Kathrin Zettel proved once again why she’s leading the giant slalom standings. The World super-combined Champion notched her fourth World Cup GS victory of the season on a very foggy, snowy course in Ofterschwang, Germany, on Friday.

Zettel, who trailed Tina Maze after the first run, won with a two-run combined time of  2 minutes, 36.48 seconds. She was followed in close succession by Austrian teammate Elisabeth Goergl, who shrieked with joy when she crossed the finish line in the lead, but ended up .12 behind Zettel. Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen, who trailed Zettel by a mere one point in the GS standings before the race, rounded out the podium, .52 seconds back. Maze ended up fourth, .78 seconds back. 

The victory put a few more precious points between Zettel and Poutiainen in the GS standings – she now leads with 469 points to Poutiainen’s 428 – but only the World Cup final race next week in Are, Sweden, will determine who walks away with the title.


Kathrin Zettel proved once again why she’s leading the giant slalom standings. The World super-combined Champion notched her fourth World Cup GS victory of the season on a very foggy, snowy course in Ofterschwang, Germany, on Friday.

Zettel, who trailed Tina Maze after the first run, won with a two-run combined time of  2 minutes, 36.48 seconds. She was followed in close succession by Austrian teammate Elisabeth Goergl, who shrieked with joy when she crossed the finish line in the lead, but ended up .12 behind Zettel. Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen, who trailed Zettel by a mere one point in the GS standings before the race, rounded out the podium, .52 seconds back. Maze ended up fourth, .78 seconds back. 

The victory put a few more precious points between Zettel and Poutiainen in the GS standings – she now leads with 469 points to Poutiainen’s 428 – but only the World Cup final race next week in Are, Sweden, will determine who walks away with the title.

“Of course, it’s important points for me to get a little distance between Tanja and me,” Zettel said after the race, adding that conditions were challenging. “It was so hard to fight, but I’m happy. The slope wasn’t so perfect today. It was getting a bit better from run to run. I tried to do my best and find a good run and now it’s happened.”

Lindsey Vonn, who was ninth after the first run and finished her second run in the lead before it was usurped by the GS who’s-who lineup of skiers still left to race, ended up eighth, 1.85 seconds off the winning pace.

The result increased Vonn’s lead in the overall Cup standings to 1588 points. German Maria Riesch, who finished 22nd Friday, is Vonn’s closest contender with 1174 points.

“It’s great Lindsey has such a big lead in the overall, but she wasn’t happy with the way she skied today,” said U.S. women’s head coach Jim Tracy. “She skis to be on the podium in every race and she’s at a level where she can do that. She expects more of herself. The snow wasn’t all that bad and the course stayed in great shape, it was a pretty tight set, but it was fine. The girls who were fast today are the girls who have been fast all year in GS.”

The Germans had a fair showing on home turf, especially from 19-year-old Viktoria Rebensburg, who, fresh off of becoming the Junior World giant slalom and super G Champion in Garmisch earlier this week, finished sixth. Rebensburg also took ninth in GS and 10th in SG racing with the big girls at Worlds in Val d’Isere last month and has four more top 10s on the World Cup.

World giant slalom Champion Kathrin Hoelzl also got the sizable German crowd going with a temporary lead that turned into a ninth-place finish.

As for the other Americans, Julia Mancuso finished 21st Friday, but Megan McJames, Sarah Schleper and Stacey Cook didn’t make the top-30 cut after the first run.

“Julia had some great sections and might have run out of gas a little bit at the finish, but at this point, she’s carrying all this into next season,” Tracy said. “For our other girls, we expected a lot more. Sarah had a good run going then hooked her arm on a gate and couldn’t get it back and Megan had a really good opportunity to qualify for World Cup Finals and she didn’t execute her plan. Stacey, too. All these girls are better than this and they know that.”

Racing continues Saturday in Ofterschwang with slalom. Watch in live on universalsports.com.

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee




Equipment
Women’s Giant Slalom, Ofterschwang, Germany, March 6, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/binding
1 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
3 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
4 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Rossignol
5 Karbon, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7 Moelgg, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
8 Vonn, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9 Hoelzl, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10 Suter, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic

Women’s Giant Slalom, Ofterschwang, Germany. … It is the 29th race of the women’s 36 race 2009 World Cup schedule. … There has been one cancellation. … It is the seventh of eight scheduled GS’s. … It is the tenth World Cup race held at Ofterschwang and the sixth GS, fifth for women.

It is the fifth career World Cup victory for Kathrin Zettel, all in GS, and four this season. … She has won Soelden, Semmering, Cortina, and Ofterschwang this season, was fifth at Aspen, 11th at Maribor and sixth at the World Championships in GS. … She also won the gold medal in combined at Worlds and has four podiums this season in other disciplines.

It is the 20th World Cup podium for Elisabeth Goergl. … Her 12th in GS. … It is her second podium at Ofterschwang having placed third in GS Jan. 26, 2008. … It is her third Cup podium of the season, all in GS. … She also won the bronze medal in combined at Worlds.

It is the 34th career World Cup podium for Tanja Poutiainen, the most for any Finnish alpine skier. … It is her 16th podium in GS. … It is her seventh World Cup podium this season, and she also won two bronze medals at Worlds, in GS and slalom.

Lindsey Vonn matches her fifth best World Cup GS result in eighth and her third best of the season. … She was also eighth at Semmering, was seventh at Maribor and was fourth at Aspen. … It is the best result of the season for Genevieve Simard. … She was also 15th at Semmering and 16th at Cortina in GS. … The result matches her 31st career best World Cup placing. … It is the 13th best World Cup result of the season for Julia Mancuso. … Her fifth best in GS this season. … It is the second career scoring result for Marie-Michele Gagnon, both coming this season in GS. … She was ninth at Cortina Jan. 25.

Lindsey Vonn leads the World Cup overall standings 1588-1174 over Maria Riesch (22nd in race). … Anja Paerson (27th in race) is third at 990 and is no longer a possible contender. … That’s a 414pt lead over Riesch with five races remaining and a 100 point maximum per race.

Zettel holds the lead of the GS standings 469-428 over Tanja Poutiainen with one race remaining. … Elisabeth Goergl is third in the GS standings with 297pts and cannot contend. … Vonn is the top American on the GS chart in eighth with 205pts.

Ofterschwang GS results: