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From the Olympics Toward Tomorrow
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Seizinger takes women's Olympic downhill
 Katja Seizinger of Germany |
10:15- Start
Defending champion Katja Seizinger of Germany etched her name into the history books Monday by winning her second women's Olympic downhill gold medal on the sun-bathed Happo-one piste in Hakuba.
Seizinger conquered the 2,653-meter course in 1 minute, 28.89 seconds to become the first woman ever to win an Alpine skiing event in back-to-back Olympics.
Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg, the women's Alpine combined gold medalist in Lillehammer, took the silver medal in 1:29.18 and Florence Masnada of France, third in two World Cup downhills this season, collected the bronze medal.
The fifth racer to start Monday as the skies cleared over Hakuba, Seizinger, 25, attacked the upper part of the course, aggressively navigating the high-speed turns and turned in a solid technical performance near the finish to post the day's standard that the other favorites could not match.
''The course was hard which made the skiing difficult. I challenged the course and skied to my personal limits and I'm happy I won,'' said Seizinger, currently the overall leader on the World Cup circuit with eight victories.
American Picabo Street, the winner of the women's super G last week and the downhill silver medalist in Lillehammer, was sixth with a 1:29.54.
''Downhills are very dangerous and very fast and intense. In order to be able to attack it, you've got to be able to trust yourself,'' said Street. ''I didn't trust myself today as much as I did in the super G and it shows.''
The women's downhill was one of the few events in the Nagano Olympics in which the Ski Association of Japan did not make an entry, saying it lacked anyone who would be competitive. (Kyodo News)
Results of Alpine skiing women's downhill Monday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Happo-one, Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture (course 2,656 meters, vertical drop 781 meters, 34 gates):
1. Katja Seizinger, Germany 1 minute, 28.89 seconds
2. Pernilla Wiberg, Sweden 1:29.18
3. Florence Masnada, France 1:29.37
4. Melanie Suchet, France 1:29.48
5. Svetlana Gladishiva, Russia 1:29.50
6. Picabo Street, U.S. 1:29.54
7. Regine Cavagnoud, France 1:29.72
8. Alexandra Meissnitzer, Austria 1:29.84
9. Katharina Gutensohn, Germany 1:29.96
9. Hilde Gerg, Germany 1:29.96
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Copyright 1999 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun