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Mancuso claims first World Cup win

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VAL D'ISERE, France -- American Julia Mancuso claimed her first Alpine ski World Cup race win on Tuesday, with a storming run down Val d'Isere's downhill course.

Mancuso, the Olympic giant slalom champion, clocked one minute 1.38.93 seconds, to beat experienced Austrian Renate Goetschl by 0.43 seconds.

On a good day for the U.S. team, Lindsey Kildow, the winner of the event last season, was third, in 1:39.47.

The race, held in bright sunshine, was interrupted for 15 minutes after Italian Nadia Fanchini crashed into the safety netting.

She was taken down the hill on a stretcher and Italian ski federation officials later said she was suffering from concussion.

"Nadia broke her wrist in two places and briefly lost consciousness," the federation said. "She has been taken to Mouthiers hospital where she has had a scan which did not reveal any more problems."

Mancuso said: "To win my first World Cup race feels good, but I always knew it was there. It was just the case of being able to execute. That was a pretty solid run I'd say. My skis were working for me."

Mancuso, who won the GS gold medal at the Turin Games last February, placed 10th and 39th in downhill races at Lake Louise earlier this month.

"I was pretty nervous actually, though I knew I had a pretty good run but you really never know in skiing," Mancuso said.

"I felt like I executed everywhere I could, with no real big mistakes and my lines were good, so I just had to wait."

Mancuso underwent surgery to correct a long-term hip problem in the off-season and said: "I'm just coming back from that and it's been tough but I knew I had a pretty good run, it felt smooth.

She paid tribute to former boyfriend Steve Nyman, who celebrated his maiden win in the Val Gardena downhill on Sunday.

"I want to thank Steve because he inspired me to this victory," said Mancuso.

The pair, still close friends, trained together in Hawaii before the season started.

Kildow, who had a stomach bug over the weekend, recovered in time to snatch a podium finish that strengthened her lead in the downhill World Cup standings.

"I did not ski that good today so I am looking forward to tomorrow," said Kildow. "I was low on a couple of turns. I will watch my run on video but the mistakes are obvious."

The women race a second downhill here on Wednesday before the slalom specialists turn out on Thursday.

By finishing second, Goetschl moved up to second in the overall World Cup standings behind Nicole Hosp. Another good result on Wednesday would allow her to overtake her compatriot.

"The course was very demanding so I am happy to be on the podium," said Goetschl, who won a super-G in Reiteralm, Austria, at the weekend.

Sweden's former overall World Cup champion Anja Paerson, who has yet to win a race this season, finished fourth with local favorite Ingrid Jacquemod in fifth place.

Local organizers have had a chaotic fortnight after scheduled men's and women's World Cup races had to be called off because of warm weather.

Fresh snow and colder temperatures allowed the French resort to step in to recover one of its own races plus weather-hit events from St Moritz and Megeve.

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