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Park
City, men’s slalom
3rd victory for Rainer Schoenfelder
Rainer
Schoenfelder found the perfect
rhythm today in the first slalom
of the new season and celebrated
his first victory of the winter
– his third since February
2000. The 25-year-old Austrian
who started a career as a singer
last year, took the lead in
the first run ahead of Ivica
Kostelic and Finland’s
Kalle Palander. In the afternoon,
he successfully defended his
position in the final run and
remained out of reach of his
toughest rival as France’s
Pierrick Bourgeat, a winner
here four years ago.
Bourgeat lost only 10/100 on
him at the end of the race after
clocking the fastest time, while
Benjamin Raich ended again 3rd
- 1,77 seconds behind from his
teammate.
It was a difficult days for
many favorites as the reigning
Olympic Champion Jean Pierre
Vidal, only 6th while Kostelic
dropped back to 14th place after
a slow second run. The defending
slalom World Cup champion has
a hard time to find his momentum
in the more difficult second
run designed by an Austrian
coach who set a much longer
course – six more gates
and seven more seconds –
in order to create him some
problems.
America’s Bode Miller didn’t
finish the first run –
he crashed out at the middle
of the run after losing his
balance in a right turn. A tough
week for the US champ’
who was expecting much more
here. The double silver medal
winner was skiing quite well
before his early exit in both
first runs. He plans to compete
next week in the Super-G in
Lake Louise and eventually in
Beaver Creek the week after.
Rainer is a busy man
A
winner on the demanding “Ganslernhang”
in Kitzbühel last January,
Rainer Schoenfelder is for three
years now one of the best slalom
specialists in the Austrian
team. He scored over fifteen
top-10 places on the World Cup
tour but only once in North
America , when he was 4th in
Aspen last year.
“I always needed much time
to find my best shape so I’m
really pleased to excel here
today” he said.
“The course conditions
were quite demanding in the
second run and I saw that many
skiers had problems. I decided
to achieve a strong run without
making mistakes. My tactic was
fine until the last gates –
then I made two mistakes and
I was afraid to blew it. I was
really pleased to see that I
could keep a short lead over
Bourgeat – it was just
great”.
“It’s a very important
result for me, mostly because
I switched skis last summer.
I use now Fischer skis but I
kept my Nordica boots I already
used in Kitzbühel when
I won. Apparently, I made the
right choice!”
“This success also puts
me in a strong position for
the World Championships team.
I was 6th in St Anton in 2001
but I feel ready for more”.
Rainer, who achieved a degree
in mathematics with one year
advance in 1996 is a very busy
man over the entire year. Beside
being a successful ski racer,
Rainer also dedicate much time
to his other two passions –
music and the stocks. He will
present his second CD in two
weeks and he likes to be on
stage. Each evening, he also
carefully checks his investments
in different markets around
the world. Each day, he surfs
for hours on the internet to
find out the best opportunities.
“It was tough this past
years, but it’s a very
interesting activity which is
good for my brain. I carry a
lot of momentum from my music
into my skiing…”
A happy Bourgeat
Pierrick
Bourgeat was for sure as happy
as Schoenfelder on the winners’
podium – his first for
a long time. The French specialist
who won two slaloms in a row
in Japan’s Shiga Kogen
two years ago, went through
a hard time last winter. He
only finished twice among the
top-10 and skied out at the
Olympics. “I was skiing
well in training but I didn’t
feel sure enough to take a maximum
of risks last winter” he
explained.
“It’s great to get
out of that slum now. I felt
able to achieve a nice comeback
in the second run as I did four
years ago when I won here. I
attacked the course with much
determination and everything
went on fine. It’s a great
feeling to be back. This result
should help me to improve my
ranking in slalom. I hope to
return soon in the first seed.”
Pierrick, who seriously injured
himself at a knee two years
ago, aims now to utilize his
fighting spirit in downhill.
“I plan to race the downhill
in Val d’Isère”
he said. “I like this event
and I wish to get some good
results in combined. I’ll
go train back home in the coming
weeks and try to qualify for
the race in Val d’Isère.
It will be fun”.
The next men’s races are
scheduled in Lake Louise, Canada,
where a downhill and a Super-G
should take place on Saturday
and Sunday. Austria’s Stephan
Eberharter will try to regain
the lead in the Overall World
Cup which represents his main
goal this winter. Two years
ago, he won there his first
downhill.
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