Two-time Olympian Julia Mancuso, 21, of Squaw Valley (Ca.) is going to think kindly about the slopes of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy after her breakthrough World Cup results in three pre-Olympic races there last weekend.
Sixth-year U.S. Ski Team racer Mancuso had a brilliant weekend—claiming her first-ever World Cup podium with a second place in Friday's women's super giant slalom and duplicating the silver medal feat in Saturday's Cortina downhill.
Mancuso, the 2005 World Championship bronze medalist in SG and GS at Santa Catarina, Italy, stayed hot Sunday with a fifth place in giant slalom. In all three events, she was the top American. She vaulted into eighth place in the Cup standings.
Her performance just two weeks away from the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics at Turin, Italy gave the American women two legitimate medal hopes. Native Minnesotan Lindsey Kildow, 21, of Vail is the other. Kildow placed third in the Cortina SG and ninth in the DH.
Mancuso's DH coach Alex Hoedlmoser said after Saturday's downhill, "Julia did an amazing job. She totally nailed it. We were telling her to stay in that tuck and I think when she crossed the finish line she may have needed some help getting out of her tuck, she was so low.
"She's got so much confidence now."
Mancuso's downhill silver at the site of the 1956 Winter Olympics coincided with the best-ever World Cup result posted by her boyfriend, newly-named Olympian Steve Nyman, 23, of Orem, Utah. Nyman was fourth in Saturday's Kandahar DH at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germ.
Another American made news when 28-year-old Scott Macartney of Crystal Mountain, Wash. placed second in Sunday's Garmisch SG.
In other ski team news: Tenth-year U.S. Ski Team racer Caroline Lalive, 26, of Steamboat Springs, Colo. returned to the U.S. Friday for knee surgery. She was injured Wednesday during DH training at Cortina. A two-time Olympian, she is not expected to compete at Torino.
And 28-year-old Bode Miller, the reigning World Cup overall king, virtually conceded this year's title by pulling out of the men's speed races at Garmisch last weekend. It ended Miller's unprecedented streak of 136 consecutive World Cup starts dating back to the 2002 World Cup finals.
Miller decided to play golf with his brother and rest up for the 2006 Olympics. The last race he skipped was just after he won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake Games.
In the meantime, last weekend's races were a showcase for World Cup veterans Hermann Maier, 33, and Renate Goetschl, 30, both of Austria.
Maier won his 53rd World Cup race—second only to the great Ingemar Stenmark's 86—by winning Saturday's Kandahar DH. Goetschl now has 38 career wins after her first-of-the-season victory in Saturday's Cortina DH. She is third on the all-time career Cup victory list.
Bringing World Cup standings up to date, Austria's Benjamin Raich, 27, increased his overall lead to 965 points. In second place with 770 points is Michael Walchhofer of Austria, who is first in DH. Maier (735) moved up to third place.
Fourth place, now 238 points behind Raich, still belongs to Rahlves with 727 points (3rd-DH, 6th-SG, 10th-GS). Miller dropped to fifth place with 688 points (7th-DH, 27th-SG, 6th-GS, 4th-combined).
Among women, World Cup overall leader Janica Kostelic, 23, of Croatia (1264) stretched her lead over 32-year-old Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria (1030). In third with 941 is two-time defending World Cup queen Anja Paerson, 24, of Sweden.
Kildow (683), still ranked in second place in downhill, stayed in fifth place while Mancuso (529) moved up to eighth. Last year, Mancuso finished ninth in the overall standings with 659 points while Kildow was sixth with 914.
The women head to Ofterschwang, Germany for three final Pre-Olympic races (two GSs, SL) Feb. 3-5. The men tackle another Kandahar course, doing downhill, slalom and super combined at Chamonix, Fra. Feb. 3-4.
