16 FEB 2001 > Women's Super G
First Victory for Carole Montillet
Super G Results

Carole Montillet had to wait until she was 27 years old to enjoy her first World Cup victory, and it came today in the race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the sixth super G of the season took place in perfect weather.

"It's a great day for me and my family," Montillet said. "It means a lot after the tough time I went through."

The Frenchwoman won the first of three races here, on the very demanding Kreuzeck course, by a mere 1/100 of a second over 2000 Overall World Cup champion Renate Goetschl of Austria. Brigitte Obermoser was 3rd, 21/100 behind the winner, and the new World Champion from St. Anton, France's Règine Cavagnoud, was 4th.

It's the first time this season that Cavagnoud hasn't reached a super G podium, but she still has a comfortable lead in the super G World Cup standings ahead of Goetschl. Other specialists finish behind this pace of aces, including 5th-place Pernilla Wiberg and 6th-place Isolde Kostner.

"It was just a matter of getting strong wind at my back..."

After a good season start in North America and in Val d'Isère, where Montillet made it twice to the podium, she has finally achieved her dream of winning.

"Since the start of the season, I felt that my day could come some time this winter. It was just a matter of getting strong wind at my back," Montillet said.

Montillet has reached the podium four times since her debut on the circuit back in 1991. In St. Anton last week, she was 5th in super G and 10th in downhill.

"I was lucky today. You need some to win a race with such a tiny margin. I never thought after my run that I could make it. It was such a tough course, and I made so many mistakes. But all of us did some, so it was fine for me at the end," she said.

Montillet is the third French racer, after Carole Merle in '91 and Florence Masnada in '95, to win a super G on this course on which Austria's Uli Maier was killed in a downhill accident in January 1994.

Goetschl, silver medalist in downhill at St. Anton, was really happy for the French winner and was not angry to have so narrowly missed her fourth victory of the season.

"Carole deserves this victory after all the problems she had in her career. I still have enough time left to win more races in the future," said the Austrian.

"I think I have reached the podium a dozen times this season, so I'm quite satisfied with this result. I made a huge mistake in the first big left turn at the top, so I must be glad to be 2nd today," Goetschl said.

Cavagnoud, who has always finished on the podium in super G this year, was not too elated by her run or her result. She complained that her teammate Montillet did not call on the radio with any information on the course after finishing her run.

"I made two big mistakes in the middle technical part," she explained. "I didn't receive any technical information on the course from the previous French racer, and I was not able to anticipate those turns. I am still very motivated and focused for the race tomorrow."

Afterward, Montillet explained that she was so confused about her own run that she could not give any decent news to her colleague. One of the French technicians waiting next to her at the finish area told her not to say anything to Règine in order to let her fully concentrate on her own race.

America's Kirsten Clark was 8th in front of Canada's Mèlanie Turegon and Switzerland's Corinne Rey-Bellet. It's by far Clark's best result not only in super G but in her career. She has finished 9th twice in downhills, including in Lake Louise last December.

Megan Gerety, 4th at St. Anton, had to be content here with a far 21st place. No other US skier scored points. The 1998 Olympic Champion Picabo Street skied out in the middle part of the course while fighting for her first World Cup points in super G this season. Street, who achieved some promising results two weeks ago on the Europa Cup tour, is struggling at high speed on demanding courses. Her first goal on Saturday is to finish her run.

Also among the elite, in 15th place, Croatia's Janica Kostelic, seldom practices this discipline. Contrary to the rumors, she has no intention of quitting ski racing this season. In fact, she keeps fighting in the hopes of winning the Overall World Cup title, also the main goal for Cavagnoud and Goetschl.

"The slope was really tough, but I like this. My groin is not hurting too much since St.Anton, but one of my knees is not in good shape. But I don't think this will be a problem in the coming days. I'm happy to be here. My life would be boring without ski racing. I heard about the rumors saying I have quit skiing to go to Hawaii, but this is not the case."

Another super G will take place on this slope Saturday, to be followed Sunday by a slalom in which Kostelic will try to celebrate her 8th consecutive World Cup win this season. Among her main rivals, the new World Champion, Anja Paerson, and her runner-up at St. Anton, Christel Saioni.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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