Mancuso was the fastest down the 2km-long course in a time of 1min 20.50secs, with Fenninger at 0.13sec back and Weirather, who also finished third in the previous day's downhill, was 0.45sec off the pace.

US ski queen Lindsey Vonn, who claimed her 50th World Cup victory on Saturday in the downhill, failed to finish as the tricky Kandahar course claimed several high-profile victims including giant slalom world champion Tina Maze.

"I like the tough courses and it was very hard as the light isn't so good, so you can't see a lot," said winner Mancuso, who took super-G silver when last year's world championships were held here.

"I like to see, it's better when it's sunny, but it gives me an advantage (in poor light), because I know I can perform in difficult conditions.

"I had to concentrate 100 percent as you can't afford to make a mistake."

Mancuso's victory claimed a second victory for the Stars and Stripes as Vonn slipped up after catching an edge which forced her to miss a gate in the middle section of the course, while Maze clipped a gate which knocked her off course.

Vonn had a three-minute delay at the start of her run, because a broken gate on the course needed to be fixed, but she was 0.21 seconds behind Mancuso on the second time split before she lost her line.

Last season's overall World Cup winner Maria Hoefl-Riesch, skiing on her home-town course, was 0.55secs off the pace to finish fourth, just as she had done the day before in the downhill.

For Mancuso, it was her first win and fourth top-three finish of the season.

"The course was set really fast, besides a couple of turns and I knew I had to push myself to the limit and make those technical sections clean," she said.

"Then it was just a case of trying to go as fast as possible.

"You couldn't see, I just had to try to stay on it, when the gates are coming at you, you have to keep the skis as stable as possible.

"I think in super-G, you have to keep your skis stable, it does matter where your line is, that is what I have learned this year, you have to go fast and not care where you are.

"I thought when I crossed the finish line, 'if that wasn't good enough, then I don't know what is', I didn't feel like I had the best run, but I kept my skis stable the whole way."

And Mancuso said she will celebrate her victory by watching the Super Bowl final between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots in Indianapolis.

"I'm going to celebrate by going to a Super Bowl party in Innsbruck," she said.

"I'm going for the Patriots, I am with a lot of Patriots fans like (US racer) Leanne (Smith), she's from the East, so I gotta cheer with her."

The exceptionally cold weather warmed slightly here as it was minus 20 on the course compared to -22 the previous day.

Posted on Monday, February 06, 2012 @ 06:01:07 JST by admin