Wildschoenau, Austria (Saturday, January 31, 2004) - The downhill race on the first day of the IPC World Disabled Alpine Championships were, as Sesame Street would say, "brought to you by the number 3." U.S. disabled skiers had three gold medals, three bronze medals and three near-miss fourth-place finishes.

Mon-skiers Lacey Heward (LW-11; Boise, ID) and Kevin Bramble (LW-12/1; Truckee, CA) plus one-legged racer Allison Jones (LW-2; Colorado Springs, CO) all won their class. In addition, Sandy Dukat (LW-2; Chicago), Csilla Kristoff (LW-6/8; Las Vegas) and Stephani Victor (LW-12/2; Park City, UT) will be taking home a bronze medal.

"I'm so grateful to the people of Wildschoenau for excellent racing conditions," Heward – the defending women's World Cup champion – said after winning by more than three seconds. "I feel great about today."

Jones added, "The course was in great shape. It was getting faster and faster all week. I was really ready to charge after it today."

Bramble had led training runs and keptup the speed when the championship was at stake. "I felt very strong going into today, like winning was a realistic possibility for me," he said. "I'm not entirely satisfied with my performance but it got the job done, and now I look forward to going for it again in super G."

"I'm extremely happy with today's race results," said U.S. head Coach kevin jardine. Several athletes performed well and we're looking for even more podiums in the days to come..

He and Coach Erin Sullivan pointed out that racing earlier in the week on the Wildschoenau hill - in super G and giant slalom World Cups - proved advantageous to the Americans. With a bright sun and fast conditions, it was an outstanding start – for the U.S. racers and for the organizers – to the 2004 World Championships.


IPC WORLD ALPINE DISABLED CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wildschoenau, AUT – Jan. 31
Downhill (All times adjusted)

Men

Mono-skiers (LW-12)
1. Kevin Bramble, LW-12/1,Truckee, Calif., 1:16.70
2. Thomas Mayer, LW-12/1, Germany, 1:18.14
3. Hans Joerg Arnold, Switzerland, 1:21.00
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5. Daniel Metivier, LW-12/1, Park City, Utah, 1:29.11
DNF: Tyler Walker, LW-12/2, Franconia, N.H.; Chris Devlin-Young, LW-12/1, Campton, N.H.

Mono-skiers (LW-11)
1. Harald Eder, LW-11, Austria, 1:20.62
2. Andreas Schiestl, LW-11, Austria, 1:20.96
3. Fabrizio Zardini, LW-11, Italy, 1:21.13
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4. Joe Tompkins, LW-11, Juneau, Alaska, 1:22.48

Mono-skiers (LW-10)
1. Ronny Persson, LW-10, Sweden, 1:24.90
(All other racers were DNF or disqualified)
DNF: Nick Catanzarite, LW-10, Winter Park, Colo.

Standups (LW-2)
1. Cameron Rahles-Rabula, Australia, 1:19.85
2. Michael Milton, Australia, 1:21.04
3. Florian Planker, Italy, 1:21.80
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7. Monte Meier, Hastings, Minn., 1:25.27
8. Chris Canfield, Breckenridge, Colo., 1:26.71
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DNF: Ralph Green, Fraser, Colo.

Standups (LW-3/5/7/9)
1. Gerd schoenfelder, LW-5/7, Germany, 1:20.10
2. Thomas Pfyl, LW-9/2, Switzerland, 1:21.46
3. Romain Riboud, LW-9/2, France, 1:22.19
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4. George Sansonetis, LW-9/2, Fraser, Colo., 1;22.97

Standups LW-4)
1. Hans Burns, Switzerland, 1:18.61
2. Hubert Mandl, Austria, 1:19.44
3. Manfred Auer, 1:22.21
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4. Clay Fox, Gillette, Wyo., 1:22.60

Women

Mono-skiers (LW10-12)
1. Lacey Heward, LW-11, Boise, Idaho, 1:27.46
2. Tatsuko Aoki, LW-10, Japan, 1:30.65
3. Stephani Victor, LW-12/2, Park City, Utah, 1:32.58
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DNF: Laurie Stephens, LW-12/1, Wenham, Mass.

Standups (LW-2)
1. Allison Jones, Colorado Springs, Colo., 1:29.13
2. Danja Haslacher, Austria, 1:29.80
3. Sandy Dukat, Chicago, 1:33.07

Standups (LW-3/6/8/9)
1. Solene Jambaque, LW-9/2, France, 1:28.18
2. Iveta Chlebakova, LW-6/8, Slovakia, 1:29.47
3T. Csilla Kristof, LW-6/8, Las Vegas, 1:30.44
3T. Karin Fasel, LW-6/8, Switzerland, 1:30.44