Worlds: German Hoelzl giant slalom champion

Val d’Isere, France – In a fast-moving, ever-changing final run of the World Championship giant slalom, German Kathrin Hoelzl put it all together for the first big win of her world class racing career on Thursday.

Hoelzl, who has only had two World Cup podiums in her career (she was third this season in the Maribor GS and second two years ago in Lenzerheide), fought through heavy snow, flat light and the steep, icy Bellavarde course to make her first gold medal a spectacular one.

“I had no other choice but to go for it,” the 24-year-old said after the race. “For me, it was tough. The course conditions were difficult. There were a lot of ruts and bumps. You had to charge and take risks. I wanted to go for this medal because I knew I had a chance. It was near. It’s unbelievable to win this medal.”

After finishing her first run in angry tears because her goggles were so fogged up, Slovenian star Tina Maze came back to take the silver medal, just .09 seconds behind Hoelzl. Finnish giant slalom extraordinaire Tanja Poutiainen put together two smooth runs for the bronze, .12 seconds off the winning pace.

Val d’Isere, France – In a fast-moving, ever-changing final run of the World Championship giant slalom, German Kathrin Hoelzl put it all together for the first big win of her world-class racing career on Thursday.

Hoelzl, who has only had two World Cup podiums in her career (she was third this season in the Maribor GS and second two years ago in Lenzerheide), fought through heavy snow, flat light and the steep, icy Bellavarde course to make her first gold medal a spectacular one.

“I had no other choice but to go for it,” the 24-year-old said after the race. “For me, it was tough. The course conditions were difficult. There were a lot of ruts and bumps. You had to charge and take risks. I wanted to go for this medal because I knew I had a chance. It was near. It’s unbelievable to win this medal.”

After finishing her first run in angry tears because her goggles were so fogged up, Slovenian star Tina Maze came back to take the silver medal, just .09 seconds behind Hoelzl. Finnish giant slalom extraordinaire Tanja Poutiainen put together two smooth runs for the bronze, .12 seconds off the winning pace.

“When I was warming up before the first run, the goggles were starting to sweat. I started to ski down, the ice came on the goggles. I  didn’t see out from the middle of the course, so it was really hard to ski,” Maze said. “I was trying to get to the finish. I was really disapppointed, also angry. So I was skiing really angry in the second run. I was angry on everything. I just skied down, angry at every gate. So maybe the next time, I should get someone to get me angry at the start so I can ski like this every time.”

Poutiainen, who, at 28, was one of the oldest racers on course, already has two World Championships medals – silvers in GS and slalom in the 2005 Santa Caterina event – and a silver medal in the 2006 Olympic GS.

“My goal was a gold medal, but it was a tough race today,” she said. “Like we saw on the second run, you could lose seconds easily, or you could gain them. So I was happy to stay on the podium.”

Indeed the second run saw some unexpected action and surprises. Maria Riesch and Chemmy Alcott ended up crashing and then valiantly hiking gates and Italian Nicole Gius crashed so hard she lost her glove and slid about 100 yards on her side in a fetal position, protecting her bare hand from the harsh ice. Much to the enthrall of the very supportive crowd, French favorite Tessa Worley had her right pole snatched away by a gate at the top of the course and skied the rest of the way down with just one to finish seventh. Finally, the last racer down the course, World super-combined champion and World Cup GS leader Kathrin Zettel just couldn’t maintain the lead she had from the first run and ended up sixth.

After a shaky first run, Julia Mancuso held it together to finish 18th.

“It was a little better,” Mancuso said of her second run. “The course is a little smoother. I’m still just having a little bit of a hard time …. no strength. It’s just not connecting.”

When asked if she was disappointed in her result, Mancuso said, “It’s not so much the skiing. I’m just disappointed in other stuff.”

Hoelzl’s gold medal is the first for a German woman in World Championship GS since Maria Epple’s in 1978 at Garmisch. Hoelzl said the whole German team was “pleased” and “relieved” at her success. She also said she’s looking forward to defending her gold in 2011 when the World Champs return to Garmisch.

“I will be the defending champion in the next World Championships and this will be a great feeling,” she said, also mentioning that her victory is especially delicious because growing up, her parents never believed she was talented enough to be a top racer. “It’s so unbelievable, I just can’t describe how I feel. It will be exciting for me to compete in Germany and defend this title. It will be a very big moment again.”

