Women's Super G
After a slow season start in the speed events, the Austrian team struck back in the fourth super G of the season, taking the first two places and beating two top German skiers. This was Downhill World Champion Renate Goetschl's 11th World Cup win in her career. She beat teammate Tanja Schneider, who reached her first World Cup podium today, by 29/100 of a second.

	Goetschl

Regina Haeusl (GER), 2nd in the downhill on Saturday, came in 3rd in front of teammate Martina Ertl. Haeusl's strong confidence should now help her win a race soon — maybe next weekend in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where she captured the downhill in 1993.

The Overall World Cup leader, Michaela Dorfmeister, finished at a strong 6th place, which allowed her to remain in the lead of the standings ahead of Goetschl and Italy's Isolde Kostner, only 19th this time. Also back in the top-10 was Russia's Warwara Zelenskaja (8th) who is slowly coming back after badly injuring her knee after her outstanding 1997 season. Kristen Clark (USA) also scored a few points, reaching the 23rd position at 2.29 seconds from the leader. Americans Jona Mendes and Alison Powers took 35th and 45th, respectively.

"I was very focused before the race and I had an aggressive but also a very clean run this time. The snow was too cold and too dry for our equipment yesterday but today the course was much more grippy..." — Renate Goetschl (AUT)

Renate Goetschl's example should inspire many skiers. The Austrian, who was so dominant last season in downhill, had to fight hard in the past weeks to return at the top after some difficult moments which began at Lake Louise, where she skied out of the course. She was 2nd in St. Moritz but only 14th on Saturday.

Goetschl really enjoyed this brilliant comeback in front of her fans. "I felt bad yesterday after the downhill race, which I won in 1998, and I wanted to prove that I am still able to ski fast," she said after the race. "I was very focused before the race and I had an aggressive but also a very clean run this time. The snow was too cold and too dry for our equipment yesterday but today the course was much more grippy. It was possible for me to cruise perfectly in the turns.

	Schneider

"You appreciate such a win after waiting on it for a long time. I had a lot of success last winter and I always believed I will come back during the past weeks. There are still a lot of races to come and the World Cup just starts now for me." said Goetschl.

This win brought ahead of Isolde Kostner, who had another bad day, yet without any incident this time, in the super G standings. In 1997, Renate already clinched the downhill standings in the last race at Vail but she's aiming for more now.

"I know I have a strong chance in the Overall World Cup because I can ski among the top-5 in all the specialties but I first have to finish the races. I lost too many points in recent weeks, especially in the technical events. I want first to win a downhill before feeling really comfortable about the World Cup."

Next week, three races are scheduled in Italy's Cortina d'Ampezzo from Friday to Sunday: a downhill, a super G and a slalom.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com Correspondent