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(adds detail, quotes) By Julien Pretot VAL D'ISERE, France, Dec 17 - Lindsey Kildow of
the United States won a controversial weather-affected women's
World Cup downhill race on Saturday. The 21-year-old took advantage of improving conditions on
the Oreiller-Killy piste to claim victory in a time of one
minute 21.91 seconds and increase her lead at the top of the
World Cup downhill standings. "The race should not have taken place," said Austria's
Michaela Dorfmeister, who missed the podium in a speed event for
the first time this season by placing eighth but retained her
overall World Cup lead. "It was totally unfair. We could not see anything. I'm glad
I reached the finish area without hurting myself." Caroline Lalive made it a great day for the Americans,
claiming second place in a time of 1:22.29 with Austria's
Alexandra Meissnitzer third quickest in 1:22.30. "We all know everyone was not competing in the same
conditions," said Meissnitzer. The race had been delayed by 90 minutes because of high
winds and light snowfall in the French resort. Several early
runners crashed in poor visibility, forcing further stoppages. Among those who fell were Austrian Karin Blaser, who was
taken away on a stretcher with a suspected injury to her left
knee. SECOND VICTORY Kildow scored her second successive downhill victory after
winning in Lake Louise earlier this month. She has won two of
the three downhills staged so far. "The conditions were tough and it was really difficult to do
well," said Kildow. "I have a good feeling in downhill and I had
a lot of confidence after Lake Louise." The rising American, who will be one to watch at the Turin
Winter Olympics in February, became the first woman to win two
races this season. Germany's Petra Haltmayr finished a surprise fourth ahead of
Croatia's gifted all rounder Janica Kostelic. Dorfmeister tops the overall World Cup standings with 366
points, followed by Kildow in 322 and Meissnitzer on 320. Early starters could hardly see a thing but the skies then
cleared and there were patches of blue over the picturesque
Alpine village towards the end of the race, although the wind
was still strong at the top. The race was stopped again, this time for good, after 47 of
the 63 starters had skied down. The results will count according
to the rules of the International Ski Federation. A super-G on Sunday completes the programme of the
early-season classic, celebrating its 50th anniversary this
year.
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