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No longer a bridesmaid France's Cavagnoud wins super-G in home country
VAL D'ISERE, France (AP) -- Regine Cavagnoud won her first World Cup super-G of the season Wednesday after finishing runner-up twice in North America, and in the process appeared to have broken a curse against French women at this traditional ski resort. Cavagnoud completed the 2,140-meter (yard) Oreiller-Killy course in 1 minute, 28.72 seconds, a comfortable .47 ahead of her nearest rival Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria, the winner of the season's opening super-G in Aspen. Cavagnoud had finished runner-up in the super-G in Aspen, Colorado as well as in the one in Lake Louise in Alberta. "It was something important for me to win here," said Cavagnoud. "I was maybe a little hesitant in the North American races and here I decided to had to go all out and I did a very detailed, vigilant reconnaissance of the piste in training. "Everybody kept saying I was only able to win in Italy," said the Frenchwoman, who has won three World Cup races in Italy and one in the United States, but had never prevailed in her homeland before. "I was really looking for this win." The 30-year-old Cavagnoud put an end to a curse over French women in Val d'Isere, which stretched back almost three decades. Cavagnoud's victory marked the first time in 29 years that a Frenchwoman won a race at the historical resort, a yearly stop on the World Cup that traditionally marks the return of the ski circuit to European snow. The last time a French woman won here was in December 1971 when Jacqueline Rouvier clinched a downhill. Carole Montillet gave France another reason to celebrate, placing third in 1:29.26. "It's been a long time coming for us," said Cavagnoud. "It's also been a long time since there have been two French girls on the podium. We've broken a lot of 'curses' here today." The last time two French women landed on the podium together dates back to 1993 in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, when Carole Merle won a super-G and Cavagnoud placed third. Cavagnoud extended her lead atop the discipline standings to 260 points, and narrowed the gap behind Germany's Martina Ertl atop the World Cup overall standings. The German leads with 460 points, with Cavagnoud sitting second on 424. Dorfmeister is third with 296. American ace Picabo Street, meanwhile, made her long awaited comeback after a two-year injury layoff, though the reigning Olympic super-G champion finished out of the points in 34th place, 2.56 off the pace. Street, who was overwhelmed with emotion and cried in the finish area after her race, was joined in her comeback bid by two other veterans. The 1999 World Cup overall, super-G and giant slalom champion, Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria finished a respectable seventh in 1:29.89 and 1997 overall World Cup champion Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden crossed 23rd, 2.17 off the pace. "I was really choked up," said Street. "I had to lift my neck up because I was so choked up and I couldn't breath. I wanted to cry. "But now it's done. I'm not disappointed. My goal was simply to come back, race that first race." The 29-year-old Street, the silver medalist in the downhill at the 1994 Olympics, who also won the 1995 and 1996 World Cup downhill titles, saw her career brutally interrupted when she tore ligaments in her left knee in training after winning the downhill at the 1996 world championships ACL in Vail. She rebounded to win the Olympic super-G in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, but crashed a month later in Crans Montana, Switzerland, tearing her right ACL and shattering her left femur. After six operations to repair damage from that crash, it has taken more than two full years to recover.
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