Cesana Pariol, Italy – So far, so good for Highlands Ranch luger Courtney Zablocki.
With two runs behind her and two more set for tonight, Zablocki is in fourth place, with a shot at a medal.
“I’m very happy,” Zablocki said. “I’m very pleased with that so far.”
Sylke Otto of the dominant German team is in first place with an aggregate advantage of 0.268 seconds over the slider in second place, fellow German Silke Kraushaar. Another German, Tatjana Huefner, is 0.517 back in third.
Zablocki is only 0.004 seconds behind Huefner.
“I’m not in a bad position,” Zablocki said. “I’m going to come back and do the best I can and hope that it will bump me up.”
Zablocki was third-fastest in the first run, breaking up the typical logjam of Germans at the top of the standings.
“Seeing that someone can break into that group maybe gives them a little bit of a heads-up,” Zablocki said. “At the same time, it probably (angers them).”
Teammate Samantha Retrosi of Saranac Lake, N.Y., had a bad crash during the second run and was flown by helicopter to the same trauma hospital in Turin where Ski Club Vail skier Lindsey Kildow was taken earlier in the day.
“Everything is looking good,” said Ed Ryan, USOC director of sports medicine.
“All of her scans have come back normal. She will spend the night at the hospital because she has a slight concussion. But again, the scans and the other tests have all been normal. She’ll be re-evaluated in the morning, and we expect her to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.”
Zablocki, 25, finished 13th at the Salt Lake Olympics and is the only woman on the U.S. team with Olympic experience. U.S. women have not won an Olympic medal, having come close twice. Cammy Myler (in 1992) and Becky Wilczak (2002) each slid to fifth place. Zablocki was fifth in a World Cup on this track in November.
“Having the first day done, you feel a little bit of relief going into the second day,” Zablocki said, “but at the same time, it’s not over.”
