. world ski news : SG in Bormio - 30 January 2005 - 19:44
Paerson wins super-G gold medal
SANTA CATERINA VALFURVA, ( 30/01/2005 13:11 ) Italy (AP) _ Swede Anja Paerson validated her move into alpine skiing's speed events Sunday, winning the gold medal in the super-G at the world championships. Paerson, a technical specialist who only added the downhill and super-G disciplines to her program last season, held a tight tuck nearly the whole way down the 1,993-meter Deborah Compagnoni course to finish in one minute, 17.64 seconds. It was her first major international title in a speed race. "This is unbelievable. I really hadn't counted on it," said Paerson. "Before the race, the most I had speculated was a third place. I was so nervous at the start. I gave everything, risked everything.
"This year I fought so hard and trained so much, and it's finally paying off. That I am now the world champion is unbelievable." Home favorite Lucia Recchia gave host Italy its first medal, taking silver in 1:18.09. She made several mistakes on the upper part of the course, but made up time with a near-perfect performance on the final section. "Despite my mistakes, I had a good line," said Recchia. American Julia Mancuso claimed bronze in 1:18.40, aided by the unexpected disasters that later hit the field's super-G specialists. "Not perfect but I didn't make any mistakes as big as everyone else's," Mancuso said. "I thought it would be grippier but it was fast and I made some mistakes from that, going a little straighter than I wanted in some places." World Cup super-G leader Renate Goetschl lost a pole at the top of the hill and crossed 2.29 off the pace. Two other Austrians, Michaela Dorfmeister and Alexandra Meissnitzer, went off course, missing a gate entirely.
Hilde Gerg of Germany lived up to her nickname "Wilde Hilde," with a tumultuous run that left her 1.43 back. American Lindsey Kildow was ninth after several costly mistakes. She lost an edge in the top section and veered exceptionally wide on one gate midway down. Paerson said: "The steep rock slope, where Michaela and Alexandra went off course, was difficult, the curve comes so fast. I also had problems there." Three Italians finished in the top five with Nadia Fanchini fourth in 1:18.43 and Isolde Kostner fifth in 1:18.54. Paerson had won last season's overall World Cup largely on her dominance in the technical disciplines. She is also the defending slalom and giant slalom World Cup champion. She's won only two World Cup races so far this season, a slalom in Maribor earlier this month and the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden. [xt] ski