France's Ingrid Jacquemod upstaged the favorites Friday to win a downhill for the first World Cup victory in her nine-year career.
The race was originally scheduled for Jacquemod's hometown of Val d'Isere but moved to the site of the upcoming world championships due to a blizzard at the French resort last month.
PHOTO: AFP
"Maybe it was better that they moved the races from Val d'Isere," said Jacquemod, who wears the name of her hometown on her helmet.
PHOTO: EPA
The 26-year-old covered the newly inaugurated Deborah Compagnoni course in 1 minute, 40.29 seconds.
Defending downhill World Cup champion Renate Goetschl of Austria, still seeking her first victory this season, finished second, a narrow 0.11 seconds behind.
"That's sports, what can I do?" Goetschl said of her winless streak. "You can't always win."
Another Frenchwoman, Carole Montillet-Carles, took third, just 0.12 seconds back.
"It's great to have two French skiers on the podium," Jacquemod said.
Lindsey Kildow of the US finished fourth, 0.44 seconds behind, and kept her lead atop the downhill standings.
Kildow said she suffered from a stomach illness.
``Fourth is OK. I'm still leading the standings, but coming in fourth is like being the first loser,'' Kildow said of missing the podium by one place.
Michaela Dorfmeister, winner of Thursday's downhill here, finished a disappointing 16th.
The worlds will be held at Santa Caterina -- and nearby Bormio for the men's races -- from Jan. 28 to Feb. 13.
Croatia's Janica Kostelic, who specializes in the more technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom, improved on her seventh-place finish Thursday by coming in fifth.
Kostelic's performance moved her closer to leader Tanja Poutiainen of Finland in the overall World Cup standings.
Poutiainen, who does not compete in downhill, now holds a slim 626-604 lead on Kostelic, the two-time overall champion.
"I'm really excited for the worlds. For me, it's never important to gain points. It's important to gain confidence," said the often ill or injured Kostelic, who missed all of last season.
Defending overall winner Anja Paerson of Sweden sits third overall with 539 points. After finishing 30th Thursday, Paerson chose not to race Friday and concentrate instead on a giant slalom and slalom scheduled for the Compagnoni course on Saturday and Sunday.
"I think it's a pretty smart decision," Kostelic said. "She's had a tougher time since she started racing all four [disciplines] and I think she's lost a bit."
Jacquemod had achieved only one podium finish before in her career, a second in a downhill in Lillehammer, Norway in March, 2003.
Her best previous finish this season was ninth in a super-G in Lake Louise, Canada on Dec. 5. She came in 14th here Thursday.
"Yesterday I was very nervous. Today I was able to go all out and I skied a much straighter line," Jacquemod said.
Biathlon
Germany's Sven Fischer used perfect shooting and the backing of a home crowd to win a World Cup biathlon sprint race Friday.
The 33-year-old German, who didn't miss a target despite gusting winds, finished the 10-kilometer event in 27 minutes, 17. 3 seconds, capturing the 29th World Cup victory of his career. He was followed by Norwegians Forde Andresen, 19.6 seconds back, and Egil Gjelland, 26.8 behind.
Fischer took the lead after his second round of shooting, but didn't know he was leading because of the cheers of 14,000 spectators lining the course where he usually trains.
"I didn't hear the times because the spectators were far too loud, they cheered the whole way up the mountain," Fischer said. "I got goose pimples."
France's Raphael Poiree finished sixth, 44.2 seconds behind, but retained his lead in the overall standings with 376 points from nine races to Fischer's 334. Norway's Stian Eckhoff is third with 286.
Fischer donated his prize money of 9,000 euros (US$11,900) to an organization that helps children in need worldwide.
Cross Country
World Cup leader Marit Bjoergen won her sixth race of the season yesterday, taking home the 10km classic in Otepaa before fellow Norwegian Hilde G. Pedersen.
Bjoergen was more than 10 seconds ahead of the competition, clocking a time of 27 minutes, 20.2 seconds.
Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic finished third, with a time of 27:49.2.
Estonian Kristina Smigun, who is in second place in the overall standings, had to settle for sixth place despite support from the home crowd.
"I had very good skis, but I was also carried by the crowd here, because I was really close to Kristina Smigun the whole time," Bjoergen said.
With the win, Bjoergen extended her overall lead in the
World Cup to 230 points. Bjoergen has 710 points, while Smigun has 480.
Snowboard
World Cup defending champion Siegfried Grabner of Austria won the men's World Cup snowboard parallel slalom event on Friday while Daniela Meuli led a Swiss clean sweep in the women's races at Tuutari Park near St. Petersburg.
Grabner defeated world champion Dejan Kosir of Slovenia in the finals for his first title this season.
The 2002 Olympic champion, Phillip Schoch of Switzerland, who leads the World Cup parallel slalom standings after winning three of five events, came third after losing the second semifinal run to Kosir in the last few meters of the course. He edged Nicolas Huet of France to secure his leader's yellow jersey.
Grabner scored the fastest time of the day with 24.71 seconds in qualification.
In the women's event, defending World Cup champion Meuli beat compatriot Ursula Bruhin in the final for her second parallel slalom victory of the season.
Two-time world champion Bruhin, who leads the parallel slalom standings after two first and two second-place finishes, was ahead in the second final run but fell with two turns left.
The World Cup continues today with the men's Big Air event in Moscow.
French skier Antoine Deneriaz tore knee ligaments in a downhill crash Friday and will be out for the rest of the season.
Deneriaz was airlifted to a hospital after falling in a training run for Saturday's World Cup downhill.
He was diagnosed with a strained medial collateral ligament and torn anterior lateral ligament in his left knee, team officials said.
Deneriaz will travel to Lyon early next week for an MRI to determine the extent of the tear.
"His season is over," said the head of France's men's team, Gilles Brenier. "We all know the price of a torn ACL. He'll likely start training again in July."
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