Kathrin Hoelzl of Germany won a women's World Cup giant slalom on Monday after overall champion Lindsey Vonn hurt her arm in a crash on the opening run.
Hoelzl led after the first run and posted a combined time of 2 minutes, 16.61 seconds to edge Manuela Moelgg of Italy by 0.05 seconds. Taina Barioz of France took third, 0.11 behind Hoelzl.
Vonn feared she had broken her arm but tests showed she had suffered only swelling and the American should be fit to start Tuesday's slalom.
Hoelzl, who won the GS world title at Val d'Isere in February, held off a brave challenge by Moelgg, who had the fastest second-run time.
"I am very relieved after it was so close in the end," Hoelzl said, following her second World Cup victory after winning in Aspen, Colorado, in November. "Val d'Isere has given me a lot of confidence. I am skiing really well but only think about the next race, not yet about the Olympics."
Vonn lost her balance on a bump after a sharp left turn and fell backwards, hitting a gate and losing a ski. After staying down for almost 10 minutes and receiving first aid, she stood up, put her skis back on and went down the hill with her arm in a sling.
Maria Riesch, who is the closest challenger to Vonn in the overall standings, went immediately after the American and was distracted by the crash of her close friend. The German skier missed a gate on the middle section of the partly icy Schlossberg course.
"It's hard to stay focused and keep your concentration during such a break," said Riesch.
"But it wasn't the main reason for my mistake. It's more down to my lack of self-confidence in GS at the moment."
Vonn stayed top of the overall table on 581 points, with Riesch in second place on 531.
Austria's Kathrin Zettel, who led the GS standings going into the race but was overtaken by Hoelzl, was 0.95 seconds behind the German after skiing off-course in her first run and finished fifth.
Hoelzl now has 281 points in the discipline, while Zettel is second with 265.
Zettel hurt her right knee in training on Saturday and only decided to race at the last minute.
Olympic GS champion Julia Mancuso, who finished second at Lienz two years ago, did not qualify for the second run. The American hit a gate and came almost to a standstill before finishing more than five seconds behind Hoelzl.
No comments:
Post a Comment