Maze amazes ski world with first Slovenian downhill win

Manuèle Lang 02.02.2008 17:16 Uhr

Tina Maze took advantage of changing weather conditions to come from behind and become the first Slovenian woman to win a World Cup downhill on Saturday in the sixth downhill race of the present season. The best result by a Slovenian woman in a downhill was 6th by Alenka Dovzan in 1994.

Starting with number 47 as weather was clearing-up, Maze, a winner in giant slalom on that slope a few years ago, clocked the fastest time more than an hour after the favourites had completed their course and as part of the crowd had left the scene. It’s the highest bib number for a downhill winner on the women’s World Cup tour since 1967.

She beat by 34/100 of a second Austria’s Maria Holaus, who believed to have won that race for a long time. Switzerland’s newcomer Lara Gut, only racing in her second World Cup event, was 3 rd at 35/100 despite crashing while approaching the finish line.

Canada’s Emily Brydon was 4th and Lindsey Vonn 5th. The leader in the downhill standings nearly crashed at the middle of her run after clearly clocking the fastest intermediate time. Renate Goetschl was a far 14 th as Nicole Hosp, the actual leader in the Overall World Cup standings.

Sweden’s Anja Paerson, a two-time winner here last month, skied out in the upper part of the course. USA’s Julia Mancuso, skiing by low visibility, came in a distant 25th.

A lucky slope for Maze
So far, the 24-old never made the top-10 in downhill – her 11th place in Sansicario at the 2005 pre-Olympics in Italy was a best result in the discipline.

Maze, a five-time winner in giant slalom so far, had already achieved a similar result in Altenmarkt in 2004, when she finished 3rd in a Super-G started with number 66.

St Moritz is a resort that suits her well as she won a giant slalom on the same slope in 2004 and finished 2nd in a Super-G in 2006. Hampered by injury and personal problems in recent winters, she had not won a World Cup race for two and a half years.

This winter, she could not race for almost a month in December because of strong pains at her back because of a injured disc. Yet she regains confidence thanks to some promising results in recent weeks.

“It was a day of surprises for everybody and especially for me, ” said Maze with tears in her eyes. “I was feeling in training that I was doing better in speed events, but to go for victory, especially in a downhill, looked a long way away. I’m really proud to be the first Slovenian woman to win a downhill. Especially because it was not an easy season, but I never lost hope. I hope it will help me regaining momentum for the final part of the season.”

The changing conditions of snow and visibility played with the nerves of both skiers and spectators. Before Maze stole the show, Swiss prodigy Lara Gut, 16, had almost caused the major sensation of the day, finishing 0.01 behind Austrian leader Maria Holaus for her first downhill race at such level.

Gut, who won a series of Europa-Cup races this month, crashed and tumbled across the finish line to reach her first ever World Cup podium. Her performance reminds the great days of another Swiss prodigy from Ticino, the southern, Italian-speaking-part of Switzerland, Michela Figini.

Figini was only 17 in 1984 when she clinched the Olympic gold medal in downhill at the Sarajevo Games. A year later she also won the downhill at the Bormio FIS World Championships as well as the Overall World Cup title.

“Crashing is a rather special way to climb on the podium, next time, I ’ll try to finish on my skis,” said Gut, who also started with a high number, long after the favourites had finished. “I really didn’t expect such a result, I’m more than happy,” she added.

Maze’s astounding victory prevented Holaus, winner of a Super-G last month in Cortina d’Ampezzo, from handing Austria its first victory this season in a downhill.

American Lindsey Vonn, winner of three of the six downhills held this winter, grabbed 5th place in spite of two huge mistakes halfway down. Vonn was leading by more than a second at half-mark when she literally flew off the ideal line and nearly crashed. Her experience and technique helped her limit the damage.

The race was long in jeopardy because of snowfalls and some of the favourites were evidently hampered by the changing visibility conditions. Winner of both a downhill and a Super-G held in the luxury Swiss resort in December, Sweden’s Anja Paerson, was not so fortunate this time, missing a gate halfway down.

A Super-G is scheduled in St Moritz on Sunday.