MountainZone.com | 1998 Olympic Skiing: Women's Downhill and Super-G

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Women's Downhill and Super-G

Katja Seizinger

With Picabo Street's slow return from her knee injury, her old nemesis Katja Seizinger of Germany has to be the favorite for Olympic downhill and Super-G. Seizinger has lots of motivation. Street, the perennial champion did not win a title of any sort last season. Two years ago, she won the Downhill and Overall titles on the World Cup circuit.

And Seizinger has won several World, Olympic, and World Cup golds in her short, six-year, stint on the White Circus. She will probably dominate the World Cup again, but the Olympic downhill being a gliders course could hurt Katja's chances, since she excels in steep, technical races.

This means that current World Cup Downhill Champ Renate Goetchl could jump to the top of the podium; as could Russian Princess, Warwara Zelenskaya. Zelenskaya came up through the old Soviet sports system and has excelled in the past few seasons, especially on gliders courses; she had three staright victories late last season, including on the Olympic racetrack in Nagano.

The question will be her fitness. Big and strong, Zelenskaya rarely trains hard. If she can focus on her training and garner a few more podiums in the World Cup season, it could be a historic Russian gold.

Pernilla Wiberg

Long shots include Isolde Koestner of Italy, who is the favorite in Super-G. Her talent for winning races helped her win the World Title last season. Koestner's main competition in Super-G, both in the Olympics and in the season, will be Hilde Gerg, of Germany. Gerg, a protege of Seizinger, won the World Cup title last Spring, edging out her mentor in the process.

Look for Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden on the podium, too, in spite of pre-season knee damage. The defending Overall World Cup champ picked up five top-3 finishes in Super-G to add to her excellent slalom work.

— Eric Moffitt, Mountain Zone Correspondent