Are: Austria cruises to team event win; U.S. 11th

By Published On: February 18th, 2007Comments Off on Are: Austria cruises to team event win; U.S. 11th

Austria won the nations team competition title on Sunday to top the final medals table at the World Championships. Sweden captured the silver, while Switzerland took the bronze. The United States finished last in the 11-nation field.
    Austria, dominating from the start with just five points in the super G (four would have had all four skiers winning his or her run), took the gold medal with just 18 points. Sweden was silver medalist (33) and the bronze went to Switzerland (39).


ARE, Sweden — Austria won the nations team competition title on Sunday to top the final medals table at the World Championships.
    Sweden captured the silver, while Switzerland took the bronze.
    The United States finished last in the 11-nation field.
    Austria, dominating from the start with just five points in the super G (four would have had all four skiers winning his or her run), took the gold medal with just 18 points. Sweden was silver medalist (33) and the bronze went to Switzerland (39).
    The U.S. squad, which was fourth when the event debuted at the 2005 World Championships in Bormio, Italy, one point away from a medal, was in trouble early. The first three skiers in the opening super G round of speed skiing, went off course before returning to finish. Only Tim Jitloff finished his super G run. In slalom, there were three more DNFs with only Jimmy Cochran finishing.
    "We needed people to finish; it's like the NCAAs — it hurts when people don't finish," said Cochran, NCAA slalom silver medalist and GS bronze medalist at the 2003 NCAAs for the University of Vermont.
    "We took it seriously and i thought we could get a medal," said Resi Stiegler, who crashed on the final section in slalom. "But it's all about having strong runs, and we just didn't have them."
    Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety added, "It's tough, and we just don't have the depth to compete with the Austrians, but we didn't have our all-star team competing today, and that hurt, too. We had to go hard and we had to hope it paid off … but it didn't."
    Said U.S. Alpine Director Jesse Hunt, "It was a tough day. We started out off the mark and we couldn't turn it around. It's a tough way to end the championships."
    One frustrating element, he said, was that the U.S. ski Team "had some obvious high points here in Are — three silver medals, Ted fourth in giant slalom … some great performances. And we're a little dinged with injuries, so it's tough to end things this way."  

Strobl a strong sub
    The Austrians flew in super G silver medalist Fritz Strobl to strengthen their chances in the team event.
    “Austria is the No. 1 ski nation and because of this, winning the team event was our big goal,” said Renate Goetschl, who took bronze in last week’s super G. “At the Bormio worlds we weren’t able to do it so now we had our revenge.”
    Austria ended the championships with three gold, three silver and three bronze medals. Sweden had three gold — all from Anja Paerson — two silver and two bronze medals. Norway finished third with two golds from Aksel Lund Svindal.
    Eleven teams of six skiers were in Sunday’s event. Two men and two women raced one super G each in the morning, and four raced in the afternoon’s slalom legs.
    Austria won with 18 points, while Sweden had 33 and Switzerland had 39. A complicated points ranking system determined the winning nation after the total of eight runs for each team.
    Strobl had returned home to Corinthia, Austria, but flew back at the request of Austrian ski federation chief Peter Schroeksnadel.
    Schroeksnadel left Are a few hours before the team competition, but not before making his feelings known.
    “I expect gold,” he said.
    Austria took the lead in the opening heat and stayed there for the entire competition.
    Goetschl, Strobl and Michaela Kirchgasser gave Austria a hefty lead by posting the fastest time in each of their runs. Though Benjamin Raich was only a second behind Marc Berthod of Switzerland in the final super G leg, Austria still remained in the lead with five points.
    When Marlies Schild posted the fastest time in the day’s penultimate slalom run, the Austrians had a big enough lead to lock up the title early — even before newly crowned slalom champion Mario Matt came down.
    “I went out to celebrate last night,” said Matt, who won Saturday’s slalom. “Because of the team event I went home early. But it turns out I could have stayed out late since my run was pointless.”
    The Swiss were tied for second with Sweden heading into the final heat, but had to settle for bronze after Berthod swerved off course.
    The United States was 10th of 11 teams after the super G, dropping into last place after the opening slalom run and finishing the day last with 77 points.
    Lindsey Kildow and Julia Mancuso, the only Americans to win medals at the worlds this year, also missed the team event. Kildow was injured in slalom training while Mancuso was exhausted and left early.
    “We’re a little bit bruised up and I think we could use some rest before the next races,” Hunt said.
    Though the team competition event has proven to be a hit, many nations don’t like it — arguing it is too complicated for spectators to understand, too late in the championships and too team-oriented in a highly individual sport. It is expected to be held in the middle of the next championship.
    Austria won the team event at the World Cup Finals last season, while the Germans were the surprise champions at the last worlds in Bormio, Italy, in 2005.
    The World Cup season resumes next weekend — the men are scheduled for two downhills and a slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, while the women are in Sierra Nevada, Spain, for a giant slalom and slalom.


