ST. MORITZ, Switzerland—Elisabeth Goergl of Austria posted the fastest time in downhill training Wednesday on the Corviglia course, with overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn placing 15th.
Goergl clocked 1 minute, 41.08 seconds, 0.04 seconds ahead of Julia Mancuso of the United States. Sweden’s Anja Paerson was 0.33 back in third.
Vonn, who has won all five World Cup downhill races this season, trailed by 1.20 seconds on a clear, sunny morning.
Leanne Smith and Stacey Cook posted fast times one day after being selected to join Vonn and Mancuso, the defending Olympic champion in giant slalom, on the 22-member U.S. team in Alpine skiing at the Vancouver Games.
Smith, from Conway, N.H., trailed Goergl by 0.48 in sixth place and Cook, of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., was 0.84 back in eighth.
Switzerland’s Martina Schild was taken to a hospital after injuring her left knee landing a jump early in her run.
Schild won silver in downhill at the 2006 Turin Olympics, but could now miss the Feb. 12-28 Vancouver games. The women’s downhill is scheduled Feb. 17 at Whistler.
Schild’s teammate Dominique Gisin placed 35th Wednesday in a surprise comeback two weeks after undergoing knee surgery.
Gisin was expected to miss the Olympics after damaging the meniscus and ACL in her right knee in a Jan. 8 crash at Haus im Ennstal, Austria.
The 24-year-old speed specialist was the only racer to beat Vonn in three different downhill races last season.
Swiss women’s head coach Hugues Ansermoz said team doctors approved Gisin’s return on a home course despite her career history of knee trouble.
“Ultimately, a test on a known slope in the best conditions is better than trying first at the Olympics,” Ansermoz said.
Switzerland will name its Olympic team after the three-race St. Moritz meeting, the final World Cup stop before the games.
It opens Friday with a super-combined event comprising a super-G and a slalom, continues with a downhill and finishes Sunday with a super-G.
Vonn leads the World Cup standings in each event. Such is her dominance in downhill, the 25-year-old from Vail, Colo., could clinch the discipline title on Saturday with two races still on the schedule.
