Women's Downhill
The outsiders obviously wanted to celebrate the last downhill prior to the World Cup Finals at Bormio — unknown Swiss skier, Corinne Imlig, won the first downhill of her career, making the best out of the long course that was in better condition for the late-starters of the race.

	Corinne Imlig

As the race went on, the 20-year-old racer, who wore bib #33, was informed by her trainers that the course was getting faster and she fought hard for a top-10 finish.

She clocked the fastest time of the day, beating the young German Petra Haltmayer by only 3/100 of a second and the leader in the Overall World Cup standings, Renate Goetschl, by 33/100. Goetschl tied for 3rd place with little-known Russian skier Olesja Alieva.

Goetschl, who is sure to clinch the super G World Cup title after the cancellation of yesterday's super G, is the only top favorite to reach an honorable position in today's surprising race.

Regina Haeusl, the leader in the downhill standings, came in 8th and Italy's Isolde Kostner, 10th. This is Haeusl's fifth 2nd-place finish in downhill this winter. These three racers will have to fight until the end for victory in this discipline. Haeusl is leading Goetschl by 36 points and Kostner by 42.

"I was able to remain very focused and I gave my best all along the run — but I was quite amazed when I saw the #1 light up next to my name after I finished my run. I couldn't believe it...." — Corinne Imlig (SUI)

Two US skiers finished among the top-15, Alison Powers was 12th and Kirsten Clark 14th. Caroline Lalive and Jonna Mendes also scored points, finishing 24th and 25th — the best US team result this winter in a downhill.

For almost an hour, things were quite "normal" in the finish area. Renate Goetschl was leading, in front of Regina Haeusl and Isolde Kostner — nothing too exciting. The journalists and TV stations were already doing their interviews — and Goetschl was not so happy about it. "Wait until the other skiers come down — the course will get faster," she said. But no one believed her.

Turns out, she gave everyone a good lesson. Starting in 26th position, Russia's Warwara Zelenskaja was the first to alert the leaders when she reached 3rd place. At the start, the trainers understood that the course was still holding well and that there was still more for the remaining competitors to reach for. Petra Haltmayer, starting 30th, fought hard, too. She improved Goetschl's mark by 33/100. But the real party was only about to start at that point.

Two thousand feet above the finish area, the racers got the news about the faster course and all were excited. One after the other, they all went for it, posting better times than usual. In fact, only four skiers from the first seed were able to remain among the top-15 in the end.

Corinne Imlig, who proved her talent three days prior by clocking the best training time, was also quite motivated when she propelled herself out of the start gate.

"Since I use the same brand of skis as Petra, I felt that I had a good card to play today. I was aiming for a top-10," explained the young Swiss, whose best result so far was a 20th place in a downhill in Italy's Santa Caterina.

"I was able to remain very focused and I gave my best all along the run — but I was quite amazed when I saw the #1 light up next to my name after I finished my run. I couldn't believe it."

Many other skiers, such Olesja Alieva, who started in 41st position, inched close to Imlig. But none could improve Imlig's best time; she celebrated her first triumph on the World Cup tour with her parents, who came up to watch the race.

	Haltmayer

But this win was no surprise for the Swiss downhill trainer, 1972 double Olympic Champion Marie-Therese Nadig, the only woman to coach a ski team at this level. She took good care of Imlig in past years, while training the younger Swiss athletes, and she was quite confident about her potential before the season. Nadig even convinced Imlig to take part in some typical Swiss female wrestling contests (in sawdust, not mud) last summer, in order to develop her fighting spirit and her aggressiveness. She finished 4th among 50 participants.

Finishing 12th today, Alison Powers achieved her best World Cup ranking this season. Last week she scored some points in Innsbruck, but now she is making great progress.

"It's just too bad that the season is already over," she said. "I started to find a good rhythm," she said. "I'm delighted with this result because it will help my ranking in the startlist. I knew about the fast course and I attacked as much as I could. This season-end has been quite good for me. Now I'm aiming for some strong results at the Nationals in Jackson Hole."

The next women's races will take place next weekend in Italy's Sestriere, where a slalom and a giant slalom are planned on Friday and Saturday.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com European Correspondent