Nations team event results

ARE, Sweden — Results Sunday from the nations team event at the Alpine Skiing World Championships on the Olympia course (super G and slalom points in parentheses):

After the super G and slalom
1. Austria, 18 points.
2. Sweden, 33.
3. Switzerland, 39.
4. Finland, 49.
5. France, 51.
6. Canada, 51.
7. Germany, 54.
8. Italy, 55.
9. Czech Republic, 57.
10. Slovenia, 58.
11. United States, 77.

Slalom
Heat 1

1. Anna Ottosson, Sweden, 52.99 seconds.

2. Sandra Gini, Switzerland, 53.04.

3. Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, Germany, 53.16.

4. Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, 53.18.

5. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 53.59.

6. Chiara Costazza, Italy, 53.80.

7. Petra Robnik, Slovenia, 54.34.

8. Petra Zakourilova, Czech Republic, 54.60.

9. Anne-Sop
hie Barthet, France, 54.63.

10. Emily Brydon, Canada, 55.55.

11. Kaylin Richardson, United States, 57.18.

Heat 2

1. Ondrej Bank, Czech Republic, 49.72.

2. Markus Larsson, Sweden, 49.77.

3. Mitja Dragsic, Slovenia, 49.98.

4. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 49.99.

5. Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 50.06.

6. Kalle Palander, Finland, 50.26.

7. Jimmy Cochran, United States, 50.27.

8. John Kucera, Canada, 51.54.

9. Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 51.64.

Did Not Finish (11 points): Alois Vogl, Germany; Pierrick Bourgeat, France.

Heat 3

1. Marlies Schild, Austria, 53.38.

2. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 53.45.

3. Sanni Leinonen, Finland, 54.33.

4. Rabea Grand, Switzerland, 54.50.

5. Maria Riesch, Germany, 55.21.

6. Daniela Merighetti, Italy, 55.57.

7. Florine de Leymarie, France, 56.19.

8. Lucie Hrstkova, Czech Republic, 56.97.

9. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 1:00.98 (11 points for being more than 8 percent off the leading time).

Did Not Finish (11 points): Resi Stiegler, United States; Shona Rubens, Canada.

Heat 4

1. Jean-Baptiste Grange, France, 49.85.

2. Tuukka Kaukoniemi, Finland, 50.21.

3. Filip Trejbal, Czech Republic, 50.33.

4. Mario Matt, Austria, 50.58.

5. Jens Byggmark, Sweden, 50.65.

6. Felix Neureuther, Germany, 50.98.

7. Michael Janyk, Canada, 51.06.

Did Not Finish (11 points): Ted Ligety, United States; Mitja Valencic, Slovenia; Patrick Thaler, Italy; Marc Berthod, Switzerland.

Super G
Heat 1

1. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 1 minute, 1.92 seconds.

2. Ingrid Jacquemod, France, 1:02.00.

3. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 1:02.18.

4. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 1:02.28.

5. Daniela Merighetti, Italy, 1:02.77.

6. Sanni Leinonen, Finland, 1:03.16.

7. Emily Brydon, Canada, 1:03.98.

8. Petra Haltmayr, Germany, 1:04.10.

9. Kaylin Richardson, United States, 1:13.85 (11 points for being more than 8 percent off the leading time).

10. Lucie Hrstkova, Czech Republic, 1:20.72 (11 points for being more than 8 percent off the leading time).

Did Not Finish (11 points): Nadia Styger, Switzerland.

Heat 2

1. Fritz Strobl, Austria, 59.83.

2. John Kucera, Canada, 59.91.

3. Massimiliano Blardone, Italy, 1:00.10

(tie) Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 1:00.10.

5. Ales Gorza, Slovenia, 1:00.16.

6. Antoine Deneriaz, France, 1:00.28.

7. Ondrej Bank, Czech Republic, 1:00.46.

8. Hans Olsson, Sweden, 1:00.48.

9. Felix Neureuther, Germany, 1:00.91.

Did Not Finish (11 points): Ted Ligety, United States; Jouni Pellinen, Finland.

Heat 3

1. Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, 1:02.54.

2. Fabienne Suter, Switzerland, 1:02.60.

3. Britt Janyk, Canada, 1:02.69.

4. Anna Ottosson, Sweden, 1:02.81.

5. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 1:03.10.

6. Anne-Sophie Barthet, France, 1:03.70.

7. Maria Riesch, Germany, 1:03.96.

8. Petra Zakourilova, Czech Republic, 1:05.26.

9. Chiara Costazza, Italy, 1:05.37.

10. Petra Robnik, Slovenia, 1:05.46.

11. Resi Stiegler, United States, 1:23.14 (11 points for being more than 8 percent off the leading time).

Heat 4

1. Marc Berthod, Switzerland, 59.82.

2. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 59.90.

3. Francois Bourque, Canada, 1:00.31.

4. Tim Jitloff, United States, 1:00.39.

5. Stephan Keppler, Germany, 1:00.66.

6. Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 1:00.82.

7. Patrik Jaerbyn, Sweden, 1:01.07.

8. Bernard Vajdic, Slovenia, 1:01.86.

9. Pierrick Bourgeat, France, 1:02.06.

Did Not Finish (11 points): Krystof Kryzl, Czech Republic; Marcus Sandell, Finland.

 

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