First downhill victory for Anja Paerson

Sansicario, Italy, Feb. 26th - Sweden's World Cup leader Anja Paerson achieved more than a dream today in winning her first downhill race only a day after her impressive triumph in Friday's Super-G. The 23-year-old skier from Taernaby beat by 24/100 of a second her main rival Janica Kostelic, the reigning downhill World Champion, while Germany's Hilde Gerg was 3rd at 98/100.

This amazing win, her 4th this winter and her 26th in total on the World Cup tour, allows her to increase her advance in the Overall standings which moved up to 83 points. Yet the most remarkable about this feat is that it puts her among the few great champions having won races in four events - downhill, slalom, giant slalom and Super-G. Only her former teammate Pernilla Wiberg and Austria's Petra Kronberger have excelled in five events - including the combined! Kronberger, a three-time Overall World Cup champion from 1990 to 1992, is the only champion having triumphed in all five specialties during the same season in 1991.

Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister was 4th , which puts her in 3rd place in the downhill standings still lead by her teammate Renate Goetschl, a disappointed 8th in that race. Goetschl, who clocked the 3rd best intermediate time, will have to fight until the last race in Lenzerheide to win her third downhill title. Gerg, Dorfmeister and USA's Lindsey Kildow, 7th to day, still have a chance to catch her at the Finals!

Julia Mancuso was an excellent 9th and Tina Mazè a surprising 11th - her best ever downhill result on the World Cup tour. Also very happy, Italy's Daniela Ceccarelli, the Super-G Olympic Champion from Salt Lake City, who lives in Sansicario. It's her best result this season. Isolde Kostner, 2nd in Friday's Super-G skied out in the upper part of the course while battling for another podium finish.

Paerson's dream

Anja Paerson was more than elate after her run when she found out that she established the fastest time at the end of her almost flawless run.
“This was a huge dream of mine that has come true,” she said afterwards. “To win a downhill has been my dream since being a kid because it's something really special. For a Swedish skier to win in downhill is a particular challenge and of course to win in all four disciplines in one season is a fantastic accomplishment,” she added. “I'm very proud to belong now to the small group of elite skiers having achieved this exploit.”

Anja's first Overall World Cup title was based on an impressive series of eleven victories in slalom and giant slalom but the Scandinavian explained at the post-race press conference that she had long been thinking about competing in all specialties in time for the 2006 Winter Games.
“In 2001, I sat down with our head coach Lasse Kjaellberg because there was one of his trainers who wanted me to start competing in the speed events yet I felt it was too soon,” she said. “I thought that maybe in Turin I will be ready to go for it in all five disciplines, so we launched a step-by-step plan on that basis. When I was child, I dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal in downhill!”

“Now, I am way ahead of our schedule - things went much faster and better than I thought after we re-organised our coaching system. We hired an excellent speed trainer, Stefan Kurz, who helps us to better understand what it takes to excel in the speed events. In downhill, there are so many important parameters which are so crucial - especially the tuck position or the material, including the poles. We worked hard and very efficiently last summer in Chile where we trained with the German team, and in Lake Louise I had a promising start in December. But I needed six more weeks before finding my best rhythm, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where I was 2nd in Super-G and 5th in downhill.”

Kostelic and Ger were pleased

Kostelic, the downhill World Champion in Santa Caterina, was pleased with her second podium finish in a World Cup downhill. “I'm happy with that performance because it is another sign of the consistency I have found in downhill this season,” she said. “I knew it would be tough and that Anja was very motivated after her win in Super-G. It's an exciting battle and I will do my best to beat her in combined on Sunday but this is going all the way down to finals, which is fantastic for the sport,” added the Croat who warmly congratulated Anja for her success after the race.

Gerg's 3rd place finish moved her just 32 points from downhill World Cup leader Renate Goetschl who lost much time in the final part of the course after a mistake. “It will be difficult but it's is a point difference that can be made up,” said the Bavarian who reached five podiums this winter.
Last winter, Gerg lost the title against Goetschl during the Finals in Sestriere. “Maybe I'll have more luck this time, I'll give my best because I have be aiming for a long time clinching the downhill World Cup crown.”

On Sunday, the first World Cup “Super-combined” will take place here - after a shorter downhill race, the skier will compete in a one-run slalom. The winner is the skier having clocked the lowest total time. It could be a decisive race for the 2005 Overall title!

Patrick Lang