"I couldn’t believe what I saw on the board after crossing the finish line. It’s really incredible..." — Christiane Mitterwallner

A day after Anja Paerson’s surprising win in slalom, another outsider was able to beat all the favorites in the second Super-G of the season : the 24-year-old Austrian Christiane Mitterwallner finished ahead of her teammate Renate Goetschl, Germany’s Martina Ertl and Italy’s Isolde Kostner, three of the world’s best specialists in that event.

Mitterwallner, who has never finished a World Cup race among the top 15 so far, started in 37th position to clock the fastest time with an advance of 5/100 on Goetschl and 9/100 on Ertl. The Overall World Cup leader Alexandra Meissnitzer, winner last week in Lake Louise, Canada, finished in 6th place to retain a strong advance on her rivals.

Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg, 2nd in Lake Louise, was not happy with her 44th place with a delay of 2,19 on the winner. America’s Kathleen Monahan was also able to take advantage of faster racing conditions to finish in 8th position after starting in 46th position. It’s he first top-10 finish this season for the US women’s team. Two other US skiers also scored points - Megan Gerety was 13th and Jonna Mendes 30th.

After Renate Goetschl and Alexandra Meissnitzer in Lake Louise, Christiane Mitterwallmer is the third Austrian to win a speed event this season. So far the Austrian team has dominated the fast specialties this winter. Yet nobody expected Mitterwallner to nail such a great run today since she could never achieve a good race in her past two World Cup season.

"I couldn’t believe what I saw on the board after crossing the finish line" said an ecstatic Mitterwallner after he run. "It’s really incredible".

"I knew at the start that Renate was in the lead and this gave me great momentum since we are using the same brand of skis" she added. "Today I was finally able to ski as well as in training. I was about time. This result will for sure change my life". With such a result Christiane has now a strong chance to qualify for the World Championships at Vail where only four skiers per nations are allowed to compete as well as the defending world champion.. "It’s a great comeback for me. I have been so often injured in the past - that’s why this is only my second full season on the World Cup tour. It’s a great feeling to know that I can also win races. I have a great life so far and I don’t know what I should buy with my prize money. I don’t need a new car or something similar. I pretty much have all what I need".

Renate Goetschl was not too disappointed to loose this race by a few hundredths . A year ago, Germany’s Katja Seizinger beat her by only 1/100 of a second in Val d’Isère. "It would have been great to win this race after skiing out last week in Lake Louise" she said. "But I can’t complain - a top-3 place at that level is always fine. I had a good season before the Olympics last winter but then I crashed in that downhill. It was very tough since I had a strong chance to make a medal there. I needed some time to regain all my momentum. Now I’m back on track but in the same time the entire team got so much stronger. I’m looking forward for the next races in Val d’Isére".

Even if Martina Ertl has not won a race yet she is also pleased by her recent performances in the North-American races. "I feel that my form in improving and this is the most important" she said. "I got two spots on the podium so far and I would have reached another one in Lake Louise without this mistake in the Super-G. Last year too I needed to wait two months before winning my first race. I hope to reach my best shape again in January".

Austria’s women head coach Karl Frehsner, known as "Iron Karli" on the tour because of his tough coaching methods, was very excited too by this result. "I was hoping for a top-5 today because a lot of skiers had a chance on this slope" he said. "Mitterwallner had a great run because she really tried to ski at her best this time".

"I have told her before the race that she needed a good result to remain on the World Cup team for the next speed events". "We knew her potential from the training and I was hoping that she would make the best out of my pressure to show what she can do...She did it in an amazing way. All the Austrian trainers are working hard to allow the racers to reach their potential on race days. Our goal is to establish our team as the best on the World Cup tour with top performances in all the disciplines".

So far the Austrian are leading in all the World Cup standings with Alexandra Meissnitzer (Overall, GS and Super-G), Renate Goetschl (downhill) and Sabine Egger (slalom).

"We don’t try to copy the men’s team, we go our way" added Frehsner. "So far our season start is excellent, much better than planned but it’s important to remain focused and motivated in the next months too". Since the season start only Norways with Andrine Flemmen in Soelden, Slovenia with Urska Hrovat in Park City and Sweden with Anja Paerson in the slalom in Mammoth were able to beat the Austrian. A year ago, Germany and Italy were the dominating groups but none of them could excel so far.

The next women’s race will take place next week in Val d’Isere where a Super-G and a giant slalom are scheduled .