Michaela Dorfmeister wins first Val d'Isere training run; Kildow eighth

By Published On: December 15th, 2005Comments Off on Michaela Dorfmeister wins first Val d'Isere training run; Kildow eighth

Michaela Dorfmeister wins first Val d’Isere training run; Kildow eighth{mosimage}Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria won a downhill training run Thursday at Val d’Isere, France. The mountain is hosting women’s World Cup speed races this weekend. At the finish, racers soaked up sunshine and reported that the snow was perfectly prepared.

‘The conditions are great’ said Dorfmeister, the reigning super G World Cup titlist. ‘We’ve never had conditions like this. No rocks in the line, and it was so great. You can go in the training with good skis and test something. It looks good. I’m very surprised.’

Dorfmeister, 32, is a World Cup veteran. The Austrian speed specialist has won 21 World Cup races in her 14-year career, and has taken discipline-title globes in downhill (2003), giant slalom (2000) and super G (2005). She won the overall World Cup in 2002, and finished fourth in those standings last season.

The women will have a second training run on Friday, followed by downhill on Saturday and super G on Sunday.

The U.S. women’s team, still battling jet lag, raved about the hill too. The fastest of them today, Lindsey Kildow, finished eighth. ‘The course is really buffed and the snow is awesome’ she said. ‘I got a little late in some sections. … I’m pretty positive about it. It’s better than my first training run at Lake Louise.’

Kildow won one of the two downhills at Lake Louise.

There were six other Americans in the training run: Bryna McCarty (finished 15th); Kirsten Clark (28th); Julia Mancuso (31st); Stacey Cook (41); Caroline Lalive (47th); and Libby Ludlow (49th).

The men’s World Cup will have races on each of those days. Men race super G on Friday and downhill on Saturday at Val Gardena, Italy. On Sunday they will travel over a mountain pass to Alta Badia for a giant slalom.

Val d’Isere, France
World Cup downhill training run 1
Dec. 15, 2005

1. Michaela Dorfmeister, AUT 1:45.20
2. Renate Goetschl, AUT 1:45.60
3. Sylviane Berthod, SUI 1:45.84

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About the Author: Pete Rugh