Mancuso, Kildow keep U.S. skiers on a roll

The Associated Press December 24, 2006 VAL D’ISERE, France – Julia Mancuso’s first World Cup victory capped a remarkable few days for American skiers. The Olympic giant slalom champion won the downhill Tuesday on the Oreiller-Killy course in 1 minute, 38.93 seconds. “To win my first World Cup race feels good, but I always knew it was there,” Mancuso said. “It was just the case of being able to execute.” Renate Goetschl of Austria was runner-up, 0.43 seconds behind, and World Cup downhill leader Lindsey Kildow, Mancuso’s teammate and last year’s Val d’Isere winner, was 0.54 back in third. “It’s always good to have an American on the podium – and this is more than one,” Kildow said. “A lot of people have started to ski better and better and step up more.” Five days. Six top-three finishes for Americans. [Read More...]

Mancuso sets downhill mark too fast for followers

AMERICAN Julia Mancuso pulled off her first World Cup win when she dominated a top-class field in the first of two successive Val d’Isere downhills in France.

The 22-year-old reigning Olympic giant slalom champion clocked 1min 38.93sec, 00.43sec ahead of veteran Austrian Renate Goetschl and 00.54sec clear of another American, Lindsey Kildow on Tuesday.Mancuso went out early to set the best time on the shortened men’s course and sat back to watch the women who had gone faster than her in training attack her mark.

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December 21, 2006

Americans Abroad Are Taming the Mountains and the Critics

Within a span of 90 minutes yesterday, on opposite sides of the European Alps, the American skiers Bode Miller and Lindsey Kildow each won World Cup races, extending an extraordinary streak for the United States team. Miller’s victory, his third of the season, catapulted him into the No. 1 world ranking, which he has not held since Dec. 21, 2005, while Kildow’s decisive downhill victory — her second of the season — solidified her lead in that discipline’s standings. With the Olympic giant-slalom champion Julia Mancuso finishing as the runner-up to Kildow, the American team has streaked to nine podium placings during the last six days, by five skiers.

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NEWSWIRE

Miller and Kildow lead U.S. skiers

From Times Staff and Wire Reports December 21, 2006 Bode Miller won a super-giant slalom Wednesday in Hinterstoder, Austria, 90 minutes after Lindsey Kildow and Julia Mancuso finished 1-2 in a downhill at Val d’Isere, France. Those successes gave the American team five victories and an unprecedented nine top-three results in the last six days.

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