Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO) had another near-miss with the medals podium Sunday when she was knocked down to fourth place in the women's downhill at the World Alpine Ski Championships by the last racer, Renate Goetschl of Austria. "Maybe my time is next year," Kildow said, referring to the upcoming Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Croatian Janica Kostelic won the gold medal with Italy's Elena Fanchini in second place. Kostelic, who won the combined crown Friday night, won her first downhill title in 1:39.90 with Fanchini collecting silver in 1:40.16.

Kildow, who had been fourth Friday night in the combined by - two-tenths of a second behind another Austrian, Marlies Schild, skied 11th and was second to Fanchini when she finished with a time of 1:40.52. Goetschl, the last woman in the 28-racer field, turned-in a time of 1:40.29.

"I made a little mistake at the bottom," Kildow said, after posting the fastest time through the second timing interval. "I don't know where I lost so much time.

Kildow: "I skied better..."
"I felt fine, like I always did. I think I skied better than I have been skiing," she said.

Showing the understandable frustration and biting disappointment of missing a medal by so little, twice in about 42 hours, Kildow told reporters, "I have to go back to the drawing board to figure out what I'm going to need to win the Olympics...

"You can't let one result get you down, and I'm trying to keep that in mind, but it keeps coming back at me," she said.

"I think I'll be much better prepared for this next year."

Near-miss wasn't because of age
She shrugged off any suggestion of youth - she's 20 - as a reason for not reaching the podium, pointing out she spends about six hours a day in dryland and weights training. "I worked so hard [to be ready] for this" World Championships, her first Worlds, she said. "I may be young but my goal is to be world champion this year.

"Maybe my time is next year" at the Olympics, she reasoned.

Women's Head Coach Patrick Riml said, "Fourth is a good result but at World Championships it sucks. Lindsey skied well on the top but she made a little mistake at the bottom - she hit a bump by the combined start and got thrown out a little and that cost her the medal.

"I told her she skied really well up top but at the World Championships you can't afford to make a mistake. Really, it's that simple," Riml said.

Jonna Mendes (Heavenly, CA) finished 12th while Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO) skied off-course after a nearly miraculous save in mid-race when she went down on her right hip. Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME), sidelined much of the week by sickness, could not race.

After a down day Monday, the women return to racing Tuesday in giant slalom with first run set for 3:30 a.m. ET. To watch the live timing, click on: http://worldchamps.usskiteam.com/livetiming.php

2005 WORLD ALPINE SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Santa Caterina, ITA - Feb. 6, 2005
Women's Downhill

1. Janica Kostelic, Croatia, 1:39.90
2. Elena Fanchini, Italy, 1:40.16
3. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 1:40.29
4. Lindsey Kildow, Vail, Colo., 1:40.52
5. Ingrid Jacquemod, France, 1:40.86

12. Jonna Mendes, Heavenly, Calif., 1:41.79

DNF:
Caroline Lalive, Steamboat Springs, Colo.

— Courtesy of US Ski Team