lot of pain when I ski and restricting my movement. When I’m in my tuck, I can’t get as low as I need to be, but, skiing wise, I’m skiing great. Don’t know where I could’ve made up the time even if I was healthy. I don’t know where it went.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

XX Winter Olympics

Women’s super G
San Sicario, Italy
Feb. 20, 2006
1. Michaela Dorfmeister, AUT 1:32.47
2. Janica Kostelic, CRO 1:32.74
3. Alexandra Meissnitzer, AUT 1:33.06
4. Kelly Vanderbeek, CAN 1:33.09
5. Carole Montillet-Carles, FRA 1:33.31
6. Martina Schild, SUI 1:33.33
7. Lindsey Kildow, USA 1:33.42
8. Lucia Recchia, ITA 1:33.48
9. Emily Brydon, CAN 1:33.50
9. Petra Haltmayr, GER 1:33.50
11. Julia Mancuso, USA 1:33.72
12. Anja Paerson, SWE 1:33.88
13. Andrea Fischbacher, AUT 1:33.97
14. Kirsten Clark, USA 1:33.98
15. Sylvaine Berthod, SUI 1:34.00
16. Martina Ertl-Renz, GER 1:34.03
17. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten, SUI 1:34.10
18. Urska Rabic, SLO 1:34.12
19. Chimene Alcott, GBR 1:34.20
20. Genevieve Simard, CAN 1:34.38
21. Nike Bent, SWE 1:34.41
22. Janette Hargin, SWE 1:34.48
23. Dagny Kristjansdottir, ISL 1:34.56
24. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, SWE 1:34.78
25. Maria Marchand-Arvier, FRA 1:34.82
26. Renate Goetschl, AUT 1:34.83
27. Sarka Zahrobska, CZE 1:34.98
28. Libby Ludlow, USA 1:35.01
29. Petra Robnik, SLO 1:35.10.
30. Carolina Ruiz Castillo, SPA 1:35.20
31. Daneila Ceccarelli, USA 1:35.26
32. Ingrid Jacquemod, FRA 1:35.28
33. Tina Weirather, LIE 1:35.34
34. Sherry Lawrence, CAN 1:35.47
35. Nadia Styger, SUI 1:35.57
36. Lucie Hrstkova, CZE 1:35.62
37. Maria Jose Rienda, SPA 1:36.03
38. Nadia Fanchini, ITA 1:36.46
39. Tina Maze, SLO 1:36.64
40. Nika Fleiss, CRO 1:36.65
41. Alexandra Coletti, MON 1:37.02
42. Olesja Alieva, RUS 1:37.12
43. Jelena Lolovic, SCG 1:37.45
44. Sona Maculova, SVK 1:37.87
45. Ana Drev, SLO 1:37.92
46. Chirine Njeim, LIB 1:37.93
47. Maria Simari Birkner, ARG 1:38.02
48. Jana Gantnerova, SVK 1:38.40
49. Leyre Morlans, SPA 1:38.53
50. Macarena Benvenuto, CHI 1:41.52
51. Christelle Laura Douibi, USA 1:43.54
Other skiers:
DNS: Maria Simari Birkner, ARG; Kirsten McGarry, IRL.
DNF: Elena Fanchini, ITA; Daniela Anguta, CHI
DSQ: Eva Huckova, SVK.

THE SCOOP

Equi
pment
Women’s SG, San Sicario, Italy, Feb. 20, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1. Dorfmeister, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3. Meissnitzer, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
4. Vanderbeek, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
5. Montillet-Carles, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6. Schild, Volkl/Lange/Marker
7. Kildow, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8. Recchia, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
9. Brydon, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9. Haltmayr, Fischer/Lange/Fischer

XX Winter Olympics, women’s super G, San Sicario, Italy, Feb. 20, 2006 … The race was delayed one day by weather. … It is the fifth win of the season for Michaela Dorfmeister, and her second of these Games, having previously won the gold medal in DH Feb. 15. … It is her third career Olympic medal and second in SG, having won silver at Nagano Feb. 11, 1998. … It is the 28th Olympic gold medal for Austria. … And the third gold for Austria in SG, the others coming from Hermann Maier, Nagano, Feb. 16, 1998, and Sigrid Wolf, Calgary, Feb. 22, 1988. … She has won as many Olympic medals as any Austrian woman, tied with four others (Trude Beiser Jochum, Annemarie Moser-Proell, Anita Wachter and Alexandra Meissnitzer).

It is the 14th podium of the season for Janica Kostelic. … The second of the XX Winter Games. … She also won the combined gold. … It is her sixth Olympic medal and her second in SG, both silver. … She has now won more Olympic medals than any female in alpine history, moving past Vreni Schneider and Katja Seizinger on the all-time list. … She has won medals in her last six Olympic races.

It is the sixth podium result of the season for Alexandra Meissnitzer. … And her third Olympic medal, but first of these Games. … She had previously won a silver medal in GS and a bronze in SG at Nagano in 1998. … Her medal represented the fourth of the day for Austria, which also got gold and bronze from Benjamin Raich and Hermann Maier respectively in the men’s GS.

It was the best result of the season for Kelly Vanderbeek. … It was the third fourth-place result of these Olympics for the Canadians. … After Eric Guay in the men’s SG and Francois Bourque in the men’s GS. … Only Karen Percy with a bronze at Calgary, Feb. 22, 1988, has scored a better SG result for Canada in an Olympics. … Seventh place matches the eighth-best result of the season for Lindsey Kildow. … Her fourth-best of the season in SG. … It is her second-best Olympic result after placing sixth in CMB in the 2002 Winter Olympics. … It is the fourth-best Olympic result in SG ever for the U.S., matching Scott Macartney and Daron Rahlves. … All the better results are medal winning, Diann Roffe with gold at Lillehammer, Picabo Street with gold at Nagano and Tommy Moe with silver at Lillehammer. … It is the second-best result of the season for Emily Brydon after placing third in SG at the Val d’Isere World Cup Dec. 18. … It is her best Olympic result in five events. … It is the 12th-best result of the season for Julia Mancuso. … Her third-best of these Olympics, having previously finished seventh in DH and ninth in CMB. … It is the ninth-best result of the season for Kirsten Clark. … Her best of these Olympics, having placed 21st in DH. … The result matches her second-best career Olympic result. … It is the 11th-best result of the season for Genevieve Simard. … Her fifth-best in five super G’s. … It is her first result of these Winter Games, her third career Olympic placing. … It was the seventh-best of seven top-30 results this season for Libby Ludlow. … It is her first career Olympic result. … It is the second-best of two Olympic results for Sherry Lawrence. … She was also 27th in DH Feb. 15, 2006.

Winning margin was .27. … Top seven skiers were within the same second. … Top 21 within two seconds.