Are: Paerson golden, Kildow nabs SG silver

She played a huge part in bringing the World Championships to her home country, but Anja Paerson said she may have felt too relaxed heading into her first race at worlds on Tuesday, the women's super G. [Check out SR's online photo gallery, including awards]
    Sitting at breakfast and zoning out while working on a jigsaw puzzle with a teammate Tuesday morning, Paerson said the scope of the event finally hit her. "I was like, ‘Hey, start focusing, this is World Championships, not a training camp,'" she said. "I think maybe the [mental] strength is I don’t put out too much energy into the race until there has to be standing up there in the start."
    Paerson certainly found the fortitude at the start, rocketing down the track in a sunny but frigid Are to capture the women's super G gold ahead of American Lindsey Kildow and Austria's Renate Goetschl.

ARE, Sweden — She played a huge part in bringing the World Championships to her home country, but Anja Paerson said she may have felt too relaxed heading into her first race at worlds Tuesday, the women's super G.
    Sitting at breakfast and zoning out while working on a jigsaw puzzle with a teammate Tuesday morning, Paerson said the scope of the event finally hit her.
     "I was like, ‘Hey, start focusing, this is World Championships, not a training camp,'" she said. "I think maybe the [mental] strength is I don’t put out too much energy into the race until there has to be standing up there in the start."
    Paerson certainly found the fortitude at the start, rocketing down the track in a sunny but frigid Are to capture the women's super G gold ahead of American Lindsey Kildow and Austria's Renate Goetschl. The win thrilled the Swedish fans in the stands, and Paerson dropped to her knees in the finish area after Goetschl skied across the line, the last real contender in the race.
    "Today a lot of people are very, very calm that I can always [perform well] at World Championships and I'm always strong," said Paerson. "And I don’t know how they can be so calm about it because I'm not. 
    "I don’t see myself so strong in World Championships mentally. I just don’t know. Every time I approach a big event I don’t know what the secret is. Somehow I have it, but I can’t point out what it is. Today I was really nervous."
    Paerson, from Tarnaby, Sweden, is winless on the World Cup circuit this season after undergoing knee surgery in the spring, but she raced down the sun-soaked WM Strecke course in 1 minute, 18.85 seconds, with Kildow .32 back and Goetschl .53 behind.
    In a dramatic 10-minute stretch, Canadian Britt Janyk fell from leading the race to just out of the medals in a tie for fourth, as Goetschl seized bronze out of the 31st start position.
    Janyk and Austrian Nicole Hosp were fourth and American Julia Mancuso was sixth, while U.S. teammate Libby Ludlow, who led for much of the race, finished a strong ninth.
    ''I'm so glad to finally get one,'' Kildow said. ''It wasn't a difficult race but it was tactical.''
    Paerson saw the course differently
    "It was a very difficult run today, very soft in some spots and really speedy and the jumps were really big, so I just tried to keep the tactics, be smart and ski as clean and aggressive as I could," she said.
    Paerson, 25, now has five World Championships gold and seven total medals. It is her second super G world title, having taken gold in 2005 at Santa Caterina, Italy. She also has two GS titles and a slalom crown, plus five Olympic medals.
    Paerson has two career super G wins, but her best result in the discipline this season had been sixth twice, at Lake Louise in December and Cortina last month.
   ''It's a dream for me,'' Paerson said. "I didn't believe I could win this super G here as I did in Bormio at the last World Championships.  
   American Kirsten Clark was tied for 20th as all four American starters finished in the top 20.
   Ludlow, the 10th skier out of the start house, led until Janyk ripped down the course wearing bib No. 18. The Canadian’s lead held up until Paerson electrified the home crowd six skiers later.
    “I’ve definitely missed being in the winner’s circle this year. I’m happy with how I skied. I really wanted to get in the top six,” Ludlow said.
    “I haven’t had the results that I wanted to have this year, and I just tried to lay down a super aggressive run and tuck a lot. I think I gave my best performance today, so I should be happy with a top 10.”
    Mancuso, starting 27th, bettered Paerson’s start by 0.08, and hit 100.7 kph on the speed trap, but she lost time on the lower half of the course. She was in the medals at third before Hosp, skiing 29th, knocked her out.
    Paerson has 10 World Cup top 10 finishes this season, but just two podiums — two third-place results in downhill. She skipped the last World Cup races before the worlds to rest and focus on this event, and that strategy paid off. She has three World Cup wins and 11 podiums on the Are hill in slalom, GS and downhill, but had never been on the podium in super G here.   
    After she failed to finish the giant slalom in Cortina, Italy, on Jan. 21, she skipped the next event and returned to Sweden to find the ''harmony and rhythm'' that has been missing throughout the season.  
    The solution Paerson found was to adjust her boots, which she said had been forcing her knees into bad angles on the slopes, preventing her from attacking the courses.
    "I had a really crappy season coming in and a lot of doubts, a lot of difficulties," Paerson said. "I was very nervous today because it’s been a whiile since I was racing."
    Paerson won the Olympic slalom gold last winter, along with bronze medals in the downhill and combined. At the last worlds in Bormio, Italy, the Swede won the super G and giant slalom and took silver in the combined.
    Paerson has the advantage of knowing the Are slopes better than any of her competitors. She grew up in Tarnaby, about a five-hour drive away from Are. She won the downhill in Are during last year's World Cup Finals.
    At the 2005 Bormio worlds, Kildow was fourth twice — in downhill and combined, was ninth in super G and DNFed in GS. A three-time world juniors medalist, Kildow was seeking redemption after failing to medal at the 2006 Torino Olympics.
    Goetschl, the World Cup overall leader, said, ''I made a lot of mistakes but when you take risks that can happen. Anja was really fast today and there was no way to win without taking a lot of risk. I'm lucky to get the bronze.''

