CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, 19 January 2004 - Lindsey Kildow confirmed her status as the bright young hope of American skiing with her first World Cup podium place in yesterday's downhill race in the Dolomites.
Nineteen-year-old Kildow's third place put her ahead of a host of established European skiers such as Germany's Hilde Gerg and Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister and she was just 0.24 seconds behind yesterday's winner, Olympic champion Carole Montillet. Another American, Kirsten Clark, finished fifth to complete a great weekend young American team.
in downhill for the Americans who are coached by Austrians Patrick Rimland and Alex Hoedelmoser.
In Saturday's race Kildow finished fifth with the 26-year-old Clark one place behind her, results that show the promise of an exciting Kildow believes that with her results in Cortina she has now arrived as a member of the elite in women's downhill.
It was an emotional day for Kildow who keeps contact with her family via phone and email and is not expecting to be back home until May as she copes with the tiring schedule of competing in four Alpine disciplines. With no live television coverage of the race in the United States, Kildow's father watched the results flash up on the Internet. "He was crying, he was so proud of me," the skier said. The Vail-based racer began the season in the US B-team but grabbed attention with a 15th place at Lake Louise early in the season. Kildow said that nerves had been the main reason why she had been unable to translate fast times in practice sessions into top placements when it mattered.
"You know you can do it but you come into the race and think you can get on the podium and that becomes a bit nerve-racking but I got that out of my system after Lake Louise," she said.