When it was clear she had won, Hoelzl’s teammate and Garmisch native Maria Riesch tackled Hoelzl in the finish area and showered her with hugs and congratulations. Hoelzl said that she and Riesch often share a room on the World Cup tour and that Riesch knows better than a lot of people how much her World Championship victory means.

“Maria is one of my best supporters. She knows exactly what I went through, what I fought to reach this level,” Hoelzl said. “She was really happy for me. She was encouraging me very strongly and now I’ll be rooting for her. I hope she is also going to do this medal in the slalom.”

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The SCOOP

By Hank McKee

 

Equipment

 

World Ski Championships

Women’s Giant Slalom, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 12, 2009

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Hoelzl, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

2 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Rossignol

3 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

4 Karbon, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

5 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

6 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

7 Worley, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

8 Pietilae-Holmner, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

9 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker

10 Goergl, Head/Head/Head

 

Women’s Giant Slalom, 40th World Ski Championships, Val d’Isere, France Feb. 12, 2009. … It is the seventh race, of ten, set for the championships. … It is the 264th World Championship race and the 43rd giant slalom. … The first was in 1950 when Dagmar Rom of Austria and Zeno Colo of Italy won the gold medals.

It is the first World Championship medal, and the second result in a World Championships for Kathrin Hoelzl. … She was sixth in the GS at Are Feb. 13, 2007. … It is the first German World Championship gold medal – excluding the team competition in 2005 – since Martina Ertl won the combined at St Anton in 2001. … It is the first for Germany in GS since Markus Wasmaier at Bormio in 1985 and the first for a German woman in GS since Maria Epple at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1978. … It is the first win of the season for Hoelzl. … and her first in any World level competition. … Her best World Cup GS result is 2nd in GS at Lenzerheide March 18, 2007.

It is the first World Championship medal for Tina Maze, her previous best placing fifth in GS at St Moritz in 2003 and in SG here at Val d’Isere Feb. 3. … No Slovene has ever won a World Championship gold medal and Maze is the first to win a silver medal. … Urska Hrovat and Mitja Kunc both won bronze medals in slalom, Hrovat in 1996 at Sierra Nevada and Kunc at St Santon in 2001. … Yugolavs won eight World Championship medals previous to the formation of the Slovene nation, including a slalom championship from Mateja Svet at Vail in 1989 … Maze has won seven World Cup races, six of them giant slaloms. … She won at Maribor earlier this season (Jan. 10).

It is the third career World Championship medal for Tanja Poutiainen. … She was won silver medals in both slalom and GS at Santa Caterina in 2005. … She also won the Olympic GS at Sestriere in 2006. … She has won three of the four title meet medals for Finland, the other coming from Kalle Palander in slalom in 1999 at Vail.

All three skiers earned the first medal of the 2009 World Championships for their national teams.

It was the first result of the World Championships for Julia Mancuso. … Of 12 Worlds events (including one team event) it is her 11th best finish. … The result matches her sixth best finish of the season in world level competition. … It is the seventh best of nine career World Championship results for Britt Janyk.

Medal Count:

 

SUI 1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze

AUT 1 gold, 2 bronze

USA 2 gold

NOR 1 gold, 1 bronze

FRA 2 silver

ITA 1 silver, 1 bronze

CAN 1 gold

GER 1 gold

SLO 1 silver

CRO 1 bronze

FIN 1 bronze
 

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Women’s Giant Slalom, World Ski Championships, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 12, 2009

