Dominique Gisin made sure that she will be on the start list for the Women's Downhill on Monday with victory in the final training run. ... With her colleague Fabiene Suter having won the second training run, the pressure of making the team for the Swiss racers is paving to be a huge motivation in the training runs. Lara Gut made it a one two for the Swiss in taking second place with one of the rising stars of the World Cup, Kajsa Kling placing third on the training run.
With many of the girls electing to rest before the race on Monday, 18 racers including several of the top stars including Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Anna Fenninger missed the training run. Chemmy Alcott decided to rest her legs in preparation for the race on Monday. They do have one more training run after the Men's race tomorrow.
While most of the men's selection issues were carried out after the second training run, the women still have places to fight for. Focus was very much on the American and Swiss teams on the training run as the American packed the top ten as Wiles, Ross and Cook finished places four to six with Julia Mancuso in eight just behind the third Swiss racer to finish in the training run, Fraenzi Aufdenblatten. Cornelia Huetter and Lizz Goergl placed nine and ten to round out the top ten finishers.
Gisin spoke after her qualification had been confirmed after the run: "Today it was all about qualifying. Yesterday there was a qualification spot available, today there was [another] qualification spot available. These are the rules, it is a little bit crazy. There is more competition here than in world cup races."
Amazing to think but these are the first Olympics for the rising star Lara Gut. What were her thoughts about her Olympic experience and how it differs from the World Cup: "Everything is new but, when you are standing at the top, you have to do the same thing that you do all winter long - you just have to ski like you can." Gut was in Sochi for the test events two years ago, how has the course changed in that time: "Two years ago it was still pretty flat, but also bumpy and not so much fun. But now it is smoother, a little icy, harder but good to ski on. It is challenging."
Kajsa Kling may have jumped up the rankings this year but she is now considered a serious challenger. After the run she explained how she felt about her run: "It was very good, even better than yesterday. Luckily I did well on the speed part: even if the course is technical, I feel more comfortable in the fast part." Kling is a tall girl but how did she feel about the jumps? "They are very good, better than the first day. I really felt good on them. I am very confident for the race."
Training run timesÂ
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