Gorgone seventh in snowboard World Cup at Soelden

Gorgone seventh in snowboard World Cup at Soelden{mosimage}U.S. Snowboarding rider Michelle Gorgone of Sudbury, Massachusetts, posted her first top-10 result of the season, finishing seventh in the first World Cup parallel giant slalom race of the year. France’s Isabelle Blanc beat Amelie Kober (GER) in the finals of Saturday’s competition for the fourth World Cup win of her career.

‘Placing seventh was okay considering all that was going on with trying to dial in Michelle’s board this past week’ said Steve Persons, U.S. alpine assistant coach. ‘She rode really well and it was obvious she made the right decision.’

Gorgone spent part of the week leading up to Soelden trying out a new board, but in the end decided to stick with her previous equipment. For Gorgone, it was her tenth top-10 result of her career, which includes a fifth-place finish at Soelden last year.

Five American women competed Saturday in the Soelden, which hosted the PGS for the fourth consecutive year on the Rettenbach glacier part of the very same course that will be used next week for the alpine World Cup opener. Persons explained the first eight gates of the PGS start on the steep pitch of the alpine course, leveling out into the tricky flats before finishing with rolls at the bottom of the course.

‘All the women are riding really well’ said Persons. ‘They just made mistakes that shot them wide on the flats and they lost speed. It’s so critical to find the line coming into the flats. Those who didn’t make the finals had a chance to watch video of their performances and know they are riding well. Today was disappointing for them, but their spirits are up because they do have confidence in their riding.’

Saturday’s conditions, which Persons described as ‘absolutely perfect’ and ‘ego snow’ are expected to be similar for Sunday’s men’s competition. Six American men, including 2002 Olympic bronze medalist Chris Klug of Aspen, Colorado, are slated to compete.

For complete results, visit the Web here.

Nokia Snowboard FIS World Cup
Soelden, AUT Oct. 15, 2005
Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom
(16 make finals)

Final
1. Isabelle Blanc, France
2. Amelie Kober, Germany
Small-Final
3. Daniela Meuli, Switzerland
4. Julie Pomagalski, France
Consolation
5. Ursula Bruhin, Switzerland
6. Carmen Ranigler, Italy
7. Michelle Gorgone, Sudbury, Mass.
8. Corinna Boccacini, Italy