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	10	205993	HOELZL Kathrin	1984	GER	1:00.21	1:03.28	2:03.49	0.00
2	5	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:01.54	1:02.04	2:03.58	0.64
3	4	185140	POUTIAINEN Tanja	1980	FIN	59.93	1:04.10	2:04.03	3.85
4	2	295445	KARBON Denise	1980	ITA	1:00.92	1:03.24	2:04.16	4.77
5	11	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	1:00.80	1:03.42	2:04.22	5.20
6	1	55838	ZETTEL Kathrin	1986	AUT	59.53	1:04.78	2:04.31	5.84
7	8	196928	WORLEY Tessa	1989	FRA	1:00.45	1:04.18	2:04.63	8.12
8	6	505760	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	1986	SWE	1:01.46	1:03.25	2:04.71	8.69
9	20	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER	1:00.10	1:04.64	2:04.74	8.91
10	7	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:01.16	1:03.81	2:04.97	10.55
11	22	196725	BARIOZ Taina	1988	FRA	1:01.24	1:04.12	2:05.36	13.33
12	21	565315	ROBNIK Mateja	1987	SLO	1:01.04	1:04.61	2:05.65	15.39
13	37	196851	BERTRAND Olivia	1989	FRA	1:02.88	1:02.78	2:05.66	15.46
14	29	565268	DREV Ana	1985	SLO	1:01.80	1:04.20	2:06.00	17.89
15	9	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:00.97	1:05.08	2:06.05	18.24
16	18	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	1:02.54	1:03.72	2:06.26	19.74
17	19	196179	BERTRAND Marion	1984	FRA	1:03.64	1:02.76	2:06.40	20.74
18	15	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:02.64	1:04.09	2:06.73	23.09
19	36	425629	LOESETH Lene	1986	NOR	1:03.00	1:03.91	2:06.91	24.37
20	23	295342	PUTZER Karen	1978	ITA	1:03.01	1:03.91	2:06.92	24.44
21	42	185271	LEINONEN Sanni	1989	FIN	1:02.72	1:04.34	2:07.06	25.44
22	32	515849	DETTLING Andrea	1987	SUI	1:03.01	1:04.31	2:07.32	27.29
23	13	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	1:03.63	1:04.00	2:07.63	29.50
24	17	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT	1:03.58	1:04.14	2:07.72	30.14
25	41	315149	LOLOVIC Jelena	1981	SRB	1:03.46	1:04.51	2:07.97	31.92
26	31	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:03.50	1:04.79	2:08.29	34.21
27	34	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO	1:02.87	1:06.09	2:08.96	38.98
28	16	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:01.26	1:13.91	2:15.17	83.23
29	24	225206	ALCOTT Chemmy	1982	GBR	1:01.68	1:24.10	2:25.78	158.84
Did not qualify for 2nd run
30	26	505908	SMEDH Veronica	1988	SWE	1:04.20		1:04.20
31	33	536481	SCHLEPER Sarah	1979	USA	1:04.65		1:04.65
32	46	385027	FLEISS Nika	1984	CRO	1:04.79		1:04.79
33	35	435210	GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka	1987	POL	1:04.90		1:04.90
34	58	95050	KIRKOVA Maria	1986	BUL	1:05.17		1:05.17
35	38	106825	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1988	CAN	1:05.64		1:05.64
36	47	435142	KARASINSKA Katarzyna	1982	POL	1:05.95		1:05.95
37	52	35089	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	1984	ARG	1:06.18		1:06.18
38	50	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG	1:07.08		1:07.08
39	64	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN	1:07.43		1:07.43
40	59	495763	JARDI Andrea	1990	SPA	1:07.64		1:07.64
41	61	245059	DOEME Zsofia	1992	HUN	1:08.01		1:08.01
42	66	695063	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	1989	UKR	1:08.60		1:08.60
43	54	435189	KLUS Aleksandra	1986	POL	1:09.76		1:09.76
44	88	85022	HARRISSON Maya	1992	BRA	1:10.19		1:10.19
45	62	465055	NAREA Bianca-Andreea	1986	ROU	1:10.31		1:10.31
46	81	235110	RALLI Sophia	1988	GRE	1:12.47		1:12.47
47	70	65090	VAN BUYNDER Isabel	1991	BEL	1:12.82		1:12.82
48	71	555016	FIMBAUERE Liene	1989	LAT	1:13.08		1:13.08
