Kostelic Adds to Her Legacy

One by one, the U.S. skiers crept into the medal picture -- Kaylin Richardson into third, Julia Mancuso into second.

And one by one, in what seemed a predetermined course of action, they were knocked out of contention as the top half of the draw took to the hill.

Indeed, it was not surprising to see Croatian Janica Kostelic glide across the finish line Saturday at a blistering pace to win the Alpine combined competition for the second consecutive Olympics.

Just as it was no real surprise to see the U.S. women shut out of the event for the sixth consecutive Olympics -- dating to 1948, when Gretchen Fraser won the silver.

As a result, the U.S. women have yet to attain a podium position after two Alpine skiing events at the Turin Games.

“One thing that I think is too bad about the United States is that we get so caught up in the medal count, so caught up with every Olympics,” said Richardson, of Edina, Minn., whose downhill time of 1:31.83 placed her 17th overall.

“I think that the real Olympic spirit is just representing your country and this whole competition is a unifying event: countries competing against each other, having a fair competition with other people.

“Yeah, of course I want medals, I want to be on the podium. Everyone wants to be on the podium. But we’re giving it our best so I don’t think there should be any regrets at the end of any race if we’re not in the medal count.”

The Europeans might offer a different viewpoint, as they seem to be all about the medal count. By finishing ahead of Austrian Marlies Schild (silver) and Swede Anja Paerson (bronze), Kostelic cemented her status as one of the all-time best female Alpine skiers, even after sitting out Wednesday’s downhill event because of illness.

At Salt Lake City, besides winning the gold in the Alpine combined, Kostelic was triumphant in the giant slalom and slalom, and claimed a silver medal in the super-giant slalom.

“She’s just mentally very strong,” said Resi Stiegler of Jackson Hole, Wyo., who ended up 11th. “The bottom line is, she’s very smooth and she knows how to attack under pressure and that’s pretty much why she’s the best.”

Kostelic, winner of the 2005 world championships, entered Saturday’s downhill portion of the Alpine combined in second place, trailing Schild by 0.46 of a second with a two-run time of 1:21.68 in the slalom.

Kostelic, the stronger of the two in the downhill, lived up to Stiegler’s assessment of her with a near-flawless run -- and race-best time of 1:29.40 -- on a course shortened slightly because of bad weather.

Schild could manage only a seventh-best time of 1:30.36 in the downhill portion, but held on for the silver.

“I was shaking at the beginning,” Kostelic said. “It felt like a long time to the finish line. I wasn’t sure if I was first.”

Mancuso, the United States’ top prospect going in, despite her 11th-place standing after the slalom portion, had the best downhill run of the U.S. skiers, 1:30.84.

It put the resident of Squaw Valley, Calif., briefly into second place but she ultimately finished ninth and afterward walked past reporters, refusing to be interviewed.

She apparently does not share Richardson’s opinion on what the Olympics are all about.