20 JAN 2001 > Women's Super G
Régine Cavagnoud Stroke Back
Race Results

Régine Cavagnoud was not too happy about losing the downhill on Friday after having won it the previous two years and she was looking for much more Saturday in the fifth super G of the winter.

And she got it, winning her third consecutive race in this, the French veteran is getting closer to her dream of clinching her first Crystal Globe in super G.

After a clean and powerful run on the perfectly prepared "Olimpia Tofana" course, Cavagnoud beat by 24/100 Canada’s aggressive Mélanie Turgeon and by 32/100 Austria’s Renate Goetschl, the winner here last winter.

"I would have been quite disappointed to leave the area without a victory..."

Goetschl has podiumed in the last four speed events. Turgeon too is pretty consistent with three podiums and a 4th place in a week.

The defending super G World Champion Alexandra Meissnitzer, who had a slow comeback after injuring her knee badly in November 1999, reached a strong 4th place — just in time before the beginning of the coming World Championships at St Anton.

Among the other favorites who finished behind them, an impressive Janica Kostelic, 9th at only 1.11 second. The Croatian had a strong intermediate time and she was on her way to a top-5 result when she made a mistake at the end. She lost her lead in the Overall World Cup standings to Goetschl, but she proved once more her multi-discipline talent.

The Americans had a bad — none skied among the top-20. Five finished from 24th to 28th place but Picabo Street was not among them. The reigning Olympic Champion in this event was 45th and she will not compete at the World's in February.

"There is no reason for me to go to St Anton at this moment. I’m way too far from my best shape," she explained "There are many good US skiers who have a strong chance for medals there and I’d rather take some time off to prepare the end of the season. I have learned a lot about myself in the past months and I hope to come back here as a top contender next year."

There is only one downhill left on the World Cup program before the Finals at Are — and that’s at Lenzerheide, in Switzerland, in six weeks.

This is Cavagnoud’s fourth success in Cortina d’Ampezzo since her initial victory in January 1999.

"I would have been quite disappointed to leave the area without a victory," she said after the race. "I skied better this time — I was more convinced of myself as well as more confident. I had such an excellent season in that discipline that I’m much more relaxed before and during my race. It’s good to do so well a week before the beginning of the World Championships — it will help me to be more relaxed. But I want to treat the World’s as normal competitions — my goal is to win the Overall World Cup which means much more to me."

In Sunday’s race, Régine hopes to reach her first giant slalom podium of the season. She was 4th at Soelden last October and she needs to improve to have a strong chance to win the Overall Cup. The favorite is four-time winner Sonja Nef from Swizterland, who was 3rd here in 1997. Among the other dozen candidates for a spot on the podium, America’s Sarah Schleper, 3rd at Semmering three weeks ago.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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