49	63	35112	QUIROGA Julietta	1988	ARG	1:13.15		1:13.15
50	90	675019	FEDOTOVA Lyudmila	1986	KAZ	1:14.73		1:14.73
51	77	865000	BASSANI ANTIVARI Gaia	1978	AZE	1:15.29		1:15.29
52	86	525033	DASDEMIR Tugba	1985	TUR	1:15.31		1:15.31
53	92	175024	FJELLVANG-SOELLING Sophie	1981	DAN	1:16.27		1:16.27
54	73	115115	BARAHONA Noelle	1990	CHI	1:16.38		1:16.38
55	91	555023	BONDARE Anna	1992	LAT	1:17.29		1:17.29
56	94	345028	ARAMAN Andrea	1988	LIB	1:19.52		1:19.52
57	96	175040	MOLLER JENSEN Katrine	1991	DAN	1:23.89		1:23.89
58	98	265005	KALHOR Mitra	1985	IRA	1:23.98		1:23.98
59	79	555008	POSHKA Kristine	1984	LAT	1:25.65		1:25.65
60	95	265006	KALHOR Marjan	1988	IRA	1:29.34		1:29.34
Disqualified 1st run
	72	465060	NAREA Sandra-Elena	1988	ROU
	53	715123	NOVAKOVIC Zana	1985	BIH
	40	385041	NOVOSELIC Sofija	1990	CRO
Did not start 1st run
	78	125029	DU Juanjuan	1989	CHN
	51	345018	NJEIM Chirine	1984	LIB
	48	705287	ZUZULOVA Veronika	1984	SVK
	44	385032	JELUSIC Ana	1986	CRO
Did not qualify 1st run
	98	265005	KALHOR Mitra	1985	IRA
	96	175040	MOLLER JENSEN Katrine	1991	DAN
	95	265006	KALHOR Marjan	1988	IRA
	94	345028	ARAMAN Andrea	1988	LIB
	92	175024	FJELLVANG-SOELLING Sophie	1981	DAN
	91	555023	BONDARE Anna	1992	LAT
	90	675019	FEDOTOVA Lyudmila	1986	KAZ
	88	85022	HARRISSON Maya	1992	BRA
	86	525033	DASDEMIR Tugba	1985	TUR
	81	235110	RALLI Sophia	1988	GRE
	79	555008	POSHKA Kristine	1984	LAT
	77	865000	BASSANI ANTIVARI Gaia	1978	AZE
	73	115115	BARAHONA Noelle	1990	CHI
	71	555016	FIMBAUERE Liene	1989	LAT
	70	65090	VAN BUYNDER Isabel	1991	BEL
	66	695063	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	1989	UKR
	64	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN
	63	35112	QUIROGA Julietta	1988	ARG
	62	465055	NAREA Bianca-Andreea	1986	ROU
	61	245059	DOEME Zsofia	1992	HUN
	59	495763	JARDI Andrea	1990	SPA
	58	95050	KIRKOVA Maria	1986	BUL
	54	435189	KLUS Aleksandra	1986	POL
	52	35089	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	1984	ARG
	50	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG
	47	435142	KARASINSKA Katarzyna	1982	POL
	46	385027	FLEISS Nika	1984	CRO
	38	106825	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1988	CAN
	35	435210	GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka	1987	POL
	33	536481	SCHLEPER Sarah	1979	USA
	26	505908	SMEDH Veronica	1988	SWE
Did not finish 2nd run
	14	295435	GIUS Nicole	1980	ITA
Did not finish 1st run
	97	265004	KIADARBANDSARI Fatemeh	1982	IRA
	93	345061	CHAMOUN Jacky	1991	LIB
	89	555026	KLEINSHMITE Ketija	1992	LAT
	87	125016	LIU Yu	1985	CHN
	85	525051	ULUSOY Duygu	1987	TUR
	84	715132	KLEPIC Maja	1988	BIH
	83	695044	MASHCHAKEVICH Oksana	1983	UKR
	82	125025	SUN Lingling	1989	CHN
	80	115152	JOFFROY Stephanie	1991	CHI
	76	125021	XIA Lina	1987	CHN
	75	145003	KRONE Kristina	1990	PUR
	74	695048	GISEM Tamara	1984	UKR
	69	645000	DENZLER Cynthia	1983	COL
	68	35131	GASTALDI Nicol	1990	ARG
	67	665008	KUZMENKA Lizaveta	1987	BLR
	65	665009	SCHKANOVA Marija	1989	BLR
	60	695073	SKRYABINA Anastasiya	1985	UKR
	57	495605	CLEMENTE Mireia	1987	SPA
	56	705363	LUKACOVA Barbora	1990	SVK
	55	705378	SKVARKOVA Jana	1991	SVK
	49	306096	HOSHI Mizue	1985	JPN
	45	155333	HRSTKOVA Lucie	1981	CZE
	43	515692	GRAND Rabea	1984	SUI
	39	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE
	30	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN
	28	538284	MCJAMES Megan	1987	USA
	27	515733	BONJOUR Aline	1985	SUI
	25	106056	SIMARD Genevieve	1980	CAN
	12	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI
	3	296259	MOELGG Manuela	1983	ITA