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CORTINA
D'AMPEZZO, Italy Former overall World Cup champion Renate Goetschl
won a super-G race Friday for her first victory since a severe knee
injury in March. Goetschl's run of one minute, 16.95 seconds was
0.26 seconds faster than fellow Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer.
Melanie Turgeon of Canada was third, 0.28 seconds back. Goetschl,
who won the overall title three years ago, had not won since a
downhill in Aare, Sweden last February. She was second in a super-G
held Wednesday at this northeastern Italian resort.
Her completion of the tough Olimpia Tofane course came 10 months
being injured in a fall during a downhill at Lenzerheide nearly a
year ago. Goetschl, who had won more than 20 races before the
injury, said she never thought twice about making a comeback.
"Lying in bed the day after the injury, I never thought I would
quit," she said. "It was a new challenge. I wanted it because I like
the sport so much." After the injury, which included torn tendons
and ligaments, Goetschl completed four months of physical therapy.
She started to ski again in August and began gate training in
September. She then had another slight knee problem and stopped for
three more weeks before resuming training. Her third-place finish in
a downhill at Lake Louise in December was her first podium finish
since the injury. Despite the victory, Goetschl said she still feels
the effects of the injury and hasn't regained her best form.
"I worked very hard to return, I had confidence in my doctor," she
said. "But I didn't expect to win today." Many of Goetschl's
competitors had trouble with the 1.85-kilometer-long (1.15-mile)
layout and did not finish their runs, including Italy's Isolde
Kostner and Austrian Michaela Dorfmeister. "It was a very tough
course setting," Goetschl said. "You had to ski nearly perfectly."
Overall World Cup leader Janica Kostelic, whose father and coach
Ante Kostelic set the course, came in fifth, while France's Carole
Montillet, who won Wednesday's super-G, finished ninth. Montillet
maintained her lead in the super-G standings and Goetschl jumped
from eighth to third position. In the overall standings, Goetschl
moved up four spots to 10th position. Kostelic still has a massive
lead in the overall standings. She leads Italy's Karen Putzer, who
finished fourth Friday, by nearly 500 points. Four Americans
finished in the top 20, led by Jonna Mendes' eighth-place result.
"A top 10 finish is huge," said Mendes, whose previous best result
in the super-G was ninth. Friday's race was one of the last on the
circuit before the world championships in St. Moritz begin early
next month. The schedule in Cortina seems like a mini world
championship, with four races on the program. Besides the two
super-G's, a downhill Saturday and a giant slalom Sunday are
scheduled for the Tofane, which was used for the 1956 Olympics.
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