Haeusl in Pole Position After Downhill Training
Germany's Regina Haeusl, a winner here in 1993, seemed ready for another win on the challenging "Olympia Tofana" course where the last downhill prior to the Ski World Championships will take place on Thursday morning.

The 25-year-old racer, who was 2nd in a Super-G race here a year ago, skied faster than Italy's Isolde Kostner by 1/100 of a second, a four-time winner on this slope. Regine Cavagnoud from France was 3rd fastet at 12/100 in front of two Austrians, Alexandra Meissnitzer and Michaela Dorfmeister.

Swiss Corinne Rey-Bellet, the double winner at St. Anton last weekend, came 6th, Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg was 8th and Renate Goetschl, leader in the downhill World Cup standings, had the 11th fastest time.

Germany's Hilde Gerg, the winner in Veysonnaz and 3rd at St. Anton, only reached a far 24th place.

The last training run took place in perfect weather conditions and all the skiers were delighted to cruise on a excellent course.

"I had no problem at all today, the course is beautiful which makes it even more difficult for the favorites...It will be very important to have very well tuned skis..." — Alexandra Meissnitzer

Regina Haeusl, 3rd in one of the speed races in Canada's Lake Louise, would be happy with another place on the podium before flying to Vail next week. "It would be good for my confidence if I could conquer another spot on the podium here, but it will be tough," she said. "The course is not so challenging and you need to hit a perfect run to have a chance for a top-3 position. I'm very motivated because it's just great to be here".

Rey-Bellet, 4th here in a Super-G in 1998, Goescthl, an excellent glider, and Kostner are the other top-favorites for the victory.

Kostner, who has not won a race since her last success here last year, will charge with more determination than usual in front of her fans.

"I feel more motivated than usual when I compete in Italy," Kostner said. "The conditions are good for me, but I need to be more relaxed and confident than in the past races. A top-3 place would be great before the Worlds at Vail".

— Mountain Zone European Correspondent