SG World Championship Results 2/6/7

[Ski]

MEN:

 

 

Patrick Staudacher stunned the world's best by blazing to Italy's first-ever men's super-G world title and winning the opening race at the Are world championships. Fritz Strobl took silver for Austria and Switzerland's Bruno Kernen claimed the bronze.

 

The 26-year-old Staudacher, competing in his first-ever world championship race, won the first gold medal of these worlds in a time of one minute and 14.30 seconds.

 

Strobl, a former downhill Olympic champion and last-minute selection for the Austrian power-team, finished just 0.32 seconds behind the Italian with Kernen a further 0.30 seconds back.

 

"This is a dream come true. It's madness," an emotional Staudacher told reporters at the bottom of the sun-soaked piste.

 

"The conditions today suited me perfectly. I was able to attack, to take risks, to ski aggressively and just let the skis go."

 

Staudacher - who started 12th on Tuesday - has never even finished on a World Cup podium.

 

His best career finish came earlier this season at Bormio with a sixth-place in the downhill and his best super-G showing was an eighth-place at Hinterstoder in December.

 

A policeman by trade and a part-time bassist with a Red Hot Chilli Peppers cover-band called Rockomon, Staudacher was one of the last men expected to become the first Italian to win a world championship medal in a speed discipline since Kristian Ghedina's downhill bronze in 1997.

 

Only Strobl seriously threatened to deny Staudacher the victory, with world number two Didier Cuche sharing the fourth spot with Austrian Christoph Gruber.

 

Strobl criticised the starting order, which he said placed the top racers at a disadvantage, although he was happy to get on the podium.

 

"It's a great relief. I had to work hard to convince everybody that I deserved to be at the start. The starting numbers were certainly a disadvantage for the top racers. The FIS (International Ski Federation) rules are not really fair."

 

With fast conditions on the piste after three days of blizzards, gale-force winds and fog plagued the outset of these world championships in Sweden, conditions seemed perfect for a risk-taker.

 

Only Strobl seriously threatened to deny Staudacher the victory, with world number two Didier Cuche sharing the fourth spot with Austrian Christoph Gruber.

 

Strobl criticised the starting order, which he said placed the top racers at a disadvantage, although he was happy to get on the podium.

 

"It's a great relief. I had to work hard to convince everybody that I deserved to be at the start. The starting numbers were certainly a disadvantage for the top racers. The FIS (International Ski Federation) rules are not really fair."

 

As always defending world champion Bode Miller was highly aggressive on the challenging Olympia course, but made several errors to drop outside of the top-20.

 

Austrian Olympic legend Hermann Maier - a silver medallist in the discipline last year at Turin's Olympic Games - also disappointed with a seventh-place finish.

 

"My disappointment is limited when I look at the surprising result," Maier said. "It would have been possible to win today even with a high starting bib but I did not take enough risks in some sections."

 

Italian favourite Peter Fill finished a full 1.01 seconds behind his compatriot to drop outside the top-ten in another surprise, while World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal was also outside the top-10 at 0.94 seconds behind Staudacher.

 

(Bode, btw, finished 24th)

 

 

WOMEN:

 

 

 

Anja Paerson successfully defended her super-G world championship title to the glee of the home-fans in Are, Sweden with a dominating performance in the opening women's race on Tuesday.

 

Without a victory for nearly a year, the 25-year-old negotiated a perilous Strecke course in one minute 18.85 seconds to equal Ingemar Stenmark's Swedish record of seven world championship medals.

 

"It was my dream for many years to win a world championship gold medal at home," Paerson, who has been off the pace since undergoing knee surgery last year, told reporters. "To do it straight away in the super-G is unbelievable."

 

Winner of the super-G two years ago in Bormio, Paerson was in complete control as she eclipsed Austrian speed queen and race favourite Renate Goetschl to take her fifth world gold.

 

World Cup leader Goetschl pulled out all the stops, almost losing balance several times on the treacherous jumps, but had to be content with third place just over half a second behind in 1:19.38. American Lindsey Kildow split them to take the silver medal in 1:19.17.

 

Despite being the most successful active female skier on the circuit with 44 World Cup victories, gold medals at world championships and Olympics have proved more elusive for the 31-year-old Goetschl.

 

"I can live with a bronze medal," said the Austrian, who has two golds from previous championships. "It was a difficult race, you had to be very aggressive and I had not expected that.

 

"That's probably why I made a few mistakes. With so many girls in great form, you can't do that if you want to win."

 

Kildow, who celebrated her first medal at a major championships, will be a big threat in the downhill at the weekend after her impressive performance in the opener.

 

"I'm so happy. This is my first world championship medal," said the 22-year-old. "I made a mistake in the middle section and that probably cost me victory."

 

While the earlier men's race produced a shock winner in Italy's Patrick Staudacher, the women's speed event, which was postponed on Sunday due to poor weather, provided more drama thanks to a course designed to test their nerve to the maximum.

 

Under clear blue skies and with temperatures as low as minus 18 degrees, several skiers failed to negotiate the sharp turns on a course that will also stage the downhill.

 

Italy's Nadia Fanchini was lucky to escape injury after a nasty looking crash that ended with her in the safety nets.

 

American Julia Mancuso was left puffing out her cheeks after one gravity-busting leap that had fans on the mountain and watching on the giant screen in the finish area gasping.

 

However, try as they might, nobody could match Paerson's mastery of the course that also witnessed her last victory in the downhill of the World Cup finals last March.

 

Paerson, who is skiing all five events here, will be defending her giant slalom title next Tuesday.