Sydney Morning Herald

American ski racer Julia Mancuso’s superb season continued on Friday when she beat the Austrian favourites to win a rain-delayed World Cup super-G race. Coming into this season, Mancuso, 22, had never won a World Cup race though she was Olympic champion in giant slalom. In the space of a month, she has now won three races and had two other podium places. Mancuso clocked one minute 16.25 seconds on the Olympia delle Tofane course, 0.33 seconds ahead of Austrian Nicole Hosp. Former overall World Cup champion Renate Goetschl, who had won the first two super-G races of the season, had to settle for third place, just 0.01 seconds behind Hosp. Their team mate Marlies Schild lost the opportunity to extend her overall World Cup lead when she missed a gate near the top of the course. Mancuso’s team mate Lindsey Kildow, who shared the podium with her friend in last weekend’s Altenmarkt super-combined event, finished just 0.05 seconds behind Goetschl, in joint fourth place with another Austrian, Andrea Fischbacher. The race was delayed for three-and-a-half hours while course workers used chemicals to firm up the piste after heavy rain early in the day. World champion Anja Paerson of Sweden, who has struggled since knee surgery at the end of last season, was sixth, with 1:16.95. Schild held on to the overall lead despite her exit but Hosp moved up to 60 points behind her compatriot on 828. Mancuso jumped into third place, with 634. Goetschl still has a comfortable lead in the super-G standings, 64 points ahead of Hosp. Cortina is due to host a women’s downhill on Saturday and a giant slalom on Sunday.