Austrian Elisabeth Goergl made the best of the home advantage to earn her maiden World Cup downhill victory in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria, yesterday.
Goergl, who is world champion in the discipline mastered the steep Franz Klammer piste to top the field in 1 minute, 48.40 seconds.
It was also Goergl’s first win of the season after three podium places.
Photo: Reuters
American Julia Mancuso, the Olympic silver-medalist, was second, 0.16 seconds behind Goergl and Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter was third.
Lindsey Vonn, winner of the first two downhills of the season in Lake Louise, almost crashed on the upper part and lost nearly a second in time in the process.
The Olympic champion took plenty of risks in an attempt to make up the time and managed to finish fourth.
Photo: EPA
Vonn, from the US, retained her lead in the World Cup overall standings on 691 points, 151 points ahead of Austrian slalom specialist Marlies Schild.
Overall World Cup champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch’s poor start to the season continued when the German pulled out of the race ill. She will also miss today’s super-G on the same piste.
MEN’S GIANT SLALOM
AFP, ADELBODEN, SWITZERLAND
Marcel Hirscher of Austria won the men’s World Cup giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, yesterday ahead of compatriot Benjamin Raich and Massimiliano Blardone of Italy.
It meant back-to-back wins for Hirscher, who took the slalom honors in Zagreb on Thursday and it consolidated his lead in the overall World Cup standings.
The 22-year-old from Salzburg went fastest in the first leg over the classic and difficult Adelboden piste ahead of world champion in the discipline, Ted Ligety of the US, and Blardone.
However, it was fellow Austrian Raich who put the pressure on him with an accomplished second leg.
Hirscher took few risks on his second run as his lead over Raich diminished until he crossed the line in a time of 2 minutes, 42.50 seconds, just 00.08 seconds clear.
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