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Opportunity knocks Italy's Kostner looks to take the World Cup lead
Posted: Thursday December 16, 1999 12:14 PM
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) -- With the World Cup's newest darling sidelined by a knee injury, the biggest obstacle to regaining the overall World Cup lead has been removed for Italy's Isolde Kostner. A speed-specialist who already has victories in the downhill and super-G this season, Kostner plans to take full advantage of the weekend's twin downhills and super-G in an effort to replace 17-year-old Croatian Janica Kostelic atop the overall standings. "Some girls race in all four disciplines," Kostner said. "So it leaves me at a disadvantage. I have to do really well in the speed events if I want to get ahead." Kostelic suffered "a complex knee injury" in a training fall Thursday at St. Moritz. Race organizes said she will be out for the rest of the season. Kostner and Kostelic have been the principle occupants of the overall's top spot, though Austria's newest star, Michaela Dorfmeister, also has managed to hold the lead on a few occasions. Kostelic leads going to Friday's downhill, her victory in the slalom in Sestrieres on Sunday lifting her to a total of 420 points from 10 events. Following consecutive technical events, Kostner has slipped to third with 319 points, 23 behind Dorfmeister, a confirmed speed specialist who has shown more prowess in the technical giant slalom this season than the downhill or super-G. The weekend's races at the ritzy Swiss resort should give Kostner an opportunity not only to regain the lead, but also pad it, with Kostelic now out of the picture and Dorfmeister still trying to regain her form in the two disciplines. "My confidence is sky high," said Kostner, who won the season-opening downhill in Lake Louise, a super-G in Val d'Isere, and finished a solid third in a super-G in Canada. "I was surprised to find myself start the season so strongly because usually I start doing well in January," the 1996 and 1997 world super-G champion said. "My results prove to me I can do well in St. Moritz." The Italian, who has five career World Cup downhill victories, two in the super-G and has climbed the podium 31 times in both events, suddenly has re-emerged this season after a prolonged slump. Winless for almost two years, Kostner surged to the front of women's skiing this year, beginning with her triumph in the season-opening downhill. In contrast, despite two surprising victories and a third place in the giant slalom this season, Dorfmeister has been unable find the velocity which led her to a silver medal in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G at the World Championships in Vail last season. The 26-year-old Austrian - runner-up in the World Cup super-G standings and third in the downhill rankings last season -- this year finished a lackluster 11th place in a super-G in Val d'Isere and a distant 20th in another in Lake Louise. Dorfmeister, who has replaced injured reigning World Cup overall champion Alexandra Meissnitzer as the Austrian team leader, fared little better in the season's only downhill, placing 16th. "I think it might be my equipment and maybe my attitude, too," said Dorfmeister, the winner of the super-G in St. Moritz last year and runner-up in the downhill. "I think I haven't been aggressive enough and I haven't taken enough risks. "I'll have to fine-tune those disciplines in the races here to repeat my good results of last year." With Kostelic finished, Kostner's greatest worry this weekend is Germany's Hilde Gerg, runner-up behind theItalian in the Lake Louise downhill and second in both super-Gs. Having missed the victory all three times by an aggravating .10 seconds or under, Gerg is hungry. "For the moment Hilde Grg is my toughest opponent in the speed disciplines," said Kostner. "She is second behind me in both the downhill and super-G rankings. "There are other skiers I must be careful of, but I must keep my eye on her especially."
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