Great start for Kildow
    “It’s my first medal and this is a HUGE monkey off my back,” Kildow said as sh
e was pulled through various media interviews in the finish. “I was calm today and just stayed relaxed. I didn’t ski the best run of my life, but it was a good one.”
    Kildow, conducting interviews in English and German, said, “To have it on the first day of the championships is great. I’m glad to start this way … to get a medal right away.”
    At the 2006 Olympics, Kildow took a nasty training spill, which hospitalized her overnight. She returned to race four times but her best showing was seventh.
    Mancuso said she was battling shin pains “but I tried to power through it,” while Ludlow, a Dartmouth College student, said she didn’t surprise herself “because I know I can ski with the best. I can ski with these girls."

— Sam Flickinger, Whitney Childers, Don Cameron and The Associated Press contributed to this report

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THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's Super G, Are, Sweden, Feb. 6, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
2 Kildow, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Goetschl, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
4 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
6 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
7 Styger, Volkl/Lange/Marker
8 Meissnitzer, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
9 Ludlow, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
10 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia

Women's Super G, Are, Sweden, Feb. 6, 2007. … It is the second race of the 2007 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. … Originally scheduled Feb. 4, the race is delayed by wind and snow. … It is the 22nd super G held at World Championships.
    It is the fifth World Championship for Anja Paerson. … She won gold in slalom St Anton 2001; gold in GS St Moritz 2003 and Santa Caterina 2005 and SG in 2005. … She also earned silver in combined 2005 and bronze GS 2001 for a total of seven medals moving her up to a tie for 11th all-time behind Christl Cranz (15), Kjetil Aamodt (12), Marc Girardelli and Lasse Kjus (11), Pirmin Zurbriggen (9), Lisa Resch, Amile Allais, Rudolf Rominger, Marielle Goitschel and Renate Goetschl (8). … She passes Pernilla Wiberg for the all-time lead among Swedish skiers. … She has won two World Cup SG's, Feb. 25, 2005 at San Sicario, and Jan, 27 2006 Cortina d'Ampezzo. … It is her first win of the season bit was third in two DH's, Lake Louise Dec. 2 and Val d'Isere Dec. 20. … Top SG placing of the season prior to this was sixth Lake Louise Dec. 3 and Cortina Jan. 19. … She is one of four Swedes to win a world championship in alpine skiing, with Ingemar Stenmark, Wiberg and Jonas Nilsson.
    It is the first World Championship medal for Lindsey Kildow after having placed fourth three times (CMB, DH and Team) in 2005. She was also ninth in the 2005 SG. … She has been among the top three of eight World Cup SG's in her career. … three of them this season. … She is the seventh different American to win a World Championship medal in SG. … No American woman has ever won a World Championship SG, though Kirsten Clark won silver in 2003, Picabo Street Jonna Mendes and Julia Mancuso bronze in 1996, 2003 and 2005 respectively.
    It is the eighth world championship medal for Renate Goetschl, tying her for sixth all-time on that medal list. … It is her second SG medal, the first a silver in 1999. … She has won 16 World Cup SG's. … Three of them this season. … She has been on the podium in every SG this season.
    It is the best world championship result of Britt Janyk's career, eclipsing a 23rd in GS from 2001. … She ties Nicole Hosp for fourth and they are six hundredths of a second behind Goetschl and a medal. … Fourth matches her best career World Cup results, which were achieved last week at San Sicario where she was fourth in both SG's. … It is the fourth best World Championship placing for Julia Mancuso. … She earned bronze medals in SG and GS at Santa Caterina 2005 and was fourth in the team event. … She has one World Cup SG win and one second, both at Cortina. … She was fifth at Are in SG last March. … It is easily the best world championship result for Libby Ludlow, the only other a 23rd in DH from 2003. … She has one better World Cup result, a seventh from SG at BadKleinkirchheim Jan. 15, 2006. … U.S. women also had three skiers in the top 10 of the Santa Caterina SG 2005. … It is the second best SG result in world championship competition for Emily Brydon. … She was 12th in 2001. … She has had two better SG results this season capped by an eighth at Lake Louise Dec. 3. … It is the second best SG result at Worlds for Genevieve Simard. … She was fourth at St Moritz 2003. … She has had two better SG results this season, a fifth at Lake Louise and 17th at Reiteralm Dec. 16. … It is the fourth best SG result at world championships for Kirsten Clark. … She won silver in the event at St Moritz. … was ninth in 2001 and 10th in 2005. … She was 14th in the 2006 Olympic SG.

