A day after finishing a disappointing downhill here, Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin fought back with a great heart to celebrate her first Super-G win on the World Cup tour beating by 15/100 of a second USA’s Lindsey Vonn, out of reach in that specialty on the World Cup tour this year.
The skier from Engelberg, a two-time winner in downhill last winter but not so strong in Super-G in recent season, is only the second Swiss woman to enjoy such a success on the World Cup tour this season two months after the victory of her teammate Fraenzi Aufdenblatten at Val d’Isère.
Calfornina’s Julia Mancuso scored her best World Cup result for a long time in finishing 3rd – confirming her brilliant recent results at Whistler Mountain.
“This is huge, I can’t believe it, I’m afraid this is only a dream and I’ll soon awake,” said the emotional 24-year-old after the race. “I was so disappointed yesterday, I cried for a long time after the race but fortunately I managed to find back my momentum and my determination before today’s race,” she added. “This is definitively an important lesson for me and also another reason to keep on believing in me. I was certainly lucky with the wind today but I also fought hard from top to bottom.”
“It’s very special for me to excel on this legendary slope where so many Swiss medals have been clinched at the 1987 World Championships. I really like racing here in front of this great crowd. This win is also crucial for the entire team after our disappointing Olympics at Whistler. Our group did really well at the season start with so many Swiss skiers reaching the podium but we were quite unlucky losing three potential medal winners in the last weeks prior the Olympics. I’m very confident in the potential of our team. We can do very well in the next future.”
“I was not in my best shape in Canada after my bad crash at Haus im Ennstal where I injured my knee. I came back at St Moritz but I was obviously not fully ready for the Games where I suffered another bad crash. I was just lucky not to be more seriously injured there.”
“This season has been pretty demanding with all my health problems and my crashes. I felt very strong after the summer training but I was already sick at Lake Louise and again at Val d’Isère. That’s why I appreciate this win so much, it’s a wonderful comeback. To win a Super-G is really special to me, it’s a difficult event and I never did well in past seasons.”
“I’m so happy to have also qualified in that specialty for next week’s Finals. I’ll now have the opportunity to check the slope of the 2011 World Championships and hopefully add a few points too. I could not compete at the Finals at Are last winter after a bad crash in training, so I missed the possibility the reach the podium in the downhill World Cup standings. It was really disappointing,” also explained Gisin, now a promising 26th in the Overall World Cup standings.
With a few good results next week at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, she has a good chance to move-up in the classification and eventually reach the top-20. Last year she finished the season in 21st position. “I’m pretty happy with my season considering my problems, I know I can improve my level in coming years.”
“The most important in our sport is to be consistent and healthy. It helps to build-up your confidence and your determination. That’s why I admire Lindsey Vonn so much. She is really amazing. She won almost every speed event this winter despite the very different weather and course conditions. She has great class and I was very proud that she was next to me on the winners’ podium today. One can only learn from here very professional attitude and her passion for the sport. She is great for ski racing, a true superstar who creates huge interest for our races.”
