First downhill win for Nadia Styger

Patrick Lang 23.02.2008 00:49 Uhr

After achieving a series of strong performances in Super-G in recent seasons, Switzerland’s Nadia Styger finally won her first downhill race today on the Whistler Mountain Olympic course where the first women competition of the week took place by cloudy weather.

Styger, starting in 11th position, beat by a mere hundredth of a second USA’s Lindsey Vonn while Julia Mancuso was 3rd at 27/100. Canada’s Britt Janyk, who lives here, was 4th ahead of Austria’s Renate Goetschl and Sweden’s Anja Paerson.

Italy’s Nadia Fanchini, the fastest in Wednesday’s training run, was 8th. Germany’s Maria Riesch crashed in the final part of the course while fighting for a podium finish, fortunately without hurting herself.

Thanks to her 2nd place, Vonn is assured to clinch her first downhill World Cup trophy – a goal she has been aiming for a long time. She has now an advance of 287 points on the defending champion Renate Goetschl with only two races left in the specialty.

The skier from Park City is also leading the Overall standings ahead of Austria Nicole Hosp, only 15th in that downhill. Riesch, 3rd with a delay of nearly two hundred points, may no longer be a serious threat for those two athletes in the coming weeks.

Styger’s long wait
A three-time winner in Super-G in the last four years, Styger has been looking for this victory since her debut on the World Cup tour. In fact, the 29-year-old veteran from the central part of Switzerland never managed to reach a podium in that specialty despite achieving promising performances in training.

Not later than two weeks ago, Styger was one of the fastest women in training at Sestriere yet she had to settle with a frustrating 5th place in the race afterwards. She wanted much more here and she did manage to achieve her potential while steaming down the technically demanding “Franz’s downhill” run.

“I felt confident after the two training runs here earlier this week and I was able to achieve the solid run I was expecting from me,” she explained afterwards. “I was surely lucky that Lindsey did that mistake in the last big right turn but I skied the way I wanted,” she added.

“To win a downhill has been a major goal for me, it’s the most prestigious speciality in my opinion and the team has been waiting for a long time for this victory,” also said Nadia.

The last Swiss downhiller to celebrate a World Cup win was her former teammate Corinne Rey-Bellet who won a downhill at Lenzerheide in March 2002. Rey-Bellet, a silver medallist in downhill at the 2003 FIS World Championships at St Moritz, was tragically gunned down by her husband two years ago in her parents’ home. He also killed himself afterwards as police tried to arrest him, leaving a young baby behind him.

“It surely is exciting to win on this course two years prior the Olympics,” Styger also told the press. “It’s very motivating for our team that has been struggling until this season. This course is very interesting and request much determination yet also precise skiing.”

Vonn’s mistake
Lindsey Vonn, on her way to her fourth downhill win this winter, failed to stay on the straightest line in the last tricky part of the course after clocking the fastest intermediate times.

The American went off course in the final high speed right turn situated prior the last jump, losing over half a second with that major mistake.

“I fought hard on the bumpy course and I went too wide in that last turn,” commented the skier from Minnesota after the race. “I was nervous prior my start, I wanted to nail the Crystal Cup here in North America but I didn’t ski as well as I was hoping at the bottom. The course was rough and pushed me out the best line.”

“It’s of course disappointing to lose that race and the extra twenty World Cup points by only a hundredth, but I first want to enjoy my success in the downhill standings. It has been my main objective since I wanted to become a top ski racer.”

“I remember meeting Picako Street nearby home in Minnesota when I was 9 years old. She came with her Crystal globe and her World Championships gold medal and I was pretty much impressed. She signed a poster for me that I still have at home. We met again when I made the team several years afterwards and she has always been nice and helpful to me.”

“She surely was a great inspiration for me and to get close to her with that first Crystal globe makes me really proud. Now I’ll do my best to also clinch the Overall title. Nicole Hosp is a great fighter but I have nothing to lose now after getting this first cup. I had a nice break at home last week and it should help me in the last week during the Finals at Bormio.”

A crucial Super-combined on Sunday
It was also a good day for Julia Mancuso who found back part of the form to reach her second downhill podium this season. It should boost her confidence for the last series of races in Europe. The skier from California is now in 6th place in the Overall standings not far from the podium.

On Sunday, the women will be fighting for more points in the Super-G/Slalom combined event planned here. The format should favour skiers as Hosp and Marlies Schild, an excellent 11th today in that downhill and help Riesch to get back on track after her frustrating crash.