02 FEB 2001 > Women's Combined
First Gold for Martina Ertl
Women's Combined
The favorites are having a hard time here in St. Anton, Austria, where another outsider clinched a world title in the women's combined event.

Germany's Martina Ertl had the highest combined results of the morning downhill and afternoon slalom, finishing the day with a gold medal in front of Austria's Christine Sponring and Italy's Karen Putzer, 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Ertl, from Bavaria, achieved a superb comeback, winning only a month after tearing her right knee ligament in the giant slalom at Semmering.

"I had nothing to lose. I hit an almost perfect second run in the slalom."

Ertl had a hard time believing she won the combined event. A strong leader in the overall World Cup standings until her injury, the 28-year-old the German ace worked hard to recover in time for these World Championships.

Since 1994, Ertl has won several Olympic and World Championship medals, as well as two giant slalom World Cup Crystal trophies, but this was her first major title. In 1999, no German skier reached the podium at the World Championships in Vail.

"This is amazing, I never thought this could happened," Ertl said. "I was so happy and relaxed coming here, that's for sure why I did so well today. I wanted to be here, and I was glad I could compete today. I just attacked at my best in both races. I had nothing to lose. I hit an almost perfect second run in the slalom."

In the early slalom races of the '99-2000 season, Ertl did not even qualify for the second runs because she was not used to competing with her new, shorter skis. Last October, she achieved a comeback at Soelden by winning the first GS of the winter after finishing 17th in the first run. She continued to accumulate a series of impressive results, including two 2nd places in North American slaloms. She indeed may have kept her lead in the overall World Cup standings had it not been for her injury.

"This means a lot to me. I have been fighting hard for this for a long time," she explained.

Earlier in the week, another German medal was claimed by Ertl's teammate Hilde Gerg, who won a bronze in the women's super G.

USA's Kristen Clark has the fastest time in the morning downhill but ended in 10th place behind her teammate Jonna Mendes, the best US skier.

Janica Kostelic and Renate Goetschl, who have dominated the combined event in recent years, were still the main contenders after the morning downhill. But they, joined by USA's Caroline Lalive, ended up as the big losers at the end of the day. Kostelic fell at the beginning of the slalom after skiing too aggressively in the first gates.

"I was feeling good today and I enjoyed attacking. It's just too bad that I lost my balance in that left turn," Kostelic said. "But it's not a tragedy. It's only a race, and I'm happy that it didn't not count for the World Cup. I remain very motivated for the slalom."

It's the first time since December 1998 that Janica failed to finish a major slalom.

Goetschl had a solid run in the downhill in which she clocked the second-best time before taking the lead of the intermediate rankings after the first leg of the slalom. But as so often in the past, she took too many risks in the second run to defend her chances. She straddled a gate toward the end of the race when she was close to winning her second combined title since 1997.

In the finish area, Goetschl invited USA's Lalive for a late-night drink. The two skiers were leading the intermediate standings after the first slalom run. "I think we both better have a shot together to forget this terrible day," she said to Lalive.

Lalive agreed that it was a very good idea. The US Champion was quite upset by her failure. On Monday, she crashed badly in the super G.

"It was such a tough day for me. It started badly with the downhill in which I had so many problems," Lalive explained afterwards. "I made two huge mistakes, and I lost my concentration at the end. I let a very big chance for a medal escape today."

Lalive said her coach gave her good advice in the second run, but her brain was not able to control her body. "I was skiing too aggressively, and then I went out in the middle part. It's a strong lesson for me, but I'll use it for the rest of my career."

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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