Rebensburg takes World Cup Giant Slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn, Vonn earns first GS podium in third

German Viktoria Rebensburg had a great day on the Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic giant slalom track today (March 11), leading all day to take the World Cup win along with the discipline lead.

Rebensburg, the reigning Olympic GS champion, claimed the fastest times in both runs to earn her third giant slalom victory of her career (all this season) with a substantial 1.26-second advantage on Italian Denise Karbon in second place. American Lindsey Vonn grabbed her first ever giant slalom World Cup podium (she has 79 others) in third place, 1.45 seconds behind the winner.

Rebensburg, who also won the last World Cup GS in Arber-Zwiesel more than a month ago, came into the weekend trailing French Tessa Worley, who also has three wins this season, by 23 points at the top of the giant slalom rankings. Worley missed a gate in the first run, making next week’s World Cup Finals race the title decider as Rebensburg took over the lead with a 77-point advantage.

“In the second run, I have no idea what happened. I just skied like I know how and it worked,” Rebensburg told Reuters. “But I must not start calculating now; I just need to stay focused.”

A light rain dripped during the morning’s first run but let up in the afternoon as skies remained overcast.

Vonn trailed German Maria Riesch by 96 points in the overall standings coming into this weekend but now stands only 38 points behind after Riesch finished 29th today. Five races remain on this season’s World Cup calendar.

“It feels really good. I’ve been waiting a long time for a good result in giant slalom and I finally put down two aggressive, clean runs,” said Vonn, who last weekend secured three season discipline titles (super combined, super G, downhill). “I knew the skiing was there, I’ve been training well, it was just a matter of executing on race day. I think it was great timing to say the least.”

Riesch made a big mistake at the top of the course during her second run and nearly missed a gate as she lost all her speed. She skied across the course to catch the missed gate but the damage was done. It was her worst finished World Cup result of the season, she also has two DNFs.

Vonn, who stood eighth after the first run, saw a chance to make up some ground in the overall standings after Riesch’s disastrous run two racers earlier. She came down with the second-fastest second-run time screaming with satisfaction in the finish area. Her previous GS best finish came in 2008 with a fourth-place result in Aspen.

Warm temperatures for the afternoon run made for a difficult track for some of the later starting, first-run leaders but Vonn remained focused on capturing a top result in the only discipline she has never podiumed in.

“I just tried to attack and ski well and thankfully I was close enough to the top three after the first run that I could take some chances in the second run and make up some time and thankfully it worked out,” said Vonn, who has finished in the top three of the last six World Cup races.

“We’ve known for so many years that she can be on the podium in GS too,” said U.S. head coach Alex Hoedlmoser of Vonn, who finally landed on the podium on her 50th attempt at a World Cup GS. “It’s not like this is a big surprise, now is just a really good time to do it. I have to say, things are moving in the right direction.

“That break she had after the medal at World Championships was totally the right decision. She got some rest, which was really important and then the new mission started,” continued Hoedlmoser. “She just started focusing on every race – one at a time – and started hammering it.”

World Championships gold and silver medalists Tina Maze of Slovenia and Federica Brignone of Italy were just off the podium on fourth and fifth, respectively.

Julia Mancuso, who turned 27 on Wednesday, put two solid runs together to finish sixth after standing ninth in the first run. It was her 17th top-ten finish of the season. Sarah Schleper finished 20th after standing 26th in the first run. Laurenne Ross didn’t qualify for the 30-woman second run after finishing 41st in the first run.

Today’s race marked the World Cup debut of 15-year-old American Mikaela Shiffrin, who won a World Juniors bronze medal in the slalom and currently leads the NorAm slalom standings as a rookie with three wins. The Burke Mountain Academy product got her first taste of the big show in the 46th bib of 49. She finished the first run in 43rd, 4.64 seconds behind the leader. She will also start in tomorrow’s slalom.

Canadians Marie-Pier Prefontaine and Marie-Michele Gagnon landed 18th and 19th, respectively.

World Cup racing in Spindleruv Mlyn continues tomorrow with a slalom before racing shifts to Lenzerheide, Switzerland March 16-20 for the World Cup Finals.

Images by Gepa

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Women’s Giant Slalom, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, March 11, 2011
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2 Karbon, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
4 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
5 Brignone, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
6 Mancuso, Voelkl/Lange/Marker
7 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
8 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Moelgg, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Women’s Giant Slalom, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, March 11, 2011… It is the 29th women’s race of the 38 race 2011 World Cup schedule with three cancellations. … There are five races remaining. … It is the seventh of eight scheduled GS’s, the sixth held. … It is the third time the tour has stopped at Spinderluv Mlyn, the first in December 2005 and in January 2008.

It is the third career World Cup win for Viktoria Rebensburg, all in GS and all this season. … She won previously at Soelden Oct. 23 and at Arber-Zwiesel Feb. 6. … She has one previous result at  Spindleruv Mlyn, a 23rd GS finish in 2008.

It is the 16th career World Cup podium for Denise Karbon. … all in GS. … She won in Spindleruv Mlyn Jan. 5, 2008. … It is her first podium of the season and just her third scoring race, the previous best a 14th. … She did place fourth in GS at World Championships.

