Corinne Rey-Bellet

Rey-Bellet Wins Downhill
Corinne Rey-Bellet has been waiting for a long time for this day: at 26, the Swiss racer achieved her first World Cup success in St. Anton by winning the fifth women's downhill of the season.

After a near-perfect run, Rey-Bellet beat Austria’s Michaela Dorfmeister, the winner here in 1996, by 19/100 of a second, and Germany’s Hilde Gerg, who is now the favorite for the combined, by 29/100.

"This success means a lot to me after the difficult past years...I was aiming for a podium and it turned out even better." —Corinne Rey-Bellet

Rey-Bellet, who has raced on the World Cup circuit since 1992, has not reached the podium since the World Cup finals that season when she was 3rd in a giant slalom at Crans-Montana. After suffereing a serious knee injury in September, 1996 after placing 10th twice in the World’s speed events at Sierra Nevada, she fought back last season with several top-10 finishes.

This winter, she became the Swiss leader in the speed events after veteran Heidi Zurbriggen retired—the last Swiss to have won a downhill back in January 1997. Rey-Bellet proved her determination last month when she conquered a strong 4th place at Veysonnaz after a crash on the previous day in the first downhill.

Encouraged by her best times in both training runs on Friday, she was equally as concentrated and aggressive in the race this morning.

	Left to right: Michaela Dorfmeister (AUT), Corrine Rey-Bellet (SUI) and Hilde Gerg (GER)

"I felt ready for a great run, and in fact, I achieved an almost perfect run," she said at the finish line. "The course was harder and more demanding yet I skied even better, especially in the middle turns."

Starting in 4th position, before many of the top-favorites, Rey-Bellet took advantage of good racing conditions on her way down the slope.

"Since the snow was harder than in training, I was pleased to start early because the visibility was fine and the course pretty smooth," she explained. "But the waiting afterwards was terrible for my nerves...many skiers had excellent intermediate times at the top. It was more demanding in fact than the race itself."

"This success means a lot to me after the difficult past years—it’s wonderful. I was aiming for a podium and it turned out even better. I want to thank all the people who have supported me so much in recent years. It was difficult but they helped me a lot to regain confidence," she said.

Rey-Bellet worked intensively with a psychologist after her accident to improve her mental attitude before the races. "I was nervous but it was a positive stress," she said. "I was really enjoying my race today."

This was also the case for Dorfmeister, who has rescued her chance for a spot on the Austrian team at Vail.

"I was lucky that it got so cold during the night," said Dormeister. "I feel better when I can attack on a tough course."

Renate Goetschl, double winner earlier this season in Canada’s Lake Louise, came 4th at 68/100 while her teammate Alexandra Meissnitzer had to be content with 6th place.

Carole Montillet was the best French athlete in 5th place. Her teammate Regine Cavagnoud only clocked the 22nd best time. Canada’s Melanie Turgeon got an encouraging 12th placej, and Kirsten Clark was the best American in 24th place. Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg, a disappointing 9th , has missed a great opportunity to get closer to Meissnitzer in the overall World Cup standings.

The next women’s downhill will take place next Thursday at Cortina d’Ampezzo, in Italy.

—Mountain Zone European Correspondent