| 2007年12月16日(日) |
Val Gardena: Walchhofer wins, Scottie Mac third
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Michael Walchhofer excised his demons at Val Gardena by collecting his first win on the one downhill track that has eluded him. Walchhofer got his ninth World Cup DH win Saturday, Dec. 15, on Val Gardena's Saslong and can now add that to a list of conquered race courses that includes Kitzbuehel, Wengen, Val d'Isere, Garmisch, Bormio and, as of Nov. 30, Beaver Creek. Swiss veteran Didier Cuche made it two podiums in two days adding second in the downhill to the super G win from Friday while American Scott Macartney posted his second career podium in third. Macartney was the third different U.S. male to collect a downhill podium in three races this season, speaking well for the U.S. depth. It was a real, good, solid run, said Macartney, adding that it was Pretty much fast, and everything that Val Gardena has to offer. I've got to go to the podium now, Ciao. If it hadn't been Macartney on the podium, there was a pretty good chance it might have been a North American anyway. Canadian Erik Guay posted fourth and teammate Manuel Osborne-Paradis was sixth. Bode Miller was eighth giving the North Americans a strong four skier top 10 showing. - SkiRacing.com
Michael Walchhoferが優勝。Didier Cucheは2位。強いなぁ。北米勢がトップテンに4人。
U.S. Ski Team finding success even without Miller
Bode Miller decided to break away from the U.S. Ski Team for this season and race on his own. The team is finding success without him.
Scott Macartney finished third in the Saslong downhill Saturday for his first podium finish in nearly two years. Marco Sullivan placed second in the season-opening - AP.com
こんな記事を発見。
それだけ、アメリカ選手の調子がいいからなんだろうけど、ネ。
Macartney Podiums in Val Gardena DH
Scott Macartney (Crystal Mountain, WA) stormed to the second podium of his career - his first in downhill as he finished third Saturday in a World Cup downhill. Austrian Michael Walchhofer won and Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) was eighth. WCSN.com will Webcast coverage at 4 p.m. ET.
Walchhofer was timed in 1:56.70 with World Cup leader Didier Cuche of Switzerland, who won Friday's super G, second (1:56.88).Macartney finished in 1:57.26 while Miller's time was 1:57.85. T.J. Lanning (Park City, UT), starting 54th in the field of 60, was 31st, bumped out of the points, i.e., top 30 racers, by the next-to-last skier. Steven Nyman (Provo, UT), who won in Val Gardena last season, fell on the upper part of the course.
Macartney's top-3 was the second of the day by a U.S. skier, following less than an hour behind the second-place downhill result from Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
"I didn't do anything amazing, just charged and had a mostly mistake-free run," Macartney said. "I skied clean at the top."
"I thought 'Uh oh'..."
Macartney felt he was having a strong run, but added, "It's always hard to tell how fast you're going. The run felt clean. I felt I was carrying good speed, but you never feel really fast. I got massive air off the Camels and I thought, 'Uh oh' - but I pulled it off."
Macartney paused and agreed with a reporter, "Yeah, never a bad time for a podium."
"This is awesome. 'Scotty Mac' has been paying his dues for a long time and this is a sweet payback for him," said Men's DH Head Coach Chris Brigham.
It was the second podium of his career for Macartney, a two-time Olympian from Dartmouth College. He's in his 10th season on the U.S. Ski Team. In 2006, heading into the Torino Olympics, he was second in a super G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Saturday, he became the fifth U.S. man to reach the podium this season.
"The biggest thing, and what I really like, is this is the third downhill of the season and I'm the third different American to be on the podium," he said. Previously, Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) was second in Lake Louise and Steven Nyman (Provo, UT) was second at the Charles Schwab Birds of Prey DH (behind Walchhofer) in Beaver Creek, CO. Other U.S. top-3s have come from Miller in Friday's super G and Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), who has been top-3 in two giant slaloms. "I'm psyched to be with those guys. It's a good group," Macartney said.
The 3.4K Saslong speed course is one of the sport's classic downhill runs, threading from sunshine at the top of the course through a tree-lined run where shadows flicker. The fabled Camel Bumps produce big jumps and have claimed numerous skiers through the years.
Macartney said he didn't take any extraordinary time on the pre-race course inspection. "I always tend to take a while. I wanted to get a good plan in my head."
Under a new seeding system this season, the top seven downhillers get a random draw for start positions between 16-22. Running 23rd, Macartney said he knew the best racers had gone just before him. When he hit the finish and looked to the timing leader board, it took a few seconds to find his name and number - at No. 3.
Mac: "Oh yeah, there I am..."
"It's nice to come down when you've done well. I saw all the top numbers on the board and I was trying to find my place...and, 'Oh yeah, there I am.' It felt pretty darn good," he said.
"Mac stuck with his plan. I think he learned quite a bit from his super G yesterday [Macartney started 50th and finished 23rd]. He had a great run. He skied well on top, really well through the first set of bumps and was really hauling across that first flat...and he kept it going to the bottom," Brigham said.
Lanning's near-miss was frustrating, but Brigham said it was another strong race for him. "He's the real deal. He was here for the first time last season and he's learning every day. This was a good week for T.J. This was a good day for the North Americans, two U.S. and two Canadians in the top 10...a good day." - SportsNetwork.com
こんな特集記事書いてもらっちゃって、Scott Macartneyへの期待のでかさが分かるなぁ。
Walchhofer finally bags Val Gardena downhill win
Austria's Michael Walchhofer put paid to years of runner-up places on the Val Gardena downhill Saturday claiming victory ahead of Switzerland's Didier Cuche and American Scott MacCartney.
Walchhofer, a former world champion in the discipline, thus claims his second downhill win of the season after dominating the field at Beaver Creek, Colorado at the end of November.
"It's the last 'classic' missing from my collection, it's one of my best victories," said a delighted Walchhofer, who admitted he had to use sheer speed to overcome the more "technically proficient" Cuche.
Cuche had won the men's super-G on Friday and was hoping to claim a rare double, but he could only look on in agony as Walchhofer scorched the run in a time of 1min 56.70 to beat him by 0.18sec.
The Swiss racer benefited from the absence of Austrian ace Benjamin Raich to regain the overall World Cup lead after 12 races. He now has 453 points and a 12-point cushion on Raich.
But but he is keeping a lid on his overall victory pretensions.
"Of course after a victory (in the super-G) and a second place here you are super-motivated," said Cuche.
"I might be in the (overall World Cup) lead but I'm not going to waste my energy counting the points. We can do that in March."
MacCartney finished a deserved third at 0.56 to claim his first World Cup podium in the discipline and only the second in his career after his second place finish at Garmisch in January 2006.
"It was a great race for me, and a great result," said the American, who is the latest from the ambitious US team to secure a podium finish of late.
"It's a great season so far for the team, with Marco (Sullivan) second at Lake Louise and Steve (Nyman) second at Beaver Creek.
"With me second today that makes three different skiers on the podium, without forgetting Bode Miller's second place in the super-G (on Friday)."
Miller, the runner-up to Cuche in the super-G, finished eighth after seeing his lightning start evaporate on the tricky middle section.
Walchhofer, 32, had previously finished runner-up four times on the Val Gardena downhill run.
Swiss racer Silvan Zurbriggen meanwhile will not race again this season after sustaining knee ligament damage in a crash in the downhill. - AFP.com
…おらが伝統的のある大会で勝ってねえの、ここだけだったんだよぅ
Walchhofer吠える。
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