CAVAGNOUD, Regine (FRA) 27.06.1970 La lusaz 163cm / 64kg SKI: Salomon BOOTS: Salomon BINDING: Salomon 31,Oct,2001, loss of life Copper Mtn. 2000 GS/1st Cortina 2000 SG/1st St.Anton WM 01, SG/ 1st St.Anton WM01. Super-G, Podium World Cup Ranking General 1991/50th, 1992/51st, 1993/13th, 1994/28th, 1995/26th, 1996/46th, 1997/27th, 1998/28th, 1999/7th, 2000/3rd, 2001/3rd. Special 1999 DH/8th, SG/4th, 2000 SG/4th, DH/5th, GS/11th, 2001 SG/1st.DH/3rd, GS/14th. World Championships 1991 Saalbach DH/22nd, SG/12th, K/10th, 1993 Morioka DH/11th, SG/15th, K/11th, 1996 Sierra Nevada DH/26th, SG/25th, 1997 Sestriere DH/26th, SG/21st, 2001 St.Anton SG/1st, Olympic Games 1992 Albertvill DH/17th, SG/26th, K/10th, 1994 Lillehammer DH/26th, GS/18th, SG/11th, 1998 Nagano DH/7th, SG/16th, World Cup - 9 W. (3 DH, 5 SG, 1 GS) 1. DH: Cortina 99, Cortina 2000, Bormio 00. SG: Cotina 99-II, Val d'Isere 01, Val d'Isere 01, haus 01, Cortina 01. GS: Copper Mtn.00. 2. DH: Veysonnaz 93, Veysonnaz 99-II. SG: Val d'Isere 99, Sta.Caterina 2000, Aspen 01, Lake Louise 01. 3. DH: St.Moritz 01-II, SG: Veysonnaz 93, Cortina 99 I, St.Anton 2000, Are 01. GS: Val d'Isere 2000, Soelden 02. 4. DH: Veysonnaz 93-I, Lake Louisa 01-I+ II. SG: Are 93, St.Anton 99. GS: Soelden 01. 5. DH: Val d'Isere 98, Veysonnaz 99-I. A veteran on the French team, Regine Cavagnoud had to wait her 10th World Cup season to celebrate her very first success on the tour. At Cortina d'Ampezzo, she became the first skier in her team to win a downhill since the success of Caroline Attia at Sansicario in 1982. Then she was 3rd in the following Super-G but two days later, she also won the second Super-G held in the Italian resort. In the fourth event of that long week-end, a giant slalom, she achieved her best result in the specialty in being 4th. She traveled to Vail with the solid ambition to become the first French women to clinch a gold medal in a speed event at FIS World Championships. Unfortunately, she injured herself at a knee in Colorado while training in downhill. Yet the 29-year-old champion from La Clusaz, above Annecy, didn't want to throw the towel. She will try another comeback for the new Millenium. A promising junior in her younger years, the blond with husky-blue eyes was 20 at the 1991 World Championships at Saalbach when she became 22nd in downhill, 12th in Super-G and 10th in combined. Her progression was slow afterwards. In 1993 she was happy to score her first places on the podium on the demanding course at Veysonnaz, Switzerland. She was 2nd in downhill and 3rd in Super-G. But she couldn't do better than 11th in downhill at Morioka at the World Championships. Injures and health problems put her again on hold. She was not able to train as hard as request by her trainers because of pains at her back and she didn't dare to attack on the race courses. She only reached average results at the next medals events in 1994, 1996 and 1997. She put more pressure on herself in 1997 when she felt that she was risking to lose her spot on the national team. She gained her place in first seed in the speed events thanks to some top-10 places, including a 5th at Val d'Isere in December 1997, her best ranking since Veysonnaz. Her increased confidence also helped her to be determined in training and more aggressive in the races. A 7th place in downhill at the Nagano Olympics boosted her moral and she worked harder than ever last summer. With the support of two psychologists, she also learned to improve her mental preparation using the sophrology technique. Within a few months, Regine became much more relaxed and more positive in her general attitude. A first top-10 finish in the opening GS at Soelden reinforced her momentum. Cavagnoud, who uses Salomon skis, was ready to take a lot of risks afterwards. A superb 3rd place in the Super-G at Val d'Isere behind Alexandra Meissnityer and Martina Ertl was the signal she waited to be shooting for the stars. A week later , she gained another podium in downhill at Veysonnaz. Regine learned to ski very young. Her father, a carpenter in the summer, worked in the winter at the skilifts at La Clusaz . Instead of going to the day care center, her parents let her use a little lift nearby . The little girl spent all her afternoons there and her parents had a hard time getting her off the slope because she had so much fun on this playground. Now she prefers to ride her Yamaha on the spectacular roads of the Aravis mountains nearby her resort when she is not training or competing Biorama Basel