Sölden: Zettel wins glacier opener; Vonn 9th

Austrian Kathrin Zettel fired the opening salvo of the World Cup season with a decisive win on a sun splashed glacier in Soelden, Austria, on Saturday (Oct. 25). Zettel overtook first run leader Tanja Poutiainen to collect her third career Cup win, all of them in giant slalom.
Austrian Andrea Fischbacher finished third and the defending champ, Italian Denise Karbon, was fourth.
"This is such an awesome thing for me," said Zettel. "Everything is going right for me today. Racing is racing, so it's unbelievable. Yes, it must be my best run. I went as fast as I could."
And that was plenty fast. She won the second run on the Rettenbachgletscher Glacier and was nearly a second up on the field, but says she looks forward to: "being in my full potential."
Lindsey Vonn led the Americans in ninth a strong finish considering it is just the ninth time in her career she's collected GS points. She raced in a specially made pink and white suit and held her own against the technical specialists.
"I thought I had a good race," she said. "It is a good start for the season, but I know I can go much faster. My second run was OK, you know? It wasn't great."

Austrian Kathrin Zettel fired the opening salvo of the World Cup season with a decisive win on the sun splashed Rettenbachgletscher Glacier in Soelden, Austria Saturday (Oct. 25). Zettel overtook first run leader Tanja Poutiainen to collect her third career Cup win, all of them in giant slalom.
Austrian Andrea Fischbacher finished third and the defending champ, Italian Denise Karbon, was fourth.
"This is such an awesome thing for me," said Zettel. "Everything is going right for me today. Racing is racing, so it's unbelievable. Yes, it must be my best run. I went as fast as I could."
And that was plenty fast. She won the second run and was nearly a second up on the field, but says she looks forward to: "being in my full potential."
Lindsey Vonn led the Americans in ninth a strong finish considering it is just the ninth time in her career she's collected GS points. She raced in a specially made pink and white suit and held her own against the technical specialists.
"I thought I had a good race," she said. "It is a good start for the season, but I know I can go much faster. My second run was OK, you know? It wasn't great."
The dazzle from the U.S. came in the form of Megan McJames. She barely made the cut for the second run, finishing 30th, but came out of the starthouse smoking in the second heat. She recorded what ended up being the third fastest second run time to finish 14th.
"I just tried to lay one down and have a good time on the hill," she said. "This is my personal best GS finish, so I am really happy."
The only other North American to complete the race was Julia Mancuso, the first skier out of the gate in the first run.
"It's always good to get [the first race] out of the way," Mancuso said. "I haven¹t had very much training before this race this year, just dealing with minor injuries. In the first run I made a mistake and second run I just think I need a little more training. So I¹m looking forward to the season, and you can¹t start a better way, it's just so sunny and nice."
It was a good day for many: Swedes Frita Hansdotter and Veronica Smed finished 18th and 19th from start positions of 54th and 43rd, respectively. Swiss teen Lara Gut finished fifth, a placing behind defending GS champ Denise Karbon, from the 37th start. A whirlwind last season in Europa Cup and World Junior competition, Gut found the World Cup offered new challenges.
"It was," she said, "a lot harder than I thought to ski two runs at a World Cup race."
Not everybody was pleased on the day. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl, last season's GS runner-up, struggled with her second run and wound up 20th. The 2007 overall and GS champion Nicole Hosp got spun around on her second run and had to hike to complete the run and snag 28th place.

— Ski Racing staff report

The SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's GS, Soelden, Oct. 25, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
3 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Karbon, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Pietilae-Holmner, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Paerson, Head/Head/Head
8 Hoelzl, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
9 Vonn, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Alcott, Fischer//Tyrolia

Women's Giant Slalom, Soelden, Austria. … It is the first race of the 2008-09 World Cup season. … The first of 36 scheduled races for the women, and first of eight giant slaloms. … It is the 23rd Cup race at Soelden, all of them October "openers." … Conditions clear and sunny, temperatures hovering at freeze mark.
Hermann Maier, Tina Maze, Bode Miller, Andrine Flemmen and Martina Ertl are the only skiers to win twice on the glacier, Maier the only one to win thrice.
It is the third career win for Kathrin Zettel, all in GS. … The other two were in Semmering, 12/28/06 and Aspen 11/25/06. … Zettel had been fourth (2005) and third (2007) in previous races at Soelden. …
It is the 28th career World Cup podium for Tanja Poutiainen. … It is the second time she has finished second in the Soelden opener, the other in 2004 behind Anja Paerson.
It is the fifth career World Cup podum for Andrea Fischbacher. … Her first in GS. … All of her other podiums have come in super G. … She started 26th.
Lindsey Vonn matched her third best career GS result in ninth. …
Megan McJames, the final qualifier having finished 30th in the first run, had the third fastest second run time and climbed to 14th. … It is her third – and best – career scoring result, topping a 17th at Lienz last December. … Julia Mancuso was 17th to record her fourth scoring finish at Soelden. … She had placed second in last season's opener behind eventual GS title winner Denise Karbon.
The race featured strong showings from the late starters. Two skiers with starts in the '60s (Marie Marchand-Arvier 27th and Sanni Leinonen 21st) scored. Swiss teen Lara Gut posted fifth from the 37th start – the best GS showing from a Swiss women since 2003 – and McJames started 38th. Frida Hansdotter, Veronica Smed and Agniesz Gasienica Daniel all tallied points from outside the first seed.

Did not finish 1st run : MORLANS Leyre (SPA), ZAKOURILOVA Petra (CZE), CURTONI Irene (ITA), LOLOVIC Jelena (SRB), GIANESINI Giulia (ITA), SUTER Fabienne (SUI), REBENSBURG Viktoria (GER), MOELGG Manuela (ITA)

Did not finish 2nd run : LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica (SWE), BREM Eva-Maria (AUT)

Disqualified 1st run : WORLEY Tessa (FRA)

Did not qualify 1st run : SKRYABINA Anastasiya (UKR), KARASINSKA Katarzyna (POL), RAYANOVA Lyaysan (RUS), JELUSIC Ana (CRO), RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina (SPA), LOESETH Nina (NOR), CHMELAR Fanny (GER), FANCHINI Nadia (ITA), BERTRAND Olivia (FRA), COOK Stacey (USA), LOESETH Lene (NOR), PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier (CAN), DESFORGES Emilie (CAN), COSTAZZA Chiara (ITA), MARMOTTAN Anemone (FRA), MADER Regina (AUT), BERGER Silvia (AUT), KELLEY Jessica (USA), BORSSEN Therese (SWE), FERK Marusa (SLO), DETTLING Andrea (SUI), KOEHLE Stefanie (AUT), SCHLEPER Sarah (USA), FENNINGER Anna (AUT), ZUZULOVA Veronika (SVK), BARIOZ Taina (FRA), MAZE Tina (SLO), FERNSEBNER Carolin (GER), SIMARD Genevieve (CAN), ZAHROBSKA Sarka (CZE)