American presence

SANTA CATERINA VALFURVA, Italy – Julia Mancuso gave the U.S. ski team its second medal in two days at the world championships.

She captured the bronze medal Sunday in a super giant slalom won by Sweden’s Anja Paerson. The third-place finish came a day after Bode Miller took the gold in a men’s super-G to open the competition.

The team’s goal of eight medals – split evenly between the men and the women – now looks as if it could be surpassed with nine events remaining.

“I didn’t think the goals were extraordinary,” said Mancuso, who finished among the top three for the first time at the sport’s highest level. “It can definitely be done, and there’s even more to come.”

Unlike Miller, however, Mancuso entered with little expectations. The biggest pre-race hope for the American women was Lindsey Kildow, who made several errors and finished ninth, 1.18 seconds behind Paerson.

Another American, Kirsten Clark, was 10th despite a concussion during training Monday, giving the United States three of the top 10 finishers.

Paerson, the defending overall World Cup winner, was timed in 1 minute, 17.64 seconds for her first major international title in a speed race. Lucia Recchia of Italy earned the silver, 0.45 behind. Mancuso trailed by 0.76 in the inaugural super-G on the new Deborah Compagnoni course.

“Today I was probably the most relaxed I’ve been in a race going out of the gate,” Mancuso said. “I think I timed everything right. I went back to the hotel after warmup and relaxed a little and then got up to the start about 15 minutes before and I was warm. It was perfect.”

An early starter, Mancuso also did well at getting through a treacherous upper part of the course, where many later skiers faltered.

“The course was faster and more technical than most people thought after inspection, and I guess I handled it better than some of the other skiers,” she said. “I think this medal takes a little pressure off. I’ve already got one medal in my pocket so I’ve already exceeded expectations.”

Mancuso set the U.S. record for junior world championship medals at eight, and posted top-10 World Cup results in all four disciplines this season, but she had never finished in the top three on the senior circuit.

“First time on the podium, and it’s at the world championships, that’s awesome,” U.S. women’s head coach Patrick Riml said.

Mancuso and Kildow are both 20, two of skiing’s young threats.

“Across the board I don’t have any super event, but I have 400 points now just from doing all events and getting top 10s,” said Mancuso, a Californian who is 12th in the overall World Cup standings. “And in the years to come I’ll have events where I’m ranked in the top three.”

Kildow, who ranks sixth overall, won one race and has finished among the top three six times this season.

“It’s really motivating because we watch each other and she doesn’t do anything special,” Mancuso said, referring to Kildow’s deceivingly relaxed form.

Mancuso and Kildow acknowledge a rivalry.

“We’ve been going head to head since we were young, so it’s nothing new for us,” Kildow said.

“Just maybe before no one noticed.”

Mancuso says there is room for both skiers to become team leaders.

“I don’t think it’s going to be like in the past with one face for the team because I think eventually all of our team is going to be in contention for any medal everywhere,” she said.