Sejersted leads second Worlds downhill training, Mancuso second; Vonn takes it easy

Norwegian racer Lotte Smiseth Sejersted, who won the downhill at Junior Worlds nine days ago, suprised a lot of people including herself by taking the fastest time in today’s (Feb. 10) second downhill training run ahead of World Championship super combined and downhill events.

The 19-year old four-time Junior Worlds medalist and five-time World Cup scorer (all in the last two season) crossed the line of the rock hard Kandahar course in one minute, 49.55 seconds bumping American Julia Mancuso to the second spot on the results sheet after she held at the top through 23 racers. Mancuso, who opened the championships on Tuesday with a silver medal in the super G, was 0.59 seconds behind Sejersted.

“This is a pretty tiring downhill.Yesterday I made two really bad mistakes so today I just wanted to nail the line and make it smooth,” said Mancuso. “I think the conditions suit me here but the time difference is really tight. You’re going to have to be really mistake free to be fast and that’s only in the speed half. I also need to have a great run of slalom.”

Italians Elena Fanchini and Verena Stuffer were over a second back in third and fourth, respectively.

Attention was largely on several top skiers who either missed the first training yesterday or today’s.

Defending downhill world champion American Lindsey Vonn, who skipped yesterday’s training run in order to focus on recovering from a concussion she suffered a week ago, put the “training wheels” on as she skied down the nearly three-kilometer course in a long jacket and loose fitting free skiing pants. Vonn, together with husband and confidant Thomas, decided wearing the extra clothing, which slowed her down to a 46th-place finish (11.90 seconds behind the leader), would be an appropriate test as they decide whether she will compete in upcoming races. As of now, they have decided that she will compete in tomorrow’s super combined as a further test to see if the “cloudy head” symptoms that have plagued her as of late have cleared enough for Vonn to attempt to defend her downhill title on Sunday.

“I feel a lot better today. Yesterday I did basically nothing but sit in a dark room without stimulation, which is what the doctors told me to do,” said Vonn. “I woke up with no headache. I decided to do the training run with my clothes to slow things down for me. I was step in the right direction. My plan tomorrow is to go with my normal racing suit but the second I have a headache or focus problems I’m going to stop.”

“I had symptoms again after the super G, which means I’m not recovered yet,” continued Vonn, who said she felt like a “gomer” training in her jacket and pants. “I’m not going to take any chances, this is a dangerous downhill and if I don’t feel like I can focus than I’m not going to do it.”

Current overall World Cup leader and Vonn’s German pal Maria Reisch was absent from the hill today as she remains in bed with flu symptoms. Together with doctors, Riesch will decide if she is ready to race tomorrow in the morning.

“The program for Maria is that she is a little bit sick and so we have to find the right decision for the competition tomorrow, so we are not sure what is going on with her health,” said German Alpine Director Wolfgang Maier. “We have to wait to see how the medicine is working, and what shape she is in tomorrow morning. And tomorrow morning we decide whether or not she can ski in a competition.”

Austrian Elizabeth Goergl today returned to the hill where she won a gold medal in the super G two days ago after sitting yesterday’s run out to rest after a long Tuesday night of celebrating and media obligations.

“It was really tough. It’s really challenging course and it’s rough from the top to the bottom, you have to fight all the way down for every centimeter,” said Goergl. “I think i can do good on this hill again.”

American speed skier Chelsea Marshall flew home today after pulling out of worlds with a recurring back injury.

Image by Gepa

OFFICIAL RESULTS – SECOND TRAINING

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time
1	33	425880	SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth	1991	NOR	1:49.55
2	10	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:50.14
3	21	296472	FANCHINI Elena	1985	ITA	1:50.62
4	1	296431	STUFFER Verena	1984	ITA	1:50.74
5	9	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT	1:50.88
6	7	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT	1:51.04
7	5	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI	1:51.07
8	6	195983	ROLLAND Marion	1982	FRA	1:51.12
9	16	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:51.32
9	2	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA	1:51.32
11	4	515747	GISIN Dominique	1985	SUI	1:51.39
12	12	296008	MERIGHETTI Daniela	1981	ITA	1:51.46
13	18	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:51.53
14	3	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:51.59
15	19	538573	ROSS Laurenne	1988	USA	1:51.62
16	8	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA	1:51.75
17	26	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:51.95
18	23	537582	COOK Stacey	1984	USA	1:52.05
19	11	515806	KAMER Nadja	1986	SUI	1:52.08
20	34	297910	CURTONI Elena	1991	ITA	1:52.25
21	30	538305	SMITH Leanne	1987	USA	1:52.55
22	22	55970	SCHMIDHOFER Nicole	1989	AUT	1:52.58
23	29	296427	SCHNARF Johanna	1984	ITA	1:52.72
24	37	515997	FEIERABEND Denise	1989	SUI	1:52.76
25	31	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:52.88
26	32	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	1:52.96
27	20	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO	1:53.07
28	13	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:53.20
29	38	375018	COLETTI Alexandra	1983	MON	1:53.41
30	17	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI	1:53.55
31	41	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN	1:53.63
32	27	196968	BAILET Margot	1990	FRA	1:53.72
33	39	495763	JARDI Andrea	1990	SPA	1:53.87
34	28	196573	REVILLET Aurelie	1986	FRA	1:53.90
35	50	435210	GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka	1987	POL	1:56.22
36	40	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	1:56.28
37	35	155563	KRIZOVA Klara	1989	CZE	1:56.51
38	42	35089	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	1984	ARG	1:56.52
39	45	435245	CHRAPEK Karolina	1990	POL	1:56.97
40	44	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	1:57.40
41	51	245066	MIKLOS Edit	1988	HUN	1:57.64
42	43	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG	1:58.43
43	36	25096	GUTIERREZ Mireia	1988	AND	1:59.00
44	47	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN	2:00.62
45	48	155431	MARKOVA Daniela	1985	CZE	2:00.82
46	15	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	2:01.45
47	46	155503	KLICNAROVA Pavla	1988	CZE	2:02.52
48	49	695063	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	1989	UKR	2:04.40
49	25	55766	MADER Regina	1985	AUT	5:01.60
Did not start 1st run
		206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER
Did not finish 1st run
		297702	MARSAGLIA Francesca	1990	ITA