Austria's Goergl wins season opener Super-G

Elisabeth Goergl from Austria has triumphed at the Lake Louise Super-G, the first of the World Cup season. US Lindsey Vonn, who finished second, was denied the Lake Louise hat trick since she had won both downhill races.

AFP - Austrian Elisabeth Goergl edged American Lindsey Vonn to capture the World Cup season-opening super-G race on Sunday.
  
The 28-year-old Austrian defeated Vonn by .03 of a second to earn her third career World Cup victory, sweeping down the course in a time of one minute, 21.91 seconds.
  
Vonn, who won both legs of a downhill doubleheader and was denied a Canadian Rockies sweep Sunday, finished in a time of 1:21.94. France's Ingrid Jacquemod was third in 1:22.53.
  
Skiers braved extremely cold temperatures of minus-20 degrees Celsius and wore tape on their faces to prevent frostbrite on the sun-splashed slope.
  
Goergl captured her first World Cup victory in the super-G. Her best previous finishes in the super-G were a pair of runner-up showings.
  
Vonn added a silver in the super-G to go with her back-to-back downhill wins Friday and Saturday.
  
She continues to reign supreme in Lake Louise having reached the podium here 11 times since 2004.
  
Her downhill triumph on Saturday tied her for fifth all-time on the World Cup with most career downhill victories with 14, still well back of all-time leader Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria with 36.
  
After a slow start this week in training, Jacquemond stepped it up on race day, finishing in the top 10 for the second straight day.
  
She was seventh in Saturday's downhill to go with her bronze on Sunday, the first time she has reached the podium in a World Cup race in four years.

Date created : 2009-12-06