Ertl Wins Opening GS
"I was not pleased at all by my result in the first run," said Germany's Martina Ertl, after ending a long drought by winning the season's first GS today in Soelden.

The 27-year-old Bavarian, who hasn't won a single race in the past two years, came from a far-back 17th position to take the race. "I remembered before the second run that one of my teammates from the men's team, Markus Eberle, achieved quite a recovery here in 1998. So I said to myself - why not me?"

This win is big for Ertl, who hasn't been particularly lucky in her career despite numerous successes. She competed in the shadow of teammate Katja Seizinger, one of the strongest leaders on the women's tour. But the door opened when a knee injury took Seizinger out in 1998 (after three Olympic Golds and two overall World Cups).

"I learned a lot in those slow winters."

Until now, Ertl had not been able to take advantage of the open window. She suffered some injuries: bit her tongue badly in a crash at Are, Sweden; had knee pains after trying new slalom and GS techniques. Last season she created turmoil in her team when she hired her own training in January. Fortunately, she was able to crawl out of her slump in the last weeks of the season, finishing several times in the top-5 after a four-week-long break.

A four event-skier who has already won GS, slalom and super G races in her career, Ertl could turn out to be a top contender for the Overall World Cup if she keeps improving.

"I learned a lot in those slow winters - I feel much stronger mentally and I'm ready for more."

Ertle beat Norway's Andrine Flemmen (winner here in '98) by 14/100 of a second and Sweden's Anja Paerson by 18/100. Anja's teammate Anna Ottoson led the first leg but finished 6th.

Other favorites had hard times, such as Austria's Renate Goetschl, who skied out in the morning run, and Anita Wachter, a winner here in 1993, went out in the afternoon run.

The "unofficial" representative of the US Ski Team, Kristina Koznick, did better than her former teammates by finishing 26th. Sarah Schlepper, Caroline Lalive and Alexandra Schaffer didn't qualify for the second run.

On the flip side, it was a good day for Croatia's Janica Kostelic who came back stronger than expected 10 months after tearing her knee in St. Moritz last season. Kostelic finished 12th — a repeat performance of her race here in October 1998, when she scored her very first World Cup points.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

Also this weekend: Men's GS | Rettenback Glacier Report | Anja Paerson Video Interview

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