German Rebensburg wins Soelden GS World Cup opener, Mancuso leads U.S. in 12th

SOELDEN, Austria – Proving her Olympic gold medal was no fluke, Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg overcame a chopped-up course to win the opening race of the season. It was her first World Cup victory.

“I am moving up really fast. Three years ago I was junior champion, last year I was Olympic champion, and now I am a World Cup winner,” Rebensburg said.

Her teammate Kathrin Hoelzl, who had led the opening run, slipped to second, 0.42 seconds behind the victor. The deteriorating course conditions proved too much to overcome as she was visibly bounced around just over the second steep break-over. Skiing powerfully, Italy’s Manuela Moelgg pushed through the chop to take third place.

“I took advantage of the early start in the first run,” Hoelzl said. “This is the best I have done here,” adding that she was happy with her performance.

It was a grey, cold day on the Rettenbach Glacier, a milky sun only occasionally shining on the thousands of enthusiastic fans. Course conditions were nowhere near as “icy slick” as racers had recalled over the past several years. The surface, which looked to be breaking away in spots, took its toll as14  starters failed to make it to the finish.

The United States had a rough day with only Julia Mancuso breaking into the top 15 with a 12th place finish. Lindsey Vonn, who later admitted that she did not throw herself down the hill in her first run, was 18th.  Sarah Schleper tied for 19th.

“For sure I definitely skied more conservative in the first run, I went for it more (in the second run), and didn’t ski tactically smart, I made a few mistakes, but I think it’s just a matter of combining them both and being ready to race,” Mancuso said.

“Today wasn’t my day, for sure, I was just expecting a lot more, I’ve been training really well and for sure I think I had first run jitters and I didn’t feel so nervous but I just didn’t ski myself, I skied pretty conservatively and it was definitely challenging with the snow conditions, the course has been getting pretty chopped up but it’s no excuse,” Vonn said, adding that she felt “confident for the season.”

The results were very strong for the German team which Hoelzl credited to having a strong group which “pushed each other.”

Tania Poutiainen led the veterans with a fourth-place finish, giving notice that she should not be counted out for the season.

The opening World Cup weekend continues with the fabled fan parade this evening, the men’s bib draw and the men’s GS here tomorrow, Oct. 24, on the Rettenbach Glacier.

Image by Gepa

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Women’s Giant Slalom, Soelden, Austria, Oct. 23,2010. … It is the opening event of the 2010-2011 World Cup schedule, the first of eight scheduled women GS’s and first of two races at Soelden this season. … It is the 24th World Cup at Soelden, all GS’s. … At Soelden only the 2005 women’s GS was held earlier in the calendar year. … No American or Canadian woman has ever won at Soelden.

It is the first career World Cup win for Olympic (2010) gold medalist Viktoria Rebensburg. … Her previous best a second in GS last season at Cortina. … It is her third result at Soelden, the others an 18th place in (Oct) 2007 and 8th in (Oct) 2009. … The last German winner at Soelden was Martina Ertl 10/25/2003.

It is the seventh career World Cup podium result for the defending Cup GS Champion Katrin Hoelzl. … She was the first run leader by .45 of a second. … It is the best of four scoring results for Hoelzl at Soelden, the previous best a 7th 10/24/2009.

It is the ninth career World Cup podium result for Manuela Moelgg, the eighth in GS. … Her best previous result at Soelden was 9th 10/27/2007.

Julia Mancuso, in 12th, was the best U.S. finisher. … It is her best GS Cup results since a 6th at Semmering 12/28/2008. … The top Canadian finisher was Marie-Michelle Gagnon in 13th. … She started 37th. … It is her sixth World Cup scoring result. … Lindsey Vonn finished 18th. … It was just the second Cup GS she has scored in since placing ninth at Soelden last season. … Sarah Schleper finished tied in 19th.

Germany leads the Nations Cup standings 243-103 over Italy. … Austria is third with 90. … The U.S. is sixth at 47pts and Canada ninth with 20pts. … Fischer leads the Manufacturer’s Cup standings 130-100 over Nordica with Rossignol third, Head fourth and Stoeckli fifth.

