Are: Mancuso DQed but fast in DH training

ARE, Sweden — Disqualifications were the order of the day among the fastest women’s downhill racers in a training run Wednesday at the World Championships.

ARE, Sweden — Disqualifications were the order of the day among the fastest women’s downhill racers in a training run Wednesday at the World Championships.
    Three of the four fastest finishers missed gates and were DQed, including the U.S. Ski Team’s Julia Mancuso, who clocked the fourth-fastest time but missed a control gate. Mancuso finished in 1 minute, 30.39 seconds.
    “I’m definitely more confident for the downhill, after this first training run, and also after the super G," Mancuso said despite missing a gate. "Some of the sections are a little intimidating, but I don’t think that there are major problems. It’s fun to ski."   
    Nadia Styger of Switzerland (1:28.68) and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria (1:30.21) finished 1-2 but were both disqualified, leaving Sweden’s Anja Paerson — the winner of Tuesday’s super G — as the training run “winner.” Paerson clocked 1:30.31.
    Renate Goetschl, the World Cup downhill points leader, crossed in sixth place, 2.05 seconds off the pace in 1:30.73.
    Lindsey Kildow of the United States clocked 1:32.11 to finish 29th, and teammate Kirsten Clark was 33rd (1:32.28). Resi Stiegler, Stacey Cook and Kaylin Richardson all were disqualified and finished more than four seconds off the pace.
    "It’s fairly tight in the middle, so you have to switch over to your super G mode and that’s why so many girls skied out or missed a gate," U.S. coach Patrick Riml said. "But it was a great training, perfect conditions out there. [The girls will] go back in the downhill mode, get the course figured out, another training run tomorrow. It’s all good."
    Paerson said it was tough to keep warm. ''The gods could have been a little nicer,'' Paerson said. ''Your feet got really cold. And you really do want to feel your feet when you're doing a downhill.''   
    Skiers also had a tough time with the last jump, which comes just before the finish line as the grandstand comes into view.     ''The last jump doesn't give you the most pleasant landing in the world, because it's huge. But it's great fun, you're like a little kid when you come down,'' Paerson said. ''Everyone is almost scared that it's too big, but then when you get down you just stand there laughing.''
    The women's downhill is scheduled for Sunday, although racers were also testing the course for Friday's super combi. Mancuso, Kildow, Stiegler and Richardson will ski for the U.S. in the super combi.     
    Many skiers had trouble with one particular gate on the top section that was set up very close to the safety netting lining the course.
    Daniela Merighetti of Italy skied off-course at the gate and sliced through three layers of netting before landing on some soft snow. She immediately waved her hand to show she was OK and later said she only had some bruises on her face.
    Chemmy Alcott of Britain hurt her jaw when she skied into the gate.
    Kildow, who has won two downhills this season, made a big mistake on the top. ''I'm not going to make that mistake again,'' Kildow said. ''I'm never fast in training runs. I always save that extra gear for the race.''
    Riml echoed that sentiment, adding that Kildow remains level-headed despite her silver medal in Tuesday's super G.
    "She’s always pretty level," Riml said. "She’s never winning the first training run. So she’ll figure things out. There’s just a couple of things she needs to clean up and fix, and they’re easy fixes so we’re on schedule."
    Another downhill training session is scheduled for Thursday.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report

Are World Championships downhill training results*
1. Nadia Styger, Switzerland, 1 minute, 28.68 seconds.
2. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 1:30.21.
3. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 1:30.31.
4. Julia Mancuso, United States, 1:30.39.
5. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten, Switzerland, 1:30.68.
6. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 1:30.73.
7. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 1:30.83.
8. Nike Bent, Sweden, 1:30.88.
9. Maria Holaus, Austria, 1:30.89.
10. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 1:30.90.

* Some racers were later disqualified.