Janica Kostelic wins world championship combined; Lindsey Kildow fourth

By Published On: February 4th, 2005Comments Off on Janica Kostelic wins world championship combined; Lindsey Kildow fourth

Janica Kostelic wins world championship combined; Lindsey Kildow fourthWhen the two best technical skiers on the World Cup go one-two in the downhill portion of the World Championship combined, the question then becomes, who will take the bronze. In her first event of the Championships, Janica Kostelic from Croatia took the early lead in the downhill portion of the combined over Sweden’s Anja Paerson. She then cruised home with a 1.45-second margin of victory after two runs of slalom.

Paerson took silver, to add to her gold medal in super G, leaving Austrian Marlies Schild with the bronze.

Schild came from a placing of 19th in the downhill to fourth after the first run of slalom, and then edged American Lindsey Kildow in the final run to earn the bronze by a margin of .20 seconds.

Kostelic, defending World Champion in super G, thought the key to victory was getting the jump on her rival, Paerson in the downhill. ‘I think the downhill was the one that probably decided the winner’ said Kostelic, who skied a near-perfect run to take a 0.66-second lead into the slalom.

With that much time to make up, Paerson knew her chances were slim. She gained 0.29 seconds of that deficit back in the first run of slalom, but in the tighter second run course, Kostelic put her away. ‘I push myself to the limit and it just wasn’t good enough’ said Paerson. ‘I tried my best to give her a good fight, but she was too strong today.’

Schild, winner of two World Cup slaloms this season, might have been over two seconds behind Kostelic after the downhill and in 19th place, but she was still only 1.61-seconds off the pace of Kildow in third. Still, she did not think about a medal. ‘I was not happy after the downhill, and I just thought I’d use this for training for the slalom next week’ said Schild.

But after coming in second in the first run of slalom and gaining over a second on Kildow, all of a sudden Schild found herself in the hunt. ‘I didn’t want to think of the medal’ said Schild. ‘I just wanted to ski and think of the medal after the race.’

While Schild will think about the medal for some time to come, Kildow will think about her fall at the end of the first run of slalom. Kildow hit a small shelf four gates up from the finish and sat back, forcing her to throw her skis around the final two gates, before sliding through the finish line on her side. ‘I lost three of four tenths for sure’ said a disappointed Kildow.

Her teammate Julia Mancuso, bronze medalist in the super G, couldn’t recover from a 12th place finish in the downhill leg, although she was close to medal contention. She finished eighth in the slalom to ultimately take ninth, just over one second out of the medals.

Americans, Caroline Lalive and Resi Stiegler both hooked tips in the second run of slalom. Lalive placed 11th in the downhill, while Stiegler had the fifth fastest first run of slalom. Lalive will set her sights on the downhill race on Sunday, while Stiegler will contend in the slalom on Feb. 11.

World Ski Championships

Women’s Combined
Santa Caterina, Italy
Feb. 4, 2005

1. Janica Kostelic, CRO 2:53.70
2. Anja Paerson, SWE 2:55.15
3. Marlies Schild, AUT 2:56.40
4. Lindsey Kildow, USA 2:56.60
5. Sarka Zahrobska, CZE 2:56.89
6. Kathrin Zettel, AUT 2:57.44
7. Martina Ertl, GER 2:57.48
8. Elisabeth Goergl, AUT 2:57.53
9. Julia Mancuso, USA 2:57.62
10. Tina Maze, SLO 2:57.81
11. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, SWE 2:58.56
12. Brigitte Acton, CAN 2:58.90
13. Emily Brydon, CAN 2:59.51
14. Marlies Oester, SUI 2:59.61
15. Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, GER 2:59.76
16. Anna Goodman, CAN 3:02.65
17. Lucie Hrstkova, CZE 3:03.05
18. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten, SUI 3:04.36
19. Jelena Lolovic, JUG 3:08.26
20. Elena Fanchini, ITA 3:20.32
21. Resi Stiegler, USA 3:30.63
other North Americans:
DNS SL: Kelly Vanderbeek, CAN.
DNF SL 2nd: Caroline Lalive, USA.

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

equipment
Women’s Combined, Santa Caterina, Feb. 4, 2005
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
2 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3 Schild, Atomic/Lange/Atomic
4 Kildow, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
5 Zahrobska, Head/Head/Tyrolia
6 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Ertl, Rossignol/Nordica/Rossignol
8 Goergl, Blizzard/Lange/Marker
9 Mancuso, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol 10 Maze, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, Santa Caterina, Italy, Women’s Combined, Feb. 4, 2005. … It is the fourth event of the World Championships. … The second women’s event. … Winning margin is 1.45 seconds.

It is the third World title for Janica Kostelic and second straight combined title. … She also won the slalom crown in 2003. … It is the fourth title for Croatia. … And for the Kostelic siblings. … It is her second win of the season having won the world Cup slalom at Aspen 11/27. … Kostelic also has 3 gold and 1 silver Olympic medals. … She placed 1st in DH, 1st in SL.

It is the fifth World Championship medal for Anja Paerson. … Her first silver after three gold (sl ’02, gs ’03, sg ’05) and a bronze (gs ’01). … Her second medal of these championships. … It is the 23rd World Championship medal for Sweden. … Paerson is one behind Pernilla Wiberg for the Swedish medal mark. … Paerson also has 1 silver and 1 bronze Olympic medals. … She has eight podium result this season, six in World Cup. … She placed 2nd in DH, 3rd in SL.

It is the second World Championship medal for Marlies Schild, the other a silver in slalom in ’03. … It is the 181st Austrian championship medal. … It is her sixth podium of the season. … She placed 19th in DH, 2nd in SL.

It is the second World Championship placing for Lindsey Kildow. … The first a 9th in SG 1/30/05. … She was two-tenths of a second from a medal. … She placed 3rd in DH, 7th in SL. … It is the fourth World Championship placing for Julia Mancuso. … She was 21st in SG and 7th cmb in 2003 and won the bronze medal in SG here 1/30. … She placed 12th in DH, 8th in SL. … It is the first World Championship placing for Brigitte Acton. … The ninth (and 3rd best) for Emily Brydon. … It is the first World Championship placing for Anna Goodman. … But the third for a Goodman and U.S. skier Leon Goodman was 53rd in GS in 1950 and Canadian Russell Goodman was 10th SL 1974. … It is the third World Championship result for Resi Stiegler. … Her father, Pepi, placed 20th in SL at Chamonix in 1962.

Austria has acquired four medals (1g, 1s, 2b); Croatia 1g; Italy two (1s,1b); Norway 1s; Sweden two (1g,1s); and the U.S. two (1g,1b).

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About the Author: Pete Rugh