After this run down the slopes by Slovenia’s Tina Maze in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Sunday, she was flanked by two bodyguards following an emailed death threat. (Pier Marco Tacca/Associated Press)
(PhatzRadio / AP) — Anna Fenninger of Austria upstaged the favourites to win a super-G race Sunday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, while overall World Cup winner Tina Maze was placed under police protection after organizers received a death threat against the Slovenian.
Maze finished fourth in the race and said she was not disturbed by the emailed threat. But she had two bodyguards close by after the race.
The death threat came in an email received Saturday afternoon, after Maze had won the downhill race and broken the points record for a season.
“That’s sad. If somebody is strong and showing good performances and perfect in the thing you are doing, there are people who want to disturb you,” Maze said. “I guess it’s part of the game but it didn’t disturb me that much.
“It shouldn’t be part of the game but life is not perfect. It’s not nice for me, it’s not nice for my team. I haven’t seen the email … they want to ruin your day, ruin the record, but I enjoyed the day 100 per cent,” Maze said.
Peter Fischer, chief of the organizing committee, said the email came from an anonymous source and that it was immediately turned over to the police.
“We had to take it seriously, our job is to keep everyone safe here,” Fischer said. “Police took over the case and provided protection.”
Maze said she had never felt safer in her life, “I’ve had police in front my door all the time since yesterday.”
Fenninger beat hometown favourite Maria Hoefl-Riesch by 0.20 of a second on the Kandahar course for her third career victory and second of the season.
The Austrian also saw off Julia Mancuso of the United States in third and Maze in fourth.
Mancuso and Maze are still in competition for the season super-G title, which will now be decided at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in two weeks.
Maze is already assured of the overall title and became the first skier to collect more than 2,000 points in a season by winning Saturday’s downhill on the same slope. She now has 2,074 points.
Mancuso said she lost the race in the middle section of the course.
“I was not good in the turning section, I don’t know what it is, maybe a question of confidence,” said the American, who was second in Friday’s super-G on the same slope.
“I am happy to be on the podium, just trying my best every day. I am enjoying it with the sun out. I wish I could have gained some more points on her [Maze], I need all the luck on my side. I need to win the (last) race and then anything can happen,” Mancuso said.
Maze leads Mancuso 420-365 in the super G standings with a maximum of 100 points up for grabs in the final race.
Like Mancuso, Maze also said she had problems with the jump in the middle section. “It was pretty difficult to find the right line, I didn’t do my best but fourth is fine,” Maze said.
Maze won the gold medal in the super-G at the world championships last month in Schladming, Austria, while Mancuso took bronze.
Fenninger covered the 2.37-kilometre Kandahar course in one minute, 20.43 seconds. Hoefl-Riesch, who was hoping for her 25th World Cup win, missed it by 0.20, while Mancuso was 0.23 off the pace. Maze was 0.43 0 back.
“I deserved it, I was ready for this win and I believed in myself,” Fenninger said. “I made a few mistakes on the top part and really risked everything on the bottom section, but everything came together. It feels good.”
Fenninger’s previous two wins were in giant slalom.
Hoefl-Riesch, basking in the sunshine and surrounded by family and friends, took her second place in stride.
“It was a great day for me, no matter what,” the German skier said.
Aksel Lund Svindal clinches World Cup super-G title
(PhatzRadio / CBC Sports) — Aksel Lund Svindal clinched the World Cup super-G title Sunday in Kvitfjell after winning his first race in Norway.
The Norwegian edged Austria’s Georg Streitberger by 0.52 seconds to win in one minute 29.79 seconds. Werner Heel of Italy ended third, 0.57 seconds back.
The victory gives Svindal an unassailable 480 points, ahead of Italy’s Matteo Marsaglia on 249 and Matthias Mayer of Austria with 228.
Jan Hudec of Calgary finished 16th, while Canadian teammates Erik Guay and Manuel Osborne-Paradis didn’t finish their runs.
“It was a disappointing day for us across the board,” said Canadian speed coach John McBride. “Jan ended up 16th but the way he was skiing, it was almost maddening — he made some mistakes but he could have been top five today. I was kind of disappointed we couldn’t bring the same positive energy from (Saturday) into today.”
Hudec was sixth in Saturday’s downhill.
Guay, from Mont-Tremblant, Que., was 26th at the third interval before he skied out. Osborne-Paradis, from Vancouver, started 51st before going out in the top section of the course.
“Man, that was a long day to go out on the fourth gate!” tweeted Osborne-Paradis, who finished fourth in the downhill a day earlier, missing the podium by one one-hundredth of a second.
In the overall standings, Svindal closed in on leader Marcel Hirscher with six races left. The Austrian has 1,215 points, while Svindal is second with 1,186.
Ted Ligety of the United States is third with 809.
Skiing Recap: Super-G race overshadowed by death threat against Tina Maze is a post from: PhatzRadio.com
