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Mancuso boosts bid for World Cup title
2007-03-03
Julia Mancuso won a downhill Saturday, moving closer to her ultimate goal of winning the overall World Cup title, and Renate Goetschl finished second to take the season's discipline title. Mancuso skied the 1.9-mile Prampero course in 1 minute, 52.67 seconds for her fourth win of the season. Goetschl, who injured both knees in a training crash Thursday and skipped Friday's super-combi, was 0.17 seconds behind, and Emily Brydon of Canada was third, 0.21 back. Marlies Schild finished seventh and retained a slim lead in the overall standings with 1,148 points, while Mancuso moved up to second with 1,139. Nicole Hosp dropped to third with 1,103 after finishing 17th, and Goetschl is fourth with 1,099. Mancuso won the giant slalom at last year's Turin Olympics, but never had won a World Cup race entering this season. "I'm psyched. I just started winning races this year, so it's awesome," Mancuso said. "I always have good races in Italy." Goetschl clinched the downhill title with one race to spare. She has 605 points, while Mancuso is second with 491. Wins are worth 100 points each, so Goetschl has an insurmountable lead. "She felt pain, but she knew she needed a result right behind Mancuso to win the cup," said Austrian Alpine director Hans Pum. "You could see it in her eyes how focused she was." It's the fifth downhill title of Goetschl's career, matching fellow Austrian Franz Klammer for the record. "Franz Klammer is a legend and I also know him," Goetschl said. "Whenever you hear the name Franz Klammer you think downhill, and I've always thought downhill, also." Goetschl added that she will extend her career at least one more season to try to break the record. "She's the speed queen," Pum said. "I think she's the greatest now." Goetschl also has wrapped up this season's super-giant slalom title, while Schild has clinched the slalom and super-combi cups. The only discipline title still up for grabs is giant slalom, with Hosp leading the standings. While the Austrians could sweep the small crystal globes, Mancuso has her eyes set on the large crystal overall trophy. "It takes a lot of races. I'm trying to concentrate on one race at a time," said Mancuso, who also won the silver medal in combined at last month's world championships. Swiss skier Tamara Wolf, the second racer out of the starting gate, had a scary crash and was airlifted to a local hospital. The race was halted for 25 minutes. Mancuso watched Wolf's crash on TV and did some free skiing before her run to clear her mind. "It was so bad, but it always looks worse on TV," Mancuso said. "You can't think about it. It's skiing, and life. Unlucky things happen."
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