L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Heel wins Super G in Val Gardena with Defago and Jaerbyn on the podium ... Paerson wins Super combined from Hosp and Suter ... Walchhofer retains King of the Hill in Downhill, Miller 2 and Osborne Paradis 3 ... Gut wins Super G in St Moritz from Suter and Fanchini

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Alcott back in the Cortina groove

Cortina d’Ampezzo has been good to Chemmy Alcott: Last year she captured the headlines of the press as she came threatening to and then delivered a top ten finish.  This year, with four races to be held in the Italian resort, has already seen her perform heroics: mild concussion sustained from smashing her head against a gate at high speed and then taking thirteenth quickest in that section.  With the snow softening and the sun beating heavily down on the Olympia delle Tofane course, Alcott fought her way down and into 22^nd place.  “This is a tough course as it is so unrhythmical,” the 22 year old grinned!

With new foot beds in her boots to try and counter the problem of blisters on her feet, Alcott was pleased with the new set up.  Her right foot has recently healed and now the left foot is giving her problems as the raw wound is rubbing against her boot.  Over a course as twisty and turny as Cortina, this means that with every bump and turn, she has to deal with the pain as well.  “I deal with this as it is in my nature,” countered Alcott.

This did not slow her down as she tore into the course.  The inspiration of waking up each morning and opening the curtains to see a poster of top Swedish racer Anja Paerson, has worked well.  Despite making a mistake on the top section of the course where she ran slightly wide, Alcott made light of the problems the previous six racers had encountered as they all came out.  After digesting her split times, the steel and determination was there for all to see: “1.34 out, I can do better than that on Friday!” And then she was off.

Having smashed her head against a gate on the top section of the downhill training run on Tuesday at about 95kmh in the training run, causing mild concussion, Alcott could have been forgiven for taking things easy today.  This is not her style and although she made the 13^th quickest split on the training run where she smashed her head, she ended up 21^st but with little memory of her run: “I knew what I was doing but it was only at the end that I realised where I was.”

The race was won by Renate Goetschl who moved into 4^th place overall in the list of World Cup winners.  This sixth win also made the Austrian the most successful female winner in Cortina.  Anja Paerson (Sweden), a technical specialist, was second with Martina Ertl of Germany third. 

Paerson was delighted to have finally taken a podium in a speed event, something she has never done before.  The strong sun took its toll on the later runners and although Goetschl was made to work by her rivals for her sixth win, the fall of Maria Reisch upset the concentration of Ertl who was in the starting area.  Goetschl knows the Cortina slopes like the back of her hand and this sixth win brought out the big smile for the first time this season.

The girls are downhill training tomorrow and then take on the Super G again before the downhill at the weekend.

1. Renate Goetschl (Aut)        1.15.57

2. Anja Paerson (SWE)           1.15.79

3. Martina Ertl (Ger)               1.16.02

22 Chemmy Alcott (GBR)      1.16.91

Cortina Snippets