Goergl wins first World Cup downhill
in Bad Kleinkirchheim
World Downhill Champion Lizzi Goergl secured her first Downhill win
on
the World Cup with a gutsy and hard fought run in Bad
Kleinkirchheim. The race, run down the course named in honour of
Austrian legend Franz Klammer, was technically difficult and caught
out a number of racers yet Goergl let her HEAD skis run and held on
to win ahead of Julia Mancuso and Fabienne Suter with Lindsey Vonn
in fourth.
With
Maria Hoefl-Riesch sitting out the weekend of races due to
recovering from a bout of flu and Lindsey Vonn still suffering from
the flu, very few of the racers had raced in Bad Kleinkirchheim
with
the last time the races there being
in 2006. With Anna Fenninger having won the one training run that
the weather permitted, this was expected to be an open race.
When Lindsey Vonn struggled on the second turn of the steep section
below the start, the unbeaten run looked in severe danger of being
broken. Vonn is a fighter and explained after her run
“I didn’t really have a good feeling from the very beginning,” Vonn
said. “My balance isn’t there, my energy isn’t there. I tried my
best. I fought the whole way down. Every bump seemed to mess me up.
I wasn’t clean. I wasn’t building pressure at the top of the turn
like I normally do. That’s not the way I normally ski. But I’m happy
with my result, considering everything.”
This was still a great result in the circumstances.
The day though
belonged to Lizzi Goergl; she collapsed in the finish
through sheer exultation in winning her first World Cup Downhill
race. Goergl likes the tough courses and this was certainly one of
those. “I felt very comfortable on this course right after the first
inspection,” the 30-year-old said. “My training run was not the
best, but I got a good feeling for the slope and the turns and what
I had to do. I’m pretty happy I brought it right to the point. With
a victory like this, there are a lot of people standing behind the
athlete. Winning is not easy, but today everything was right for me.
I like this kind of course and the snow. It was tough skiing. I
enjoyed it.”
Julia Mancuso looked to have secured her fourth World Cup Downhill
win when she came down and bettered the time of the Swiss girl
Fabienne Suter. In the end a draught of three years since the
Austrians had won a World Cup Women’s downhill came to an end with
Goergl taking the top spot. For a team that has produced the likes
of Renate Goetschl, Michaela Dorfmeister and other illustrious names
in Downhill, the last few years have been a drought. Goergl
recognises this and while they have put in the work, now the results
are starting to show, she said. Maybe the reason for the drought has
been the form of a certain American racer, Lindsey Vonn.
With Anna Fenninger having won the only training run, Anja Paerson
was looking great at the top of the course before a slight problem
and missing a gate causing her to pull up. Fenninger managed to hold
to tenth place despite a run that saw her admitting to going too
direct at some of the gates.
