6th gold medal for Janica Kostelic

Santa Caterina, Feb. 4th - The women's combined turned out to be as spectacular and thrilling as expected. After another tough battle against Sweden's Anja Paerson during the entire day, Janica Kostelic celebrated her sixth gold medal at the end of a very exciting combined event raced on the “Deborah Compagnoni” course in Santa Caterina. Thanks to an outstanding second slalom run, the skier from Zagreb beat Anja by an amazing margin of 1,45 seconds while Austria's Marlies Schild was 3rd at 2,70 seconds.

It's Janica's third consecutive triumph in a combined since the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City - but certainly her most perfect with best times in both specialties. First she dominated the downhill then the slalom.
The skier from Zagreb is the first skier to have achieved this performance since the re-introduction of the classic alpine combined into the program of the FIS Medal Events in 1982!

She showed much emotion after the race while answering tons of interviews with the international broadcasters and the Croatian Media. “This is certainly a very special win for me,” she said. “To clinch the title with best times in both parts of the competition is fantastic, it means a lot to me. But I'm also very proud to have achieved this goal looking back to what happened to me since last year. Last summer, I was very far from believing that something like this could happen! It's really big.”
“I had other things in my mind which I had to care about. Ski racing was not my priority at that moment, but I never thought to quit!”

An almost perfect downhill

“I skied a very strong downhill, it was almost perfect. The course was really challenging and I felt very comfortable. I knew that Anja will fight hard for the title in both slalom runs, but I felt solid. I knew that a good downhill was crucial to have a good chance to retain the title. I tried to push hard and it worked out well.”
“My first run was so-so, nothing special yet I didn't lose too much time on her, so I was pretty pleased because I was tired before the start of the slalom.”
“I spoke with Ivica before the second slalom run and he gave me some important advices. During the inspection of the second run, I immediately saw that the course was perfect for me, because the setting was narrower. I better suited my style. I could attack it well, especially in the lower part. I was so happy to cross the finish line, because I felt so tired. Finally the day was over!”

“In fact, between the runs, I talked about this with Anja who told me that she was hoping to stay in her bed during the entire day tomorrow! It was fun to chat with her.”

Ivica skied with Janica

In contrary to Anja, Janica has already decided to compete in Sunday's downhill race here. “It's a demanding course and there are a lot of skiers who can aim to reach the podium,” she explained. “I'll of course try my best as usual and then we shall see what can happen. I'm really happy each time I can compete in a speed event. It's an exciting specialty - even if anything can happen on race day.”

Janica also explained to the journalists that she wrote again the name of her brother on her fingernails to share her day with her. “Ivica and I are very close and even if he is not next to me, he is with me in my heart!”

During the post-race press conference, Janica mentioned again her great disappointment from Zagreb where she failed to end her first run. “Everybody is trying to help me forgetting this sad moment. It was very difficult for me because the race meant a lot to me. So many people help to put this race on the map and so many spectators came to the slope to watch me…”

“This medal can't make me forget what took place that evening. It's totally different for me, the two things are totally separate in my mind.”
After this fabulous competition, the 2005 Worlds really start for Janica who will fight for more success in the next ten days.

Anja tried her best

Anja Paerson fairly admitted Janica's superiority after the competition.
“I definitely tried my best today, I attacked hard but Janica was just better,” she said. “I didn't ski the downhill as well as I hoped and at that point it became more difficult for me. But don't forget that this is my very first combined event so at the end of the day, I'm pleased by my performance. This is my seventh medal since 2001!”

“Now I'll see how I feel tomorrow before I decide to compete or not in Sunday's downhill. It's a tough course, so you have to be totally fit and focused to master all its difficulties.”

While Marlies Schild, only 19th in the downhill portion of the combined, was delighted by her second World Championships medal - she was 2nd in slalom in 2003 - after achieving two strong slalom runs, USA's Lindsey Kildow was very upset. “I didn't grab my chances today, I should have been faster in the downhill,” she said. “But I was also unlucky in the first slalom run in which I fell just before crossing the finish line. I fought hard in the second run, but it was not enough. I don't know now when I will be able to get this medal here.”

Lindsey was surely unlucky since the beginnings of these World Chanpionships. In the Super-G, she never found her best rhythm as finished far behind the podium, and then she suffered a bad crash in her first downhill practise run. She will need to work on herself to find back all her momentum in time for a great run on Sunday.

Patrick Lang