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Home field advantage Austrians set for alpine championships
Updated: Sunday January 28, 2001 3:36 PM
ST. ANTON, Austria (AP) -- Dominant French racers are set Monday to steal the Austrians' thunder as the women's Super-G opens the World Alpine Ski Championships at this Austrian resort. Veteran racer Regine Cavagnoud is riding high after three wins and two seconds in the five Super-G World Cup races so far this year, while teammate Carole Montillet has performed consistently enough during the season to put her in contention. No one can doubt the 31-year-old Cavagnoud's courage and grit. She fought her way back from grim injuries last season to finish third in the overall World Cup. This year there seems to be no stopping her. "After my results in the World Cup races, only gold counts for me," she said. But in this Alpine resort close to the Swiss border, Austrian hopes for the first medals Monday ride on Renate Goetschl and Michaela Dorfmeister. Goetschl, 26, with a string of titles to her name, has been tussling with the young Croat sensation Janica Kostelic for the lead in the overall World Cup this year. Last year's overall winner will race with a heavy burden: the expectations of a ski-mad nation geared to settle for nothing less than podium places. "Naturally my target is a medal, that's why we are all here," said Goetschl. "I want to try to put in a perfect run, then everything is possible." The 26-year-old Dorfmeister, another experienced Austrian team member, is also no slouch between the Super-G poles. She won at Aspen, Colorado, in the season's opener, was second at Val d'Isere, France before Christmas and placed third before a home crowd at Haus im Ennstal in January. However, many Austrians are worried about the Super-G course. It was set by Italian Isolde Kostner's coach Valerio Ghirardi, who probably designed it to be fast in order to help his protege, who leads the rankings of the more rapid downhill event. Whether the Austrian women will be able to repeat their clean sweep of the medals in the Super-G at the last championships two years ago in Vail, Colorado, remains to be seen. Gold medalist Alexander Meissnitzer is struggling back from injuries and is not rated a medal hopeful. One racer who will make both the French and the Austrians nervous is Canadian Melanie Turgeon, whose two second places in the last two races put her firmly in contention. Meanwhile, this resort, steeped in alpine racing tradition, is electric on the eve of the first race. Bathed in sunshine and picture-postcard weather, final preparations were underway Sunday for the opening ceremony, a mix of high tech, alpine tradition, acrobats, fireworks and songs from well-known musicals. Once the celebration is over and the championships begin in earnest, Austrians -- from the country's president down -- will expect the home team to perform. Buoyed by the team's domination of the international racing circuit, the Austrians could make it a one-team championship -- if they can handle the pressures of competing at home and recover from a brutal selections process. Even before the event, competition for a slot on the team spearheaded by "Herminator" Hermann Maier has been ruthless, with places still being fiercely contested right up to the last minute in almost all disciplines. Austria's major weekend dailies were brimming with championships stories, underlining the importance of the event, which not only reflects alpine ski racing as the nation's number one sport, but its function in promoting winter tourism, ski manufacturing and equipment. Both are vital contributors to the Austrian economy. Here in the skiing heartland of a country that idolizes its ski champions, this small town of just 2,400 residents has invested heavily in the championships, even redirecting the railway line to better serve the town. As well as a major infrastructure upgrade, a four-year campaign of renovation and investment has left the resort scrubbed and sparkling for the invasion of visitors and the preprogrammed glory for a team expected to bring home the medals.
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