Equipment
Women’s Giant Slalom, Soelden, AUT. 10/23/2010
racer, skis/boots/binding
1 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2 Hoelzl, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Moelgg, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
4 Poutiainen, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
5 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
6 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
7 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Worley, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Marmottan, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Goergl, Head/Head/Head

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	1	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER	1:12.19	1:14.20	2:26.39	0.00
2	2	205993	HOELZL Kathrin	1984	GER	1:11.74	1:15.07	2:26.81	2.50
3	4	296259	MOELGG Manuela	1983	ITA	1:12.63	1:14.62	2:27.25	5.11
4	3	185140	POUTIAINEN Tanja	1980	FIN	1:12.39	1:14.93	2:27.32	5.53
5	6	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:12.19	1:15.30	2:27.49	6.54
6	5	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:12.72	1:14.80	2:27.52	6.72
7	7	55838	ZETTEL Kathrin	1986	AUT	1:13.03	1:14.64	2:27.67	7.61
8	15	196928	WORLEY Tessa	1989	FRA	1:13.37	1:14.44	2:27.81	8.44
9	24	196793	MARMOTTAN Anemone	1988	FRA	1:13.61	1:14.30	2:27.91	9.03
10	10	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:13.34	1:14.64	2:27.98	9.45
11	11	297601	BRIGNONE Federica	1990	ITA	1:13.91	1:14.52	2:28.43	12.12
12	18	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:14.42	1:14.83	2:29.25	17.00
13	37	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN	1:15.36	1:13.91	2:29.27	17.12
14	34	206355	DUERR Lena	1991	GER	1:15.71	1:13.57	2:29.28	17.18
15	14	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	1:14.13	1:15.28	2:29.41	17.95
16	12	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:14.09	1:15.41	2:29.50	18.48
17	20	296379	GIANESINI Giulia	1984	ITA	1:14.95	1:14.59	2:29.54	18.72
18	19	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:15.56	1:14.11	2:29.67	19.49
19	25	55818	KOEHLE Stefanie	1986	AUT	1:16.05	1:13.97	2:30.02	21.57
19	22	536481	SCHLEPER Sarah	1979	USA	1:15.92	1:14.10	2:30.02	21.57
21	8	505760	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	1986	SWE	1:14.86	1:15.44	2:30.30	23.24
22	40	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:15.53	1:15.03	2:30.56	24.78
23	17	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI	1:14.70	1:15.97	2:30.67	25.44
24	45	506399	HECTOR Sara	1992	SWE	1:15.97	1:14.89	2:30.86	26.57
25	21	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI	1:15.24	1:15.65	2:30.89	26.74
26	23	295435	GIUS Nicole	1980	ITA	1:16.10	1:15.27	2:31.37	29.60
27	29	225206	ALCOTT Chemmy	1982	GBR	1:15.62	1:16.11	2:31.73	31.74
Did not qualify 1st run
	66	106988	STEVENS Victoria	1990	CAN
	65	516280	HOLDENER Wendy	1993	SUI
	64	425803	GROSVOLD Thea	1990	NOR
	63	305944	KIYOSAWA Emiko	1983	JPN
	62	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO
	60	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE
	59	297910	CURTONI Elena	1991	ITA
	58	425916	FAUSA Chloe Margrethe	1992	NOR
	57	435210	GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka	1987	POL
	55	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT
	54	297702	MARSAGLIA Francesca	1990	ITA
	52	206160	RIESCH Susanne	1987	GER
	51	306249	HASEGAWA Emi	1986	JPN
	49	515849	DETTLING Andrea	1987	SUI
	48	538284	MCJAMES Megan	1987	USA
	47	515937	FUHRER Kathrin	1988	SUI
	46	206078	FERNSEBNER Carolin	1986	GER
	44	505886	KLING Kajsa	1988	SWE
	43	196726	BARTHET Anne-Sophie	1988	FRA
	42	425880	SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth	1991	NOR
	41	495065	RIENDA Maria Jose	1975	SPA
	39	565268	DREV Ana	1985	SLO
	36	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT
	35	705287	ZUZULOVA Veronika	1984	SVK
	33	425629	LOESETH Lene	1986	NOR
	30	56087	SIEBENHOFER Ramona	1991	AUT
	28	296509	CURTONI Irene	1985	ITA
	27	196179	BERTRAND Marion	1984	FRA
Did not finish 2nd run
	16	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT
	13	295445	KARBON Denise	1980	ITA
	9	196725	BARIOZ Taina	1988	FRA
Did not finish 1st run
	69	196806	NOENS Nastasia	1988	FRA
	68	435142	KARASINSKA Katarzyna	1982	POL
	67	155699	PAULATHOVA Katerina	1993	CZE
	61	185271	LEINONEN Sanni	1989	FIN
	56	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE
	53	197319	BAUD Adeline	1992	FRA
	50	55806	ALTACHER Margret	1986	AUT
	38	56032	SCHILD Bernadette	1990	AUT
	32	106825	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1988	CAN
	31	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA
	26	296476	ALFIERI Camilla	1985	ITA