Italy's two-time super G World Champion Isolde Kostner celebrated her first super G victory of the season at Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Three weeks after clinching a silver medal in that event at St. Anton World Championships, Kostner beat by 8/100 of a second Austria's Renate Goetschl and by 13/100 France's Carole Montillet.

It's Kostner's third victory of the season - also the third in her career in a World Cup super G.

"I always ski better when I can see where I'm going."

She was both happy and surprised to win this race. It's her first super G success since her victory at Val d'Isère in December 1999. "I couldn't see a lot at the top where the visibility was quite bad, so I tried to be as precise as possible there," Kostner said. "It was a good idea because the toughest part was that big turn in the upper part. The rest was just smooth gliding. I was lucky to race under sunshine in the final section, I always ski better when I can see where I'm going."

"It's funny because I'm mainly a downhiller," she added, "but I have never won any medal or World Cup trophy in downhill so far. Hopefully it will happen at Are. I was not so pleased by my race on Saturday because the conditions were quite different for the favorites than for the first starters, so it may have motivated me today."

Goetschl, the fastest racer at the intermediate time, lost the race in the final flat section where Kostner proved her great skill as a superb glider.

"I was not so pleased by my downhill result and I wanted to come back today," Goetschl said. "I skied well in the upper part, but as we all know, Isolde is a great glider and she was certainly very motivated, too."

The overall World Cup standings are still wide open, and each race at Are is going to be crucial. "That's fine with me, I like big races," Goetschl said. "At least the season is interesting until the end. I don't mind it. I have enough routine, and I have already won the big Crystal Cup once. The best shall win in Sweden!"

The reigning super G World Champion Régine Cavagnoud finished a far 24th place. The skier from La Clusaz made a big mistake in the upper part of the course while taking all risks to try and win the race and the super G title. She may well have lost her chance to fight for the overall World Cup victory against the defending Champion Goetschl and Croatia's Janica Kostelic.

Kostelic retained the overall lead thanks to a solid 11th place. She competed with her pole taped to her glove after injuring her hand earlier this week. She was satisfied by her result and pleased to remain in the lead before the finals. "It was not too bad. I skied okay despite my hand injury," she explained. "The finals will be exciting. I don't feel any pressure because I have reached much more than expected. I'm still young and I can win the Overall title in the coming years, too."

The winner from Saturday's downhill, America's Kirsten Clark, confirmed her strong form with a good 7th place just behind her teammate Megan Gerety, who was 6th. Gerety achieved her best result in super G since finishing 5th at Lake Louise in 1993.

This was Clark's best super G result after finishing 8th last week at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. It also qualifies her for the super G finals at Are. Gerety missed the cut by five points.

Clark is now 21st with 285 points in the overall World Cup standings. She still has a chance to finish the season as the top US skier. For the moment, Kristina Koznick, who is only competing in the slalom at Are, is 16th with 349 points. Picabo Street didn't compete in this race.

In two weeks, Goetschl will be busy fighting for victory in three events. She still remains a contender in the downhill and the super G World Cup against Kostner and Cavagnoud. But to achieve her goal, she has to win the super G and hope that Régine will not score a top-15.

The next women's races will take place in two weeks at Are, where races in all four events are scheduled from March 5th to March 11th.

— Manuèle Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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