Downhill Skiing is one of the most dangerous and demanding events of the Alpine events in the Winter Olympics. The Men's Downhill was a few days ago and now it's time for Women's Downhill at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The event takes place Tuesday morning (2/12), with a start time of 2:00 am (ET). The events will be televised live at www.nbcolympics.com or you can Check your local listings to find out when you can catch the action on television, tape-delay style. Odds for the top 12 in the event are listed below, with a slightly detailed look at the top 5 in the field.
Julia Mancuso (USA) is one of two co-favorites for the event at 7/2 odds. Mancuso finished third in the women's first trial run with a time of 1 minute 42.11, which was less than a half second off of Anna Fenniger’s leading pace. The five-time medalist earned a gold medal at Turin in 2006 on the giant slalom and took home a pair of silver medals in Vancouver in the super combined and the downhill, plus a couple of days ago she took the bronze in the super combined. Julia finished 9th in the Downhill World Cup standings in 2013 and is primed to show that she can lead the USA, especially with Lindsey Vonn out.
Anna Fenninger (Austria) is the Co- Favorite at 7-2 odds. Anna finished eighth in the women's super combined. Anna had the fastest time in a training run that had to be halted early on so workers could alter a harrowing jump. She the course in 1 minute, 41.73 seconds to put herself 0.21 seconds ahead of Fraenzi Aufdenblatten of Switzerland. Anna finished the 2013 season ranked 8th in the Downhill World Cup standings and in 2 downhill events in 2014 she finished 3rd at Canada and she finished 2nd in Austria. Clearly she has some momentum heading into this event.
Maria Hoefl-Riesch (Germany) is next at 4/1 odds. Maria has already had a nice Olympics, after grabbing gold in the super combined, which was her second straight Olympic gold in that event. Hoefl-Riesch is a force to be reckoned with on the slopes even though her downhill run from the super combined was not spectacular (she had to settle for fifth). At a height of 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), she is one of the tallest women on the World Cup circuit and the last 5 years in the downhill World Cup standings she has finished no lower than 4th. She is truly a force on the slopes.
Lara Gut (Switerland) checks in at 6/1 odds. In the Super combined, Laura finished 2nd in the downhill portion of the event with a time of 1:43.15. Laura comes in with plenty of momentum as he has been involved had 6 races this year and finished 1st in 5 of them and 2nd in the other. One of those events was the downhill at Beaver Creak, USA and she took the gold in that event. In 2013 she finished 5th in the World Cup standings in the Downhill. She has been a major player on the World Cup circuit since she was only 15 years old, and her speed and precision make her one to watch.
Tina Maze (Solvenia) is next at 8/1 Odds. Tina finished 3rd in the downhill portion of the super combined with a time of 1:43.54. In February 2008, she won the first downhill in her career (also the first Slovenian female downhill victory) in St. Moritz, Switzerland. This was her first non-Giant slalom win. Maze reached the podium 24 times during the 2013 World Cup season, breaking the record of 22 set by Austrian skiing legend Hermann Maier in 2000. Maze also obliterated the women's record of 18 top-three finishes in one season. With a strong showing in the downhill portion of the super combined, she appears poised to be a major threat.
Next 7 Downhill Odds... Fabienne Suter- Switzerland (16/1)... Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden- Switzerland (18/1)... Elisabeth Goergl- Austria (22/1)... Dominique Gisin- Switzerland (28/1)... Stacey Cook- USA (28/1)... Kajsa Kling- Sweden (33/1)... Lotte Smiseth Sejersted- Norway (40/1)
Prediction: Gonna go with our very own Julia Mancuso to take this one. She had a solid run in the downhill portion of the super combined and she had a strong downhill training run as well. She is primed for the gold here and will eek out a win vs Laura Gut, who should take the Silver, while I look for Tina maze to take the Silver. Sorry Maria I just dont feel you will medal in this race.
Many thanks to Wikipedia, Bleacher Report & NBC Olympics for providing the info needed for this article.
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