Weekend warriors

American Clark, France's Montillet to battle for downhill

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain (AP) -- American skier Kirsten Clark and France's Carole Montillet battle this weekend for the leadership in World Cup downhill.

Clark and Montillet each have 245 points going into the races Saturday and Sunday -- the fifth and sixth of the season -- in this resort in southern Spain. Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister has 232 points and compatriot Renate Goetschl is in fourth with 218.

Two more races remain after this crucial weekend.

The races on the 3.5 kilometer (2.17 mile) Veleta course lost some of their glamor following the decision of the first- and second-ranked skiers in the World Cup overall standings --Janica Kostelic of Croatia and Italy's Karen Putzer, respectively -- to pull out of the races following the two-week World Championships in St. Moritz.

Kostelic is nursing a knee injury and Putzer needs rest.

Kostelic's more than 500-point lead over Putzer in the overall standings means there's no chance of her being toppled no matter the outcome in Sierra Nevada. Putzer, however, boasts a much slimmer edge over No. 3 Dorfmeister in the overalls and could see that advantage narrowed by Sunday.

Kostelic is seventh in the downhill standings, 131 points behind Clark and Montillet.

After two days of canceled training sessions, the sun finally shone and clear skies reigned over Europe's southernmost ski resort on Friday.

"There'll be training today, no question about it," said Mercedes Delgado, spokeswoman for the local organizing committee. "The course is now in perfect shape."

The unusual weekend of World Cup skiing in Spain is taking place at the site of the 1996 World Championships.

Wednesday and Thursday sessions were scrapped, throwing a doubt over the weekend's races after more than 50 centimeters (18 inches) of snow fell in storms and left part of the resort covered by two meters (6 1/2 feet) of snow.

The blizzard, whipped along by winds of some 100 kph (60 mph), buried race security nettings, fences and guide posts and left the course blanketed with a coating of snow too loose and soft for races.

Thirty-nine skiers from 10 nations will be competing in the two-race trial with Switzerland providing the most competitors with 10. The United States has sent five.

Besides Montillet, who won the second race in Canada's Lake Louise, and Dorfmeister who won the third in Lenzerheide in Switzerland, other favorites are Austria's Renate Goetschl who won in Italy and Germany's Hilde Gerg, who took the first downhill of the year.

 

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