The second run of the Aspen Winternational delivered a series of surprises. For starters, 19 year-old Frenchwoman Tessa Worley nabbed her first World Cup podium and win, for that matter. “Her story is interesting, because her dad is Australian. So her accent is funny—can’t quite figure that one out. But she’s a nice girl so I’m happy for her,” says American Lindsey Vonn.

Vonn, too, experienced a career first, placing fourth, which is her best GS finish to date. “It’s not so bad, fourth place—my personal best result in GS, especially after skiing one GS in one month and after an injury that could’ve put me out for the entire season. I’m really, really happy,” she says.

The weather skies dried up for the second run, but the conditions were still tough. First-run leader Denise Karbon experienced that toughness first-hand, and fell before she reached the finish, which moved her down to 15th place.

“It was rough and you really had to fight all the way down,” Vonn says. “I was able to hold a good line at the bottom where others couldn’t. I think conditioning plays a huge role.”

The other American women fared well, too, in spite of the tricky course. Julia Mancuso finished 7th, and was pleased with her run. “It was actually difficult, because there was a course slipper who fell right in front of me and I got distracted. But I made the top ten, so I’m psyched. I needed a little bit of a confidence booster,” Mancuso says.

Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola was slightly frustrated with her 13th place finish, because an old back injury resurfaced and plagued her with pain at every turn. “I had a few bad falls in training in Finland, so that sort of set it off,” Schleper de Gaxiola says. “But I’m going to stay in the present moment, and get psyched for tomorrow.”

Megan McJames rounded out the American second-run contingent, finishing 25th. ‘It was a challenging ride, and it got a little tough in the middle section, but I think it was like that for everyone. So, I did my best,” she says.

Considering the tricky conditions and 18 dnf’s today, the North American opening World Cup was a success. Finnish star Tanja Poutiainen and Austrian Elisabeth Goergl rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.

Here’s hoping tomorrow brings an American sweep. With their strong performances today, a red, white and blue podium could be a strong possibility.

By Lara Rosenbaum    
Saturday, 29 November 2008 
skiracing.com

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