Vancouver Olympian Puckett And Italy's Kostner Capture 2010 Volvo Legends Of Skiing At Korbel American Ski Classic

Five-time U.S. Olympian Casey Puckett and Italy’s double Olympic bronze medalist Isolde Kostner added more hardware to their respective collections Thursday evening as the pair mined gold in the Volvo Legends of Skiing Giant Slalom at the 2010 Korbel American Ski Classic.

Puckett, a rookie Legend at this year’s Korbel American Ski Classic and fresh off his Vancouver Olympic skier cross competition, knocked off former U.S. Ski Team star Steve Mahre in the finals to claim the victory, while Kostner, the defending Korbel Ford Cup celebrity team captain, took out American Pam Fletcher in the gold medal pairing to notch the win.

Both Puckett and Kostner would need come-from-behind efforts to record their victories as Mahre enjoyed an eight-tenths of a second advantage at the start, while Fletcher left the horse-gate start three-tenths of a second ahead of the Italian.

A two-time Winter X gold medalist in Skier X, Puckett worked his way through the field of 22 Volvo Legends to the reach the top step of the podium, dispatching of Italy’s Michael Mair, Felix Belczyk of Canada and Norway’s Finn Christian Jagge in the process. Jagge would rebound to claim the bronze medal, defeating Paul Carson of Canada in the consolation round.

Kostner, who brings 15 career World Cup victories to the Korbel American Ski Classic, worked her way through the 10-woman Volvo Legends field, taking down Norway’s Toril Forland in the opener, before knocking out Karen Stemmle of Canada in the semi-final round. Stemmle would go on to win the bronze, eliminating former U.S. Ski Team member Barbara Ferries Henderson.

The Legends will now turn their attention to the Korbel Ford Cup celebrity team competition on Friday and Saturday, serving as captains for the 35 five-member teams in the weekend’s head-to-head racing format. The finals for the Korbel Ford Cup are slated for Saturday afternoon at Vail Mountain’s Golden Peak.

Posted in: American Ski Classic,Ford Cup,Legends,ski racing,vail,Vail Valley Foundation