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www.skiworldcup.org/Lake Louise 08.12.2002
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Women's SG - Race report
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| Report I Race results I SWC SG I Overall |
Karen
Putzer wanted more.
After scoring excellent results in the two downhills, Italy’s tiny yet aggressive Karen Putzer, wanted more in her last North-American race, the Super-G. The skier from South-Tyrol, who started in 30th position after the accident of Germany’s Hilde Gerg in the previous downhill, achieved and almost perfect run and celebrated her third World Cup win after beating by 29/100 of a second another German, Martina Ertl.
France’s Olympic Champion Carole Montillet was 3rd at 34/100. It was her third podium within three days!
USA’s Kirsten Clark, also very consistent here was 4th in front of Canada’s Geneviève Simard. She tied for 5th place with Austria’s Michaela Dorfmeister, the defending Overall World Cup champion, while Croatia’s Janica’s Kostelic was again among the top-10 after a controlled run.
The skier from Croatia keeps her clear lead in the Overall World Cup standings.
Tiny and fast
Putzer, for years one of the most efficient elements of the “Squadra Azzurra”, dominated her rivals on all the segments of this demanding race. At the first intermediate time, she already had an advantage of four tenths on Martin Ertl.
In recent years, the 24-year-old Italian won two Super-G races, both in St Moritz on the slope used in February 2003 during the FIS Ski World Championships – she will for sure also belong to the top-favorites this time!
Karen also collected a total of three bronze and silver medals at the last Olympics and World Championships events in Salt Lake City 2002 and St Anton 2002 in giant slalom, combined and Super-G, showing how determined she can be in tough moments.
“This a very important victory for me because I expects a lot from this season and this will dramatically increase my momentum” she said after the race. “I was quite confident after the Super-G in Aspen where I was 6th and the fine results in the two downhills here”.
“I’m also proud to have received the red-bid of the leader in the World Cup specialty standings which I will try to successfully defend as long as possible”.
The demanding course conditions and the poor visibility in some parts of the run definitely advantaged this talented skier who hasn’t done so well here in the past. She only came in 10th here four years ago!
More
to come for Ertl
Germany’s Martina Ertl was quite pleased by her result despite her short loss – after all, it’s her first World Cup podium for a long time.
The 2001 combined World Champion clinched bronze in combined at Salt Lake City but she didn’t reached the top-3 on the World Cup Circuit since the 2001 season.
The German veteran, who competes in her eleventh World Cup season, was particularly consistent in the last three weeks with seven places among the top-15 in all specialties! No reason for her to complain about her change of equipment last summer!
“I felt relaxed and confident today after my good races in the downhills here and I skied pretty well here” she said. “It’s great for me to feel that I can ski again for the podium. “This is my best result in Super-G since the 2000 World Cup Finals at Bormio”.
“ It’s very encouraging. I believe to have begun a great season. It’s just too bad that Hilde Gerg got injured here. I hope she will soon recover. She was very important for the team and me”.
A winner of the GS World Cup in 1998, and twice 2nd in the overall standings behind the almost invincible Katja Seizinger in 1996 and 1998, Ertl dreams to clinch once the Overall title before ending her career. Until recently and a series of injuries, Martina excelled in all events. She won almost a dozen times in giant slalom, slalom, Super-G proving she has the potential to reach her goal once.
Great weekend for Montillet and the
US girls
Great weekend too for Carole Montillet, who achieved a nice hat-trick with her three consecutive podiums in thee days. It’s also her first top-3 finish in Super-G since the Lenzerheide competition in March 2001 – qui a long wait! The downhill Olympic Champion has the guts and the talent to play an even more important role in the “White Circus” from now on!
This should also be the case for Kirsten Clark and the US girls quite impressive in the speed events since Aspen! A winner in downhill in Lenzerheide in March 2001, Kirsten didn’t reach her potential during the Olympic season. Apparently she is more mature and more determined than before. From now, she is fighting for victories in the coming weeks.
The first women’s race – a giant slalom is scheduled for Thursday, followed Friday by a Super-G on the traditional “La Daille” course. More exciting races to come.
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| Manuèle Lang |
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