Winter Sports Roundup: Kildow, Lalive 1-2 in downhill

VAL D'ISERE, France — The snow was heavy and the wind swirled so badly the skiers could hardly see. It didn't seem to matter in the least for Lindsey Kildow and Caroline Lalive.

Kildow won a World Cup downhill Saturday, with Lalive the runner-up — the first 1-2 downhill finish for U.S. women since Picabo Street and Hilary Lindh in 1994.

In a big boost for the Americans with the Turin Olympics looming, Kildow and Lalive also become the first American women to finish among the top three at Val d'Isere since Street placed second in a downhill in 1996.

"It's really great for our team today and really great for me," Lalive said. "It's almost four years since I've been on the podium. I've definitely had some moments when I thought about quitting. But I told myself how much I love skiing, and that was my light at the end of the tunnel."

Kildow won a downhill race for the second time this season, ending a nine-year medal drought for American women at Val d'Isere. She credited teammate Julia Mancuso, who was 12th.

"She gave me firsthand knowledge of the course, that the course was in good shape, and that I needed to be really aggressive," Kildow said.

Ohno on top of his game

MARQUETTE, Mich. — An older, wiser Apolo Anton Ohno seems just as motivated, just as passionate, just as eager to win Olympic medals as the soul-patched teenager from the Salt Lake City Games.

Not that he's making any predictions for Turin.

Short track is too capricious — even for someone as talented as Ohno — to come up with a forecast for gold, silver or bronze. The goals for this sport must be doled out in generalities.

Ohno won seven of eight events at the short-track national championships to earn a trip to his second straight Olympics.

"You can say you want to get on the podium," Ohno said. "But anything can happen. There are no guarantees."

Other events

• Tony Benshoof, America's best hope for an Olympic medal in singles luge, finished second for the third time in World Cup racing this season at an event in Lake Placid, N.Y. Benshoof clinched a spot on the U.S. team weeks ago.

• Skiing before cowbell-clanging home fans, Canada cross-country star Beckie Scott led the entire way and held off Russia's Julija Tchepalova to win a 15-kilometer classic World Cup race in Canmore, Alberta. Kris Freeman was the top American, finishing 20th.

• Bode Miller finished eighth in a World Cup downhill won by Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein amid snowdrifts and strong wind in Val Gardena, Italy. Miller, also eighth in the super-G, regained the lead in the overall standings. The New Hampshire skier leads Austria's Michael Walchhofer by 22 points. Scott Macartney of Redmond tied for 10th.

• Germany's Matthias Hoepfner edged American Todd Hays by .08 seconds to win his first World Cup bobsled race, held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Hays and Steve Mesler finished with a total time of 1:47.08. Hays leads the World Cup overall standings with 340 points.

• Shaun White won his second straight halfpipe title in Breckenridge, Colo., to all but guarantee himself a spot on the U.S. Olympic snowboarding team. Gretchen Bleiler won the women's event.

• Snowstorms and strong wind forced the cancellation of a men's World Cup large hill ski-jumping event in Engelberg, Switzerland.

• Organizers canceled the ski-jumping stage of a Nordic combined World Cup event because of strong wind and heavy snow in Ramsau, Austria.

• The Swiss Ski Association lost its appeal of Didier Defago's disqualification from last weekend's World Cup super-combined race. Defago initially was awarded the victory in Val d'Isere but was disqualified for an equipment infraction.