Ski Racing - February 27, 2012

Mancuso continued to time the starts correctly and boogie down the course without looking back, taking both runs against Kirchgasser.

Vonn had a split-second slip-up, getting caught up in a rut, and left the first run of finals looking up at three-tenths. In the second run she sent out hard, caught Hoefl-Riesch at the jump and was so smooth from there to the bottom and stretched so perfectly for the finish beam, she got the win by 0.08 and that 10-point cushion for the end of the season.

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It was Pinturault and Neureuther in the men’s final. Neureuther had not lost a run all night and much of that was predicated on an explosive start. He was leaning way back on his skis and launching forward timing the opening of the horse gates. He held the lead after the first run, but by hundredths.

Starting a half-breath behind, Pinturault caught up by the third gate and matched the German turn for turn. At the jump he got his skis down on the surface faster and held him off for the win.

“This is a different thing,” said Pinturault. “It is my first win in World Cup so I am really happy.” He said racing the format called for pushing turns and a fast start. “You ski fast,” he said, “and it is a lot of pleasure.”

“You had to flat-out boogie,” said Mancuso, who added that the format seemed to be as much a mental challenge as it was physical. “You have to get out of the start quick and not worry about who you are racing against. It was challenging.” There were three Americans in the event. Bode Miller qualified to race but was having a damaged knee examined back in the States. Ted Ligety got hung up barging the start gate in the first round and was unable to recover against Mario Matt. The Mancuso-Vonn semifinal match was one of the most exciting of the night.

Mancuso got the jump out of the start, putting pressure on Vonn, who took a flag in the face and pulled up. That gave Mancuso a 0.5-second advantage in the second heat, which proved too much to make up. In the other bracket (think March Madness basketball) Hoefl-Riesch and Kirchgasser were going head to head with Hoefl-Riesch taking the first run by a tenth. Kirchgasser turned up the intensity in the second run and edged out a 0.03 win.

That sent Mancuso and Kirchgasser off to the finals and Vonn and Hoefl-Riesch to a runoff for third place and the 10-point difference between the two placings. Hoefl-Riesch had won last season’s overall title over Vonn by three points, so both were well aware of what it might mean.