Winter Sports: U.S. women show depth on slopes

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Austrian power and American depth were on display on the final chilly day of women's World Cup skiing at Lake Louise.

Austrians swept the top three spots and U.S. skiers had five of the 14 best performances Sunday in the first women's super-giant slalom of the season.

Alexandra Meissnitzer, 32, needed 1 minute, 21.73 seconds to earn her 14th career World Cup victory. Andrea Fischbacher, 20, was second and Michaela Dorfmeister, 32, was third.

"We are now probably the older ones," Meissnitzer said of the one-three finishers, "but we are still able to ski fast."

Italy's Elena Fanchini, winner of Friday's downhill, is 20. American Lindsey Kildow, the downhill champion on Saturday, is 21.

Kildow was the top U.S. finisher in the Super-G at sixth. Kirsten Clark of Raymond, Maine, was seventh.

Bellevue's Libby Ludlow, who underwent major knee surgery in March, was a career-best 10th.

Her previous best World Cup finish was 11th in Are, Sweden, in February 2004.

"I don't think people really understand the pressure I had last spring in the kind of situation I was going through with my knee," the 24-year-old Ludlow said. "The progress I've made in the last eight months is, like, incredible. To be skiing in these kind of conditions without any knee pain is just the coolest thing ever."

An arctic front kept temperatures in single digits throughout the competition. It was 8 degrees at the finish line Sunday.

Kildow, who is from Vail, Colo., admitted to a case of nerves after Renate Goetschl of Austria crashed before her.

"I knew that Goetschl had crashed and it was a little bumpy in some sections," Kildow said. "I don't know, I was kind of nervous, more than I usually am."

Ligety finishes 3rd

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — After two days of the Bode & Daron Show, Ted Ligety gave a glimpse of what the new generation of U.S. men's skiers can do.

Making the most of an aggressive approach on a tricky slope that got the best of reigning overall champion Bode Miller and many others, Ligety finished a career-best third in a World Cup slalom won by Giorgio Rocca of Italy.

Stephane Tissot of France was second.

Ligety, a 21-year-old from Park City, Utah, capped a superb three days for the American team, perhaps an indication of what to expect at the Turin Olympics in February. Veterans Daron Rahlves and Miller were first and second in Friday's downhill, then reversed that order in Saturday's giant slalom.

"Today, unfortunately, Bode went out, and I thought I'd carry the torch," Ligety said, his bronze medal dangling from his neck. "It's a great accomplishment to have a podium pretty much every day here."

Miller skidded out about 20 seconds into his opening run in the season's first slalom. Tom Rothrock of Cashmere placed 16th.

Notes

• Nabunari Oda, who lives 12 miles from Osaka, overcame an early mistake and beat an inspired performance by Evan Lysacek of Naperville, Ill., to win figure skating's NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan.

Oda fell on his opening triple-axel attempt — as did women's winner Yukari Nakano the day before — but came back to complete a triple-triple-double combination.

• Dutch speedskater Carl Verheijen set a world record at 10,000 meters, edging Chad Hedrick of Spring, Texas, at a World Cup meet in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Verheijen finished in 12 minutes, 57.92 seconds to surpass Jochem Uytdehaage's record by 0.10 seconds.

Germany's Anni Friesinger won the women's 1,500 in 1:54.66.

• Hannu Manninen of Finland edged Todd Lodwick of Steamboat Springs, Colo., by 0.4 seconds to take a World Cup Nordic combined sprint in Lillehammer, Norway.

Also in Lillehammer, Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic won a World Cup ski jump.