41.   Ortlieb, a former olympic downhill champion, took Val Gardena.

42.   Putting on a brave face and a smile, World Cup downhill champion Stephan Eberharter insisted Olympic bronze was just dandy.

43.   Seizinger, the defending Olympic downhill champion, finished a disappointing sixth and has yet to win a race in the new year.

44.   Reigning world downhill champion Hillary Lindh called a news conference for Thursday afternoon at which she was expected to announce her retirement.

45.   She is also the defending World Cup downhill champion and leads the standings this year.

46.   Seizinger, the Olympic downhill champion, finished eighth Friday and failed to improve her third place in the World Cup standings.

47.   Seizinger is the defending Olympic downhill champion.

48.   Second, just six-hundredths of a second behind, went to Hannes Trinkl, the world downhill champion at St. Anton, Austria, last month.

49.   She was the downhill champion two years ago and runnerup to Seizinger last season.

50.   Street, the defending World Cup downhill champion, and other top World Cup skiers said they would not start in the race unless organizers improve safety.