Countdown to
Olympics begins for speed skiers
Picabo 6th, 5th
in
World Cup DH openers
She didn’t
win, which was a little frustrating for 30-year-old Picabo Street of
Triumph and Park City. She made a couple of little mistakes that dropped
her off the podium.
But Street
was the leader who spearheaded a promising start for the U.S. Ski Team
women’s speed skiers Thursday through Saturday at Lake Louise, Alberta,
Canada.
Following
up on an accurate course report by teammate Caroline Lalive, Street nailed
the bottom and hung up her best World Cup result since 1998 with a
sixth-place result in Thursday’s downhill debut.
On Friday,
two-time World Cup DH queen Street overcame a mid-race mistake to finish
fifth. Racing second, Street hooked her arm on a gate and lost probably a
half-a-second.
Winning
both DHs by .33 and .06 seconds was Italy’s Isolde Kostner, who has
recorded four of her 11 World Cup DH victories at Lake Louise. Maine’s
Kirsten Clark was right behind Street, in 11th and 8th.
Street
said, "It’s been really fun having my team, and that’s something
I’m really relying on a lot right now—the support of the team and the
camaraderie we have and the support we give each other. We genuinely hope
everybody does well."
When
22-year-old Caroline Lalive of Steamboat Springs podiumed in Saturday’s
super giant slalom with a third, Street gave "Liner" a huge hug
at the finish. Weary from three races in three days, Street settled for
38th.
The next
downhill/SG combo is Dec. 21-22 at St. Moritz, Switz. Before that, the
women run SG at Val d’Isere, Fra. Dec. 6 and Megeve, Fra. Dec. 15.