Relieved Hoefl-Riesch sets sights on downhill

By Mark Trevelyan ROSA KHUTOR, Russia (Reuters) - German powerhouse Maria Hoefl-Riesch said her overwhelming emotion was relief after adding to her Olympic medal hoard with gold in the Super Combined on Monday. "Relief is hardly the word for it," Hoefl-Riesch told reporters at the foot of the Rosa Khutor alpine ski course, where she placed only fifth in the downhill run but blew away her rivals in the slalom to finish ahead of Austria's Nicole Hosp and American Julia Mancuso. "I knew I had to attack all-out - no tactics, just full on the gas, and that's what I tried to do," she said. "I was extremely nervous at the start, there was a TV break before me. I tried to blot out everything and not to think about medals. "I didn't have a great feeling while I was skiing down. When I came down and there was a green light, I was pretty sure that it could be a medal. When I realised it could be enough for gold, it was just amazing." The 29-year-old, who won the slalom and super combined in Vancouver in 2010, became only the second woman after Croatia's Janica Kostelic to successfully defend an Olympic alpine ski title. With three golds now to her name, she is closing in on Kostelic's haul of four, an Olympic record. She said she had been less than happy with her downhill training sessions and Monday morning's run, and would need to do a lot better in the race on Wednesday. "I said beforehand: if it works out in the Super-Combined, it's the perfect start for me because the first big pressure is off, and it would be all the more difficult if it didn't work out," said the 1.82 metre-tall German, who also leads the overall World Cup standings this season. "Now obviously I've got a weight off my shoulders with a gold already in my bag and I just hope in the downhill, where there are a few curves I haven't quite mastered, that I can ski more relaxed too, like two years ago." (Editing by Ed Osmond)