13 March 2003 - 21:44 Deneriaz beats Eberharter, Rahlves in last downhill Dorfmeister clinches women's title

KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) _ Antoine Deneriaz won the last men's World Cup downhill of the season Wednesday, while Michaela Dorfmeister clinched the women's downhill title despite finishing sixth. Antoine Deneriaz showed his fast training run was no fluke, winning the last World Cup downhill of the season Wednesday on Lillehammer's Olympic hill. Racing in windy conditions that forced organizers to shorten the Olympiabakken by 394 meters, the Frenchman was timed in 1 minute, 28.37 seconds. It was his second downhill win of the season.

Antoine Deneriaz

Deneriaz posted the fastest training run Tuesday down the 3,035-meter course.
Stephan Eberharter of Austria, the World Cup overall leader who already clinched the downhill title, was 0.17 behind in second place. With his rival Bode Miller finishing out of the points, Eberharter increased his overall lead to 173 points over the American.

Three races remain, including a Super-G on Thursday at Kvitfjell and a giant slalom and slalom at Hafjell's Olympic courses this weekend.
American Dahron Rahlves, who won back-to-back downhills here three years ago for his first World Cup triumphs, finished third. He was .21 behind Deneriaz.
Nicolas Burtin, another Frenchman, placed fourth, 0.37 back, followed by Norway's Kjetil-Andre Aamodt, one of skiing's all-time greats. Aamodt was .078 behind the
winner.

Dahron Rahlves

Renate Goetschl, Dorfmeister's Austrian teammate, won the women's race on the same course in 1:35.32 and narrowly missed the downhill title by four points.
Dorfmeister won the downhill title with 372 points from six races. Goetschl finished with 368 and third-place Kirsten Clark of the United States with 316.

Renate Goetschl

"It was a tough race in a way because at the start I didn't know what I had to do to win the downhill cup," said Dorfmeister, who also beat Goetschl for the overall
title last year. "In the finishing area, I didn't know I had won the downhill title before I was told. It was a big goal of mine ... an important victory."

Michaela Dorfmeister

Dorfmeister prevailed by a razor-thin margin. If she had skied the course just seven-hundredths slower for seventh place, Goetschl would have gotten the title.
Clark also was third in the race, 0.35 behind Goetschl. France's Ingrid Jacquemod, who was fastest in training, placed second, 0.32 behind.
"This season has been great for me, I've been consistent," said Clark, who scored points in every race.
"Being third in the standings is definitely exciting." Deneriaz said that clocking the fastest time in training gave him momentum on the shortened course.
"I didn't ski well on the top of the hill in training," the Frenchman said. "I couldn't have dreamed of a better result."
Deneriaz, who posted the fastest training run Tuesday down the 3,035-meter course, won a World Cup downhill at Val Gardena, Italy, in December 2002. In last month's World Championships in Switzerland, the Frenchman was eighth. He finished out of the points in the last World Cup race at Garmisch, Germany, winding up a disappointing 35th.
"In St. Moritz (Switzerland) the wind was against me, but when I saw it here I hoped it would be in my favor," he said.

Stephan Eberharter

Stephan Eberharter of Austria, the World Cup overall leader who had clinched the downhill title, was 0.17 behind in second place.
With his rival Bode Miller finishing out of the points, Eberharter increased his overall lead to 173 points over the American.
"I tried to go as fast as I could," said Miller, who was 25th out of 27 finishers. "That's what I've been doing all season. But it's a pretty difficult course for me."
Three races remain, including a Super-G on Thursday at Kvitfjell and a giant slalom and slalom at Hafjell's Olympic courses this weekend.
American Dahron Rahlves, who won back-to-back downhills here three years ago for his first World Cup triumphs, finished third. He was .21 behind Deneriaz.
"I made a mistake near the Russi," said Rahlves, referring to the big jump named for Swiss downhill great Bernhard Russi, who designed the course.
Nicolas Burtin, another Frenchman, placed fourth, 0.37 back, followed by Norway's Kjetil-Andre Aamodt, one of skiing's all-time greats. Aamodt was .078 behind the
winner.

Eberharter topped the final men's DH standings with 790 points. Rahlves was second with 593 while Deneriaz took sixth with 337 points.

AP, 13.03.2003