By Mark Ledsom
SANTA CATERINA, Italy, Feb 3 - Sweden's Anja
Paerson gave further proof of her all-round ability on Thursday,
posting the fastest time in the final training session for
Sunday's world championship downhill.
Paerson, a surprise gold medallist in last Sunday's super-G,
has yet to decide whether she will even compete in the downhill,
and was using Thursday's training session mainly in preparation
for Friday's combined event.
The 23-year-old Swede, who started racing speed events only
last season, tore down the Deborah Compagnoni piste in one
minute 42.65 seconds, tying for the best time with France's
Ingrid Jacquemod.
Croatia's Janica Kostelic, one of Paerson's biggest rivals
in the combined event, had the third fastest time of the day,
0.10 seconds behind.
"I know people are calling me a favourite for the combined
because I've been really stable in my skiing recently and my
downhill's been going great," Paerson told Reuters in the finish
area. "But I hope people also remember that I'm new to downhill
and I haven't done a combined at all before."
While Paerson sought to play down her chances of a combined
medal, Kostelic was busy playing them up.
"I wasn't surprised that Anja won the super-G because she's
been getting really strong and was already second (in a January
World Cup super-G race) in Cortina d'Ampezzo," Kostelic pointed
out.
"I'm really relishing the competition with her."
America's Jonna Mendes and Caroline Lalive also posted
strong times on Thursday. Mendes, who is not due to compete in
the combined, was fourth quickest, 0.28 seconds behind Paerson
and Jacquemod. Lalive was fifth fastest, a further 0.07 behind.
Thursday's training session was only the second chance for
the women to go up against the clock on the downhill course,
after high winds forced the cancellation of timed training runs
on Tuesday and Wednesday.