Schladming, Austria – In an aggressive race that saw higher speeds than training, the twisty turny Schladming S turn midway down the course took its toll on racers on Sunday as France’s Marion Rolland took the surprise gold before an estimated 25,000 fans in the women’s downhill at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships. Rolland finished a mere 0.16 seconds ahead Italy’s Nadia Fanchini, while Germany’s Super Combined champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch raced to bronze.

“Since I was a kid, I wanted to become a World Champion,” said the 30-year-old Rolland. “This is like a dream to me! If you believe in yourself and your dreams, you will reach them one day. It was absolutely breathtaking today.”

The USA narrowly missed the medals. Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso was .15 seconds out of the prizes in fifth with Stacey Cook, of Mammoth Mountain, Calif.,  sixth. Both Mancuso and Cook were dominating their runs up to the midway point where the series of turns through the Schladming S took their toll.

“It was really difficult with fast snow. You had to be 100% on it to do well,” Mancuso explained. “It was bumpy and fast but it was a lot of fun. It was hard to feel perfect, you just had to charge hard. It was close to being on the podium. I felt pretty solid on the course – didn’t feel like I would crash. When you’re at World Championships you’re charging hard.”

“I don’t know where I lost it – I’m a little frustrated right now. I want to talk to my coaches to find out where all that time went,” said Cook. “Part of having a fast training run yesterday was realizing it was about the skiing and not about the result or the pressure. I kept the same attitude coming into today and didn’t let it affect me. I know the speed is there, but it took an absolute perfect run to be on the podium today.”

Leanne Smith, of N. Conway, N.H.,  was 12^th with Glenwood Springs, Colo.’s Alice McKennis  17^th.

The women’s Audi FIS Alpine World Cup speed season returns Feb. 22 with a downhill in Meribel, France. Lindsey Vonn, who is now out for the season with a severe knee injury sustained last week in Schladming, still leads the downhill standings with Cook second, McKennis fourth and Smith sixth.

“This team is always striving for podiums right now. The girls are disappointed,” confirmed U.S. Ski Team head women’s speed coach, Chip White. “I personally am very proud of them for the job they’ve done to get to this point and they still are the best downhill team in the world. All the cards didn’t fall the way we wanted them to.  I’m proud of every single one of these ladies – they’re strong, they’re fit, they’re competitive, we’re still contenders for a globe in downhill and we have a lot of season left.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Alpine Ski World Championships
Schladming, Austria – Feb. 10, 2013
Women’s Downhill