World Cup results (1/26-28)

[Ski]

Kildow shines, while Bode f*cks up twice:

 

 

 

American Lindsey Kildow won today's SG in Italy:

 

American Lindsey Kildow beat in-form Austrian Renate Goetschl to win a women's World Cup super-G race on Sunday.

 

Kildow's third win of the season, and her first in super-G, came with a superb run on the Fraiteve course used for last year's Winter Olympics.

 

Her time of one minute 30.06 seconds was 0.17 seconds ahead of overall Cup leader Goetschl, who won both Friday's super-G and Saturday's downhill here.

 

Austria's Christine Sponring had her second podium place in three days by finishing third, 0.29 seconds behind Kildow, in the final women's race before the world championships.

 

Kildow, whose Olympics were marred by a bad training crash, has had a patchy season with her seven podium places before Sunday matched by as many failures to finish races.

 

"This win is huge for me after my disappointing moments in the last weeks," the 22-year-old American told reporters, adding that she would go to the world championships in Are, Sweden, next weekend with her confidence high.

 

"I'm really excited because this is exactly what I needed before Are," said Kildow, who had two fourth places at the Bormio world championships two years ago.

 

"I'm really proud to have also won a super-G this winter, especially ahead of Renate who has been so dominating in that speciality," added Kildow, who won her first super-G in March last year.

 

Goetschl, who leads the super-G standings as well as the overall, notched up the 100th podium place of her career.

 

Her hopes of a third race win in as many days were dashed when she caught her left arm on a gate pole midway down the course.

 

"It twisted me a little and I lost some time getting my rhythm back," the 31-year-old former overall Cup champion told reporters.

 

"When you fight for hundredths of seconds such a problem can decide about winning or losing. I was aiming for the hat-trick today but this second place is fine too. It's also important for my chances to clinch the super-G World Cup trophy this year. There are still two races left so I have to be patient but it looks very good."

 

Goetschl leads the overall standings with 1,001 points, 85 ahead of team mate Marlies Schild, who finished just outside the points places on Sunday.

 

In the super-G competition, she has a lead of 130 points over Kildow with two races, carrying 200 points, to come.

 

 

In Kitzbuehel, unknown Swede has double-slalom win, while Bode DNF's both races:

 

 

After completing an astonishing Kitzbuehel slalom-double, Swede Jens Byggmark is looking ahead to next week's world championships on home snow.

 

With less than a week to go until the Swedish resort of Are hosts the world championships, Byggmark seems to have chosen the perfect moment to burst on to the international stage.

 

Despite his nervousness in front of the world's media, he said he would be totally composed once the championships got underway.

 

"Of course the expectations are going to be great now but I think we will see a great party in Are and I just think it's going to be a lot of fun."

 

The 21-year-old newcomer received plenty of attention after confirming Saturday's maiden triumph with a storming performance in Sunday's sequel.

 

Hailing from the same tiny town of Tarnaby that produced former slalom great Ingemar Stenmark and Olympic slalom champion Anja Paerson, Byggmark proved himself a talent in his own right with a gutsy performance in challenging conditions on Saturday.

 

Competing in his first full World Cup season and with just 15 previous senior races under his belt, the youngster then displayed impressive mental strength to put all the fuss behind him on Sunday and do it all over again.

 

"This victory is even more crazy and amazing than yesterday's," Byggmark said shortly after completing his double.

 

"I received so many phone calls yesterday evening I was really moved. Today I just wanted to get a good result but I never expected to win again."

 

Though not quite left speechless by his weekend heroics the Swede struggled to cope with the barrage of questions aimed at him during his two post-race media conferences.

 

"I don't know who I am right now," a giggling Byggmark said on Saturday when asked to describe himself and his interests.

 

He also had no idea how he had won the two races, what he would do with his prize money, what his hobbies were, why he started skiing, or how many hours' sleep he had got on Saturday night.

 

"I didn't sleep very much at all," Byggmark said, "but I didn't actually look at the clock."

 

One thing he did know was that he was not alone in his sleeplessness with his home town fans partying fiercely on his behalf.

 

"They celebrated in Tarnaby a lot I think -- because I got some phone calls from drunk people," Byggmark grinned. "Now I just hope everybody in Sweden has their eyes open for more."