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First
Success for Mojca Suhadolc
Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
November 28. 1999
Women's Super G
Mojca Suhadolc is a patient and a strong-minded athlete.
Seven years after her debut on the World Cup tour, the
24-year-old Slovene overcame injuries and frustrating
moments in recent years to celebrate her first victory
on the World Cup tour in the super G race at Lake Louise
today. It's the second win for her team after Spela
Pretnar's slalom success 10 days ago at Colorado's Copper
Mountain.
Mojca Suhadolc
Starting with bib number 1, Suhadolc was able to take
advantage of a perfect course to beat the top German
specialist Hilde Gerg by a mere 2/100 of a second. Gerg
placed 2nd in the downhill on Saturday.
Italy's Isolde Kostner confirmed her strong form in
again reaching the podium with 3rd place while Austria's
Renate Goetschl, who missed a gate in Saturday's downhill,
came in 6th, just behind the Canadian Melanie Turgeon.
No US skier could score points in this race, but Jonas
Mendes came closest, missing the cut by a few hundredths
of a second to finish 32nd.
"It was quite hard to wait so long in the finish
area, I was very nervous since I had to wait until the
last skier to be sure that I finally won my first race...."
— Mojca Suhadolc (SLO)
In training, Mojca Suhadolc sets her sights on becoming
a top speed specialist, unlike her teammates who focus
on the technical events. But her journey up to the top
has been long and difficult, as her team doesn't have
strong traditions in the speed events. In December 1995,
she stood on the podium twice in Val d'Isère
in super G and giant slalom, but she could not repeat
these great results in the years to come. Suhadolc had
to swim against the current, plagued by injuries and
other difficulties, including new equipment and poor
motivation.
In recent years, she scored only two top-10 finishes
in super G — today and in December 1997. After
her excellent 6th place in the downhill yesterday —
her best ever on the World Cup — she felt ready
for more in the super G. Yet she didn't expected to
do as well as she did.
"I didn't mind starting with number 1 because I
had no time to get nervous," she said after the
race. "But I didn't have the feeling I was skiing
so fast."
Podium
In fact, the shy Slovene left the finish area right
after her run and she had to be found and brought, once
it appeared that her time was a very fast one. "It
was quite hard to wait so long in the finish area, I
was very nervous since I had to wait until the last
skier to be sure that I finally won my first race,"
Suhadolc added.
"It's a very special feeling — I was dreaming
for many years for this moment. It opens me to new opportunities.
It's great to feel able to win races," she said.
"Such a season start will boost my morale."
In fact she beat some of the best world specialists
of the event, including the 1997 super G World Cup Champion
Hilde Gerg, who with today's 2nd place finish took her
fifth stand on the podium in Lake Louise - but she was
not to upset.
"I feel better than in the past races," she
said. "Now I can look forward with a better feeling."
Gerg, the runner-up in the 1999 Overall World Cup standings,
is one of the top favorites for the victory this season
in the absence of Alexandra Meissnitzer, who badly injured
her knee earlier in the week.
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