It is the 80th career World Cup podium result for Lindsey Vonn. … her first in GS. … She had placed fourth in a GS at Aspen Nov. 29, 2008. … It is her best career result of three at Spindleruv Mlyn. … It is her 17th podium of the season including a silver medal from World Championships (DH).

It is the 53rd career top six placing for Julia Mancuso, her 15th in GS. … It is her best career result of five at Spindleruv Mlyn, with four of those top 10 finishes. … She has been top 10 in her last five races and in 20 of 28 races this season. … It is the second best of four career Cup scoring results for Marie-Pier Prefontaine, all in GS and three from this season. … Marie-Michele Gagnon matches her 11th best career result. … her fourth best in GS. … It is her 15th result of the season including World Championships. … It is the 54th career GS score for Sarah Schleper matching her 35th best. … She has scored in every GS held this season.

Maria Riesch (29th in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1678-1640 (38pts) over Lindsey Vonn with five races remaining. … Tina Maze is third overall with 943pts and cannot win the title. … Gagnon is the top Canadian overall in 30th with 207pts. … Rebensburg leads the GS standings 435-358 (77pts) over
Tessa Worley (1st run DNF). … Rebensburg needs to finish 11th or better in the one remaining GS to cinch the title. … Tanja Poutiainen (11th in race) is third in the GS standings with 240pts and cannot win the title. … Mancuso is the top American in GS in ninth place with 181pts. … Gagnon the top Canadian in 16th with 87pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 4224-3261 over Germany. … The U.S. is third with 3182pts. … Canada tenth with 494pts.

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	3	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER	1:06.62	1:08.60	2:15.22	0.00
2	9	295445	KARBON Denise	1980	ITA	1:07.31	1:09.17	2:16.48	8.11
3	16	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:07.63	1:09.04	2:16.67	9.33
4	7	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:07.26	1:09.46	2:16.72	9.65
5	2	297601	BRIGNONE Federica	1990	ITA	1:06.94	1:09.80	2:16.74	9.78
6	11	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:07.68	1:09.35	2:17.03	11.65
7	4	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:07.50	1:09.63	2:17.13	12.29
8	17	55590	SCHILD Marlies	1981	AUT	1:08.18	1:09.05	2:17.23	12.93
9	8	296259	MOELGG Manuela	1983	ITA	1:07.21	1:10.15	2:17.36	13.77
10	21	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	1:08.34	1:09.26	2:17.60	15.31
11	6	55838	ZETTEL Kathrin	1986	AUT	1:08.35	1:09.36	2:17.71	16.02
11	1	185140	POUTIAINEN Tanja	1980	FIN	1:07.29	1:10.42	2:17.71	16.02
13	30	196179	BERTRAND Marion	1984	FRA	1:08.28	1:09.53	2:17.81	16.66
14	31	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT	1:08.83	1:09.17	2:18.00	17.89
15	10	505760	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	1986	SWE	1:08.75	1:09.33	2:18.08	18.40
16	32	506399	HECTOR Sara	1992	SWE	1:08.99	1:09.11	2:18.10	18.53
16	22	296379	GIANESINI Giulia	1984	ITA	1:08.61	1:09.49	2:18.10	18.53
18	29	106825	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1988	CAN	1:08.87	1:09.27	2:18.14	18.79
19	24	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN	1:08.83	1:09.32	2:18.15	18.85
20	23	536481	SCHLEPER Sarah	1979	USA	1:09.02	1:09.55	2:18.57	21.55
21	15	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT	1:08.09	1:10.51	2:18.60	21.75
22	27	206355	DUERR Lena	1991	GER	1:08.98	1:09.85	2:18.83	23.23
23	33	705287	ZUZULOVA Veronika	1984	SVK	1:09.07	1:09.83	2:18.90	23.68
24	14	196725	BARIOZ Taina	1988	FRA	1:08.73	1:10.34	2:19.07	24.77
25	26	296509	CURTONI Irene	1985	ITA	1:09.31	1:09.85	2:19.16	25.35
26	20	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	1:09.27	1:09.97	2:19.24	25.86
27	12	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:08.79	1:10.53	2:19.32	26.38
28	47	155699	PAULATHOVA Katerina	1993	CZE	1:08.99	1:10.35	2:19.34	26.51
29	13	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:07.89	1:13.76	2:21.65	41.37
Did not qualify 1st run
	49	155431	MARKOVA Daniela	1985	CZE
	46	6535237	SHIFFRIN Mikaela	1995	USA
	45	705377	SAALOVA Kristina	1991	SVK
	44	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE
	43	297171	FANCHINI Sabrina	1988	ITA
	42	538573	ROSS Laurenne	1988	USA
	41	516280	HOLDENER Wendy	1993	SUI
	40	296476	ALFIERI Camilla	1985	ITA
	39	495065	RIENDA Maria Jose	1975	SPA
	38	206174	STABER Veronika	1987	GER
	37	196726	BARTHET Anne-Sophie	1988	FRA
	36	297195	HOFER Anna	1988	ITA
	35	55806	ALTACHER Margret	1986	AUT
	34	56032	SCHILD Bernadette	1990	AUT
	19	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI
Did not finish 2nd run
	25	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE
Did not finish 1st run
	48	385032	JELUSIC Ana	1986	CRO
	28	295435	GIUS Nicole	1980	ITA
	18	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI
	5	196928	WORLEY Tessa	1989	FRA