Tsavolion
01-22-2007, 01:36 PM
Record Fifth Straight Podium for Mancuso
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (Jan. 21) - Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) made it an historic five consecutive World Cup podiums - and three in 50 hours, finishing second Sunday in a foggy World Cup GS while teenager Megan McJames (Park City, UT) landed her first points in 28th place.
Karen Putzer of Italy won her eighth World Cup, but her first in four seasons, with a two-run time of 2:46.93. Mancuso finished in 2:47.34. It's the hottest streak by an American woman since March 1983 when Tamara McKinney, who holds the U.S. women's mark of 18 World Cup wins, had four podiums - including three wins - in five days. No other U.S. woman has been on the podium in five consecutive races.
McJames, the 2006 NorAm giant slalom champion who is racing this winter in her first World Cups, qualified out of the 41st start spot after losing a ski pole at the bottom of her first run; she finished with a total time of 2:52.76.
The first run saw nine women from beyond No. 40 start break into the top 30 and 11 women, a high number for GS, fail to finish. Jessica Kelley (Starksboro, VT) wound up 31st, one-hundredth of a second away from reaching second run when the "attack from the back" unrolled.
Coach: Mancuso "unbelievable"
"What Julia's doing right now is unbelievable," said Head Coach Patrick Riml. "The last two weekends she's had five podiums, won two races...in four different events [third in DH and first in super combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, then first in super G, second in downhill and GS in Cortina]. It's impressive; she's having fun right now and skiing unbelievably well, no matter what event. And she was the only one out of the top 10 today who skied in all three races in Cortina...plus the training run. That's a lot of skiing, and Julia's not only doing it, she's doing it at such a high level."
"My skiing's just feeling really comfortable," Mancuso explained. "It was tough in the first run because I hadn't trained GS so much, and of course, it was really foggy.
"But the snow was just awesome and the fog probably helped keep the snow cold. You always see only two gates. It wasn't that cold [0 C. for the first run, +4 C. for the second], at least it didn't feel that much colder...but conditions were perfect, a good race for girls at the back to get in there."
The GS was held on the same section of Cortina's Olympia delle Tofane course as the super G Friday (which Mancuso won) and the downhill Saturday (where she was second). "It was the same hill, but conditions were way better, the best conditions all week," she said. "In the fog, people got confused; there are some rolls and some spots, and people didn't handle it very well. ...Definitely, the visibility was a problem, but I think if you're skiing well, it didn't matter. The snow was so smooth...
"It was definitely a day to take advantage of skiing well - any [start] position was good because you could ski in there" to qualify for the final run.
Saturday, Mancuso said blue dye on the course left from two days of racing, made things "a little weird" and confusing, but there was no problem Sunday. "It wasn't as bad, maybe because I could see the next gate or two. In the downhill, there were some sections where I was 'Whoa, wait a minute, which way?' In GS, you know you have to make it around the next gate and if you can see it - and I could - it's not as confusing.
"And both course-sets were nice, more open. The first one was more turny at the top, then open in the middle, but both of them linked-up very nicely."
McJames stayed calm despite losing a pole
McJames, in only her third giant slalom, said she lost her pole when she came onto a pitch at the bottom. "There was just a blind turn and I came over the knoll and headed pretty straight for the next gate, so I had to adjust quickly. I made it past the gate...but my pole didn't," she said.
"The visibility, especially for the second run, was a little low, but the track was really good so you could still go for it." The 19-year-old was understandably pleased with her first World Cup points (three for 28th), but said it hadn't been a major issue for her. "It was something i wanted to do but there wasn't much pressure to do it," she said.
Chris Knight, women's GS/slalom head coach, wasn't surprised Mancuso had notched another top-3 finish "but it's surprising since she hasn't trained much GS. She's been doing so many other things. Her timing was a little off in the first run but she was still right in there, and then she was back to attacking on the second run.
Coach impressed by McJames' coolness
"Julia's a smart girl and she has a really good feeling for the snow, and she can adjust easily," he said. "And Megan held it in there even when she lost the pole maybe 10 gates from the end of the run. Some girls would lose it but she stayed focused right through the finish. She's a real competitor and it's good to have other girls getting results besides Julia and Lindsey" [Kildow - Vail, CO], who didn't race after crashing Saturday in DH. She was unhurt but a little sore for the GS, which is the least of her events.
