Renate Goetschl

Austria's Renate Goetschl won her third race of the season in Cortina d'Ampezzo where she clinched the first of two Super-G races in perfect weather conditions. The 1997 combined World Champion beat Germany's Martina Ertl by 4/100 of a second, making this Ertl's fifth 2nd place finish this season.

France's Regine Cavagnoud, Thursday's downhill winner, confirmed her strong form with a promising 3rd place at 20/100 back from the winner. Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg took 4th, missing the podium by only 27/100 of a second. Alexandra Meissnitzer, the best racer in this event this season, had to be content with a far 6th place in front of double World Champion Isolde Kostner.

"I needed such a result after some disappointing results in the past weeks..."— Renate Goetschl

Other favorites finished behind them as Germany's Hilde Gerg finished 9th and Switzerland's Corinne Rey-Bellet, 13th.

Kathleen Monahan was the best US skier at 17th place while Megan Gerety came 21st. Jonna Mendes scored two World Cup points in reaching the 29th place.

The race was also marked by some bad crashes. Switzerland's Catherine Borghi fell while crossing the finish line in 22nd position. She broke her left leg in several parts and tore knee ligaments. She was flown to the nearest hospital in Cortina.

Goetschl, winner of the first two downhills in Lake Louise, has not won a super-G since her first win in Flachau, in January 1995 . She collected 2nd and 3rd places including early December when she was beaten by her teammate Christiane Mitterwallner at Mammoth Mountain.

"I was more lucky this time," said the 23-year-old Austrian. "I skied really well today. I needed such a result after some disappointing results in the past weeks. Now I feel more relaxed before the World Championships.

"I'm happy to compete again at Vail where I clinched the downhill World Cup title in 1997. I hope to be lucky again this year. The medal events have special rules. At Nagano, I was very confident to win a medal in downhill, but then I crashed near the finish line," Goetschl said.

The great Petra Kronberger, who has won everything in her short career, is the last Austrian to have won a downhill title back in 1991 at Saalbach. Ulie Maier, who died in a crash during the downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1994, is the last Austrian super-G World Champion. She won the title in 1989 at Vail and again in 1991 at Saalbach.

Goetschl will aim for another win in the second super-G on Saturday, but she will need another perfect run to beat skiers such as Ertl or Meissnitzer, who was unhappy with her 6th place.

"I don't know what's happening with me now, I made so many mistakes," she said. "I'm not nervous but not concentrated enough."

Meissnitzer still has a comfortable lead in the overall World Cup standings. But she needs another good result on Saturday to reinforce her chances to clinch the super-G title. Her lead on Ertl went down to 49 points with three more races to go.

— Mountain Zone European Correspondent