Germany's slalom Olympic Champion Hilde Gerg won her fourth race of the season in Cortina d'Ampezzo's Super-G which took place by beautiful weather conditions.

The Bavarian beat by a mere 1/100 of a second Austria's Renate Goetschl and by 20/100 the former double World Champion Alexandra Meissnitzer who reached her first World Cup podium since the Finals at Sierra Nevada in March 1999.

The leader in the Overall World Cup standings, Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister had to be content with a far 8th place yet she remains 65 points ahead of Gerg in the general classifications before the downhill on Saturday.

An impressive performance for Janica

But the most impressive performance of the day may well have been achieved by Croatia's Janica Kostelic, who conquered an unprecedented 4th place in that event - only 18/100 of a second away from her very first podium in Super-G.

She opened the race with her bib # 1 and then she beat several experts as Switzerland's Corinne Rey Bellet or Italy's Karen Putzer, recent winner at St Moritz.

Janica was in the same time quite glad to have improved her best result in Super-G (she was 5th once here in the past) and a little disappointed to have missed her first podium by a few hundredths.

"I didn't ski so well in the upper part, I felt slow, but at the bottom I had quite a good rhythm" she said afterwards. "I really enjoyed this run, I have fun skiing on this slope. It's here that I started my World Cup career in GS back in January 1998!"

"I haven't trained a lot Super-G this fall, so I'm don't expect too much from myself at the start of the races. I had a good result already at Val d'Isere and this one confirms me that I'm becoming a good glider".

"I still feel some pain in my body, but it's definitely going better. My 3rd place from Berchtesgaden was a strong boost for my moral. I hope to keep on improving in the next weeks before the Olympics".

"I don't know yet how I'll prepare them, I may take a break. Downhill training start at Snowbasin only a few days after the races at Are and I don't know if it makes sense to go there. I'm tired and I need to resource myself now in order to be rested and fresh for the Olympics".

"I wish to enjoy them. I have nothing to lose there and this should help me to be quite relaxed. Everything is possible on a given day. The important is to have a positive attitude there".

Janica is skipping the downhill to train some GS before the race on Sunday.

Next week, she will, decide of her way to approach the Olympics.

Best season for Gerg

Hilde Gerg is enjoying her best season on the World Cup tour for many years. She won her third consecutive speed event after domination the two downhills at Saalbach two weeks ago.

In December, she won a Super-G at Val d'Isere which helps her to clearly lead the World Cup standings in that event. In 1997, she already captured the World Cup title during the Finals at Vail before her golden win at Nagano in slalom.

"I don't know why I'm having such a great season this winter, maybe because I'm enjoying a lot to compete in the speed events after my injury two years ago" Gerg said at the Press Conference.

"I trained well last summer and I'm really having a great time on course. I don't feel pressure. My confidence is growing after each success and this allows me to take each time more risks. The conditions were quite demanding today because of the ruts and the soft snow, but I handled it well. I'm really luck to have won the race by only 1/100. I hope to be as lucky next month at Salt Lake City. I don't mind skipping the Olympic slalom because I know I have strong medals chances in the speed event. I don't know if I'll ever be able to ski again in slalom. I'll undergo another surgery next spring to take off the long nail which has been put in my left leg and this will force me to take a long break. Afterwards, I prefer to focus on my strong events instead of trying an eventual comeback in slalom. The technique has changed a lot in the past two years and it would be too much a hassle to train slalom".

"I prefer to give my best in the speed events where I'm feeling well. I aim to win another Super-G World Cup title and a medal at Salt Lake City. I'm too weak in giant slalom to have a serious chance to be a threat for Michaela Dorfmeister who can win in three specialties".

In Saturday's downhill, Goetschl, Gerg and Kostner should fight again for victory in the sixth downhill of the season. Kostner won it several times in recent winter - the skier from Val Gardena is always very motivated when she is skiing here in front of her fans. "It's my preferred race and I wish to strike back after my disappointing results at Saalbach two weeks ago" she said.