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"I was angry today. I wanted to show that I can ski faster than I did in training." — Renate Goetschl

"I was angry today. I wanted to show that I can ski faster than I did in training," said Goetschl at the finish line. "I knew that I had a good pair of skis for this race and I took many risks to improve my position. It’s great to start the season that way —in the past I often had to wait several weeks before finding my best rhythm."

Goetschl, the World Cup downhill champion in 1997, placed third a year ago in Lake Louise and has won five World Cup races in four events: downhill, super-G, slalom and combined, since her debut in 1993. In 1997 she won the gold medal in the combined in Sestriere, but only placed fifth in super-G in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where she also crashed in downhill. This was a great disappointment for her after a very consistent season in that specialty. Goetschl was motivated today after her rival Meissnizter’s great season start in Sölden, Austria, and Park City, Utah.

But her teammate was more than happy about her third-place finish— Meissnitzer's best finish in a downhill since the race in Altenmarkt which was won by Goetschl last January.

"It’s another important mark for me" Meissnitzer said. "It’s important for my moral to know that I can also ski fast in downhill. This result also reinforced my confidence in my new skis."

Second-place Kostner, similar to Goetschl in that she needs the pressure of race-day to excel, showed fierce concentration for the race after a discrete first practice run. The reigning super-G World liked this course on which she placed third last year. Her goal this winter is to be more consistent than last season. Martina Ertl (GER) achieved her best result in a World Cup downhill, taking fourth place only .016 out of the podium. This result helped her rise a few places in the Overall World Cup standings, in which she is now second behind Meissnizter.

Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg and Croatia’s Janica Kostelic both had a tough day finishing far behind and not scoring any points in this event. Regina Haeusl (GER) and Regine Cavagnoud (FRA), who had dominated the training runs earlier this week, placed 7th and 8th. Megan Gerety (USA) missed a spot among the top-10 by .016 in 11th. Two other US skiers scored points: Kathleen Monahan, 23rd, and Jonna Mendes, 26th.

The Swiss had a tough day with only one racer scoring points — Corinne Rey Bellet, who finished 22nd.