Medal Count:
AUT 2 (1 silver, 1 bronze)
ITA 1 (1 gold)
SWE 1 (1gold)
USA 1 (1silver)
SUI 1 (1 bronze)

Winning margin is .32. … Top seven are within a second of winner. … Top 16 within two seconds.

 

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Are World Championships women's super G results

< td class="i0" align="center">1975 

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	24	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:18.85	0.00
2	30	537544	KILDOW Lindsey C	1984	USA	1:19.17	4.18
3	31	55069	GOETSCHL Renate	AUT	1:19.38	6.92
4	29	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	1:19.44	7.71
4	18	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:19.44	7.71
6	27	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:19.63	10.19
7	26	515170	STYGER Nadia	1978	SUI	1:19.65	10.45
8	28	55212	MEISSNITZER Alexandra	1973	AUT	1:19.97	14.63
9	10	536884	LUDLOW Libby	1981	USA	1:20.08	16.07
10	11	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:20.18	17.37
11	3	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI	1:20.19	17.50
12	22	515560	SCHILD Martina	1981	SUI	1:20.63	23.25
13	17	105997	BRYDON Emily	1980	CAN	1:20.65	23.51
14	21	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:20.73	24.56
15	12	205119	HALTMAYR Petra	1975	GER	1:20.74	24.69
16	13	55691	SPONRING Christine	1983	AUT	1:20.75	24.82
17	1	296427	SCHNARF Johanna	1984	ITA	1:21.08	29.13
18	5	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:21.16	30.18
19	20	515573	AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi	1981	SUI	1:21.20	30.70
20	15	106056	SIMARD Genevieve	1980	CAN	1:21.24	31.22
20	14	536138	CLARK Kirsten L	1977	USA	1:21.24	31.22
22	8	206175	STECHERT Gina	1987	GER	1:21.25	31.35
23	2	375018	COLETTI Alexandra	1983	MON	1:21.56	35.40
24	33	565278	RABIC Urska	1985	SLO	1:21.58	35.66
25	6	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA	1:21.86	39.32
26	38	255098	KRISTJANSDOTTIR Dagny L.	1980	ISL	1:22.01	41.28
27	34	565261	ROBNIK Petra	1984	SLO	1:22.19	43.63
28	9	225206	ALCOTT Chemmy	1982	GBR	1:22.22	44.02
29	37	155333	HRSTKOVA Lucie	1981	CZE	1:22.43	46.76
30	42	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE	1:22.49	47.55
31	36	296472	FANCHINI Elena	1985	ITA	1:24.64	75.63
32	41	705305	HUCKOVA Eva	1986	SVK	1:26.85	&nbs p;104.50
33	40	705327	MACULOVA Sona	1987	SVK	1:28.36	124.23
34	7	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:31.09	159.89

Did not finish 1st run:
BREIGUTU Anna (BRA), KLING Kajsa (SWE), BARTHET Anne-Sophie (FRA), WEIRATHER Tina (LIE), VANDERBEEK Kelly (CAN), RECCHIA Lucia (ITA), FANCHINI Nadia (ITA), JACQUEMOD Ingrid (FRA), BENT Nike (SWE)