World Cup Fourth for Mancuso

LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (March 17) – Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) skied into eighth place Sunday during the World Cup giant slalom final, finalizing her fourth place overall finish in the Audi FIS World Cup standings for the second year in a row. Sunday capped an historic season for the Best in the World U.S. Ski Team with 18-year-old teammate Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) climbing to the fifth overall position and taking the globe for slalom. Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) won a record 17th globe for downhill and finished eighth overall despite her season-ending injury in Schladming. Slovenian Tina Maze won the giant slalom race Sunday. Next the team returns home for the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at Squaw Valley.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) skied into eighth place Sunday during the World Cup giant slalom final, finalizing her fourth place overall finish in the Audi FIS World Cup standings for the second year in a row.
• Sunday capped an historic season for the Best in the World U.S. Ski Team.
• Eighteen-year-old teammate Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) rose to the fifth overall position after finishing 43rd overall last season.
• Saturday, Shiffrin took the World Cup slalom title and became the first U.S. slalom World Cup champion since Tamara McKinney in 1983-84.
• She made history as the fourth youngest woman to win a globe and the sixth youngest woman to win any World Cup title.
• She was also the third non-European woman to ever win the slalom crystal globe after McKinney and then Betsy Clifford in 1970-71.
• Her win Saturday made her the first non-European to win four World Cup slalom races in a season.
• She became the eighth woman, and third in a row after Germany’s Maria Hfl-Riesch and Austria’s Marlies Schild, to win the World Championship slalom title and the World Cup slalom crystal globe in the same year.
• On Wednesday, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) won a record 17th globe for downhill and finished eighth overall despite her season-ending injury in Schladming.
• It was a record sixth straight downhill title, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished by either gender.
• Vonn's 17th World Cup title broke the women’s record of 16 she previously shared with Annemarie Moser-Proell. Only Ingemar Stenmark has more with 19.
• Wednesday also cemented the U.S. Ski Team’s win in the women’s nation downhill standings by 457 points; 1,330 to 873 over the Swiss.
• All six women on the speed team made it onto the podium at least once this season, a goal they all set in the beginning of the season.
• Slovenian Tina Maze won the giant slalom race Sunday.
• Shiffrin finished eleventh on the slick, inconsistent snow.
• Next the team returns home for the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at Squaw Valley.

QUOTES
Julia Mancuso
Yeah, I had some good results in the end. It’s been up and down, but with the new ski regulations it’s been hard for me to really find the groove. It’s looking good. I’m happy to have two good GS finishes at the end of the year and I look forward to next year.

I’m still working to step up my game there (in speed). Super G was really good, but I hope to win some races next year. I’m going to work hard this summer and hope everything goes well.

In ski racing you need a little bit of luck too. Hopefully those hundredths that went the wrong way for me this year will come back around next year.

Mikaela Shiffrin
I had some things I could have done better today. I’m definitely tired. I skied a lot of days before yesterday. I put a lot of my energy into that second run. I just tried to get a good night’s sleep, but I'm not full of energy today. You have to be able to work with that, which is something I’m learning.

I think I need a little bit more training. I’ve had an amazing season in GS so far. It’s just improved so much from last year and throughout the season. There’s a couple things that I’m working on that I want to keep moving forward with.

RESULTS
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Women’s World Cup Standings

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