Women's Super G
Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister celebrated her first super G victory of the season today, rediscovering her touch in the speed events just when she needed it most. In only one month from now, the World Cup finals will begin in Bormio, Italy, and the top contenders can't afford to miss good opportunities to score points.

	Dorfmeister

One of the best skiers in this event, the Olympic runner-up from the Nagano Games had been struggling in super G, while excelling in giant slalom. Undisturbed by the morning-long snowfall, the 26-year-old Austrian charged with great determination through the blizzard to beat France's Régine Cavagnoud by half of a second, while Renate Goetschl placed 3rd at 73/100 of a second back. Both of the women who joined Dorfmeister on the podium are battling with her for the Overall World Cup title. But with this, her fifth win, Dorfmeister reinforced her lead in the Overall standings.

Slovenia's Mojca Suhadolc, winner in Lake Louise in November, was 4th while Isolde Kostner, yesterday's downhill winner, had to be content with a far 7th place this time. Kostner will have a hard time staying in the shadow of her rivals in the Overall World Cup standings. She is now 234 points behind Dorfmeister and may decide to focus only on the downhill standings.

"I had a very aggressive run today and I'm really happy to win again in this specialty. It has been a long wait...." — Michaela Dorfmeister (AUT)

Fifth in the downhill on Thursday, Michaela Dorfmeister skied much more confidently in this race, allowing her to take more risks on the demanding course.

"I only lost 20/100 on Isolde Kostner and this was a great boost for my morale," she said. "I used the break to train in super G and to improve my physical shape, too. I was also happy to ski on natural snow, which suits my skis better than the hard and dry man-made snow. I had a very aggressive run today and I'm really happy to win again in this specialty. It has been a long wait.

"I needed this win for my motivation and for my head more than for the standings. The conditions were very difficult. It was a very technical run set by the French trainer who wanted obviously to favor Régine Cavagnoud. But I have made great technical progress in the past months and I had no problems with the turns and the bumps. The snow was very grippy too, just as I like it."

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An excellent speed skier, Dorfmeister has had a hard time lately in both the downhill and super G. She hasn't managed to reach a single podium in super G or downhill, but she did enjoy four giant slalom wins. This win couldn't have come at a better time for Dorfmeister, increasing her total at the top of the Overall standings to 902 points — a more comfortable 100 points clear of Goetschl, who has also had problems finding her rhythm in downhill this season.

With four downhills and at least three super Gs still to be raced and with French speed specialist Régine Cavagnoud also ready to make a strong bid for the title, Dorfmeister has more than teammate Goetschl to worry about.

	Cavagnoud

The French veteran is, in fact, the best placed skier for the Overall title. Yet, she wants to remain relaxed for the coming weeks. "When you're skiing, you don't think about the Overall," said Cavagnoud, the downhill winner last month in Cortina. "But away from the hill you're counting points. I don't want to put too much pressure on myself but I know I have a chance. Yesterday in the downhill I wasn't determined enough. Today it was the opposite, I was too aggressive and made a big mistake at the top. I was really amazed to still be second at the end. I could have won this race."

Renate Goetschl is the favorite in the combined, while a strong group of specialists will fight for the victory in tomorrow's race. Among them are Norway's Trine Bakke, Slovenia's Spela Pretnar, Christel Guignard from France and Anja Paerson from Sweden. Also at the start will be American Kristina Koznick, who still believes she can reach a top-3 finish this winter.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent