Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria – Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso stormed to second and led three Americans into the top 10 at the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill held Saturday in Bad Kleinkirchheim as reigning downhill World Champion Austrian Elisabeth Goergl of Austria won for her first World Cup downhill victory.

It was Mancuso’s best downhill finish since winning the World Cup Finals last March. She has now been on the World Cup podium for downhill, super G and giant slalom this season.

“The light and conditions were really tough. You have to make a lot of direction before the hill just drops away. You’re fighting it the whole way,” said Mancuso. “It was very difficult and I was hoping for the win, but you had to hold on and fight. It was set pretty straight at the bottom, so you can go really fast, but you pay for it if you can’t hold the line.”

World Cup overall and downhill leader Lindsey Vonn, still fighting a stomach bug, survived a big mistake right out of the starting gate to finish fourth, missing the podium by a mere five hundredths of a second.  Her result expanded her Audi FIS World Cup overall lead as she maintains the World Cup downhill standings lead.

“I didn’t really have a good feeling from the very beginning. My balance and my energy wasn’t quite there. I’ve been struggling with being sick and I’m trying to find my strength again,” Vonn explained. “I’m really happy for Julia with second and for Liz Goergl for winning at home. I’m still happy with fourth considering where my strength is, but Lizzy and Julia skied really well and deserved to be on the podium.”

Rounding out the results for the Americans was Stacey Cook was eighth, Julia Ford 22nd, Laurenne Ross 23rd and Alice McKennis 26th. It was the first race back for Ross after a Dec. 3 downhill crash and the first World Cup points for Ford.

“I came down and felt I had a good run,” said Ford, “but when I saw everyone cheering in the finish, I said ‘yes, finally.'”

“It was a really cool to see such a solid performance from our team,” added Mancuso. “Lindsey is always fast, but it was good to see Stacey in there and Laurenne right back in it after her crash in Lake Louise.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria – Jan. 7, 2012
Women’s Downhill