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (Jan. 21) - Olympic giant slalom champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) made it an historic five consecutive World Cup podiums - and three in 50 hours, finishing second Sunday in a foggy World Cup GS while teenager Megan McJames (Park City, UT) landed her first points in 28th place.
Karen Putzer of Italy won her eighth World Cup, but her first in four seasons, with a two-run time of 2:46.93. Mancuso finished in 2:47.34. It's the hottest streak by an American woman since March 1983 when Tamara McKinney, who holds the U.S. women's mark of 18 World Cup wins, had four podiums - including three wins - in five days. No other U.S. woman has been on the podium in five consecutive races.
McJames, the 2006 NorAm giant slalom champion who is racing this winter in her first World Cups, qualified out of the 41st start spot after losing a ski pole at the bottom of her first run; she finished with a total time of 2:52.76.
The first run saw nine women from beyond No. 40 start break into the top 30 and 11 women, a high number for GS, fail to finish. Jessica Kelley (Starksboro, VT) wound up 31st, one-hundredth of a second away from reaching second run when the "attack from the back" unrolled.
Coach: Mancuso "unbelievable"
"What Julia's doing right now is unbelievable," said Head Coach Patrick Riml. "The last two weekends she's had five podiums, won two races...in four different events [third in DH and first in super combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, then first in super G, second in downhill and GS in Cortina]. It's impressive; she's having fun right now and skiing unbelievably well, no matter what event. And she was the only one out of the top 10 today who skied in all three races in Cortina...plus the training run. That's a lot of skiing, and Julia's not only doing it, she's doing it at such a high level."
"My skiing's just feeling really comfortable," Mancuso explained. "It was tough in the first run because I hadn't trained GS so much, and of course, it was really foggy.
"But the snow was just awesome and the fog probably helped keep the snow cold. You always see only two gates. It wasn't that cold [0 C. for the first run, +4 C. for the second], at least it didn't feel that much colder...but conditions were perfect, a good race for girls at the back to get in there."
The GS was held on the same section of Cortina's Olympia delle Tofane course as the super G Friday (which Mancuso won) and the downhill Saturday (where she was second). "It was the same hill, but conditions were way better, the best conditions all week," she said. "In the fog, people got confused; there are some rolls and some spots, and people didn't handle it very well. ...Definitely, the visibility was a problem, but I think if you're skiing well, it didn't matter. The snow was so smooth...
"It was definitely a day to take advantage of skiing well - any [start] position was good because you could ski in there" to qualify for the final run.
Saturday, Mancuso said blue dye on the course left from two days of racing, made things "a little weird" and confusing, but there was no problem Sunday. "It wasn't as bad, maybe because I could see the next gate or two. In the downhill, there were some sections where I was 'Whoa, wait a minute, which way?' In GS, you know you have to make it around the next gate and if you can see it - and I could - it's not as confusing.
"And both course-sets were nice, more open. The first one was more turny at the top, then open in the middle, but both of them linked-up very nicely."
McJames stayed calm despite losing a pole
McJames, in only her third giant slalom, said she lost her pole when she came onto a pitch at the bottom. "There was just a blind turn and I came over the knoll and headed pretty straight for the next gate, so I had to adjust quickly. I made it past the gate...but my pole didn't," she said.
"The visibility, especially for the second run, was a little low, but the track was really good so you could still go for it." The 19-year-old was understandably pleased with her first World Cup points (three for 28th), but said it hadn't been a major issue for her. "It was something i wanted to do but there wasn't much pressure to do it," she said.
Chris Knight, women's GS/slalom head coach, wasn't surprised Mancuso had notched another top-3 finish "but it's surprising since she hasn't trained much GS. She's been doing so many other things. Her timing was a little off in the first run but she was still right in there, and then she was back to attacking on the second run.
Coach impressed by McJames' coolness
"Julia's a smart girl and she has a really good feeling for the snow, and she can adjust easily," he said. "And Megan held it in there even when she lost the pole maybe 10 gates from the end of the run. Some girls would lose it but she stayed focused right through the finish. She's a real competitor and it's good to have other girls getting results besides Julia and Lindsey" [Kildow - Vail, CO], who didn't race after crashing Saturday in DH. She was unhurt but a little sore for the GS, which is the least of her events.