Paerson clinches overall title; Schild wins slalom with USST's Schleper runner-up

Paerson clinches overall title; Schild wins slalom with USST’s Schleper runner-upAnja Paerson of Sweden won the women’s World Cup overall title on Saturday when she finished sixth in the final slalom race of the season.

Marlies Schild of Austria won the World Cup Final slalom at Sestriere, Italy, in a time of 1:41.82 on Saturday, with Sarah Schleper of U.S. second in 1:42.03 and Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen third in 1:42.11.

Schleper was making her first World Cup start since returning to the U.S. last month for treatment of a back injury. The runner-up finish was her best of the season.

Pearson, who only needed to finish in the top 11 to clinch the title, was 16th after a tentative first run, but was had the fastest second run to surge up the leader board.

“I’m so very happy to have wrapped this up today,” said Paerson. “I wanted to do it so that I could go out and enjoy the last day of the season tomorrow.

“I was so nervous in the first run, I was cramping. But then I knew that I had to chase instead of being chased and that is what I like to do.”

Her father and coach, Anders, said: “This is a bit special. She made things difficult for herself with the first run but I know how much she wanted it. I’m very proud of her.”

Austrian Renate Goetschl, the only woman who could have caught Paerson in the standings, finished last (24th) and out of the points.

Paerson, 22, is Sweden’s first overall champion since Pernilla Wiberg in 1997.

Also for the U.S., veteran Kristina Koznick and teenager Resi Stiegler landed in the points, finshing 12th and 13th, respectively. Points go only to the top-15 finishers in the World Cup Finals, because of the smaller fields.

Schleper surprised herself with her second place, which matches her best finish ever on the World Cup — also in a slalom, and also at Sestriere, in December 2000. “I didn’t think I was gonna be so fast today but I watched some video [Friday] night of the guys that we got from [men’s slalom and GS coach] Mike Morin and it was good. I’m a visual person,” Schleper said, “and it was very visual. Since I haven’t been able to train a lot because of my back, this was excellent. I’m a little surprised I did so well.”

Schleper missed two slaloms February 28-29 in Finland while undergoing medical treatment at home for two bulging discs in her back, and said she was “skeptical about coming back to finish, but I’m glad I did.”

Her strong second run surprised her “because I didn’t feel too good on the course,” she said. “It was a technical course across the hill [plenty of turns] and it threw off my timing, but I think everyone probably felt that way.”

Alpine World Cup Finals

Women’s Slalom

Sestriere, Italy

March 13, 2004

1. Marlies Schild (Austria) 1:41.82 (first run 48.30/second run 53.52)

2. Sarah Schleper (U.S.) 1:42.03 (48.86/53.17)

3. Tanja Poutiainen (Finland) 1:42.11 (48.45/53.66)

4. Maria Riesch (Germany) 1:42.35 (48.91/53.44)

5. Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer (Germany) 1:42.44 (48.66/53.78)

6. Anja Paerson (Sweden) 1:42.50 (49.66/52.84)

7. Line Viken (Norway) 1:42.56 (49.23/53.33)

8. Elisabeth Goergl (Austria) 1:42.66 (49.07/53.59)

9. Therese Borssen (Sweden) 1:42.70 (49.36/53.34)

10. Trine-bakke Rognmo (Norway) 1:42.72 (49.14/53.58)

11. Sarka Zahrobska (Czech Republic) 1:42.73 (49.60/53.13)

12. Kristina Koznick (U.S.) 1:42.96 (49.41/53.55)

13. Resi Stiegler (U.S.) 1:43.12 (49.55/53.57)

14. Annemarie Gerg (Germany) 1:43.38 (48.74/54.64)

15. Annalisa Ceresa (Italy) 1:43.60 (49.23/54.37)

16. Sabine Egger (Austria) 1:44.04 (49.97/54.07)

17. Nika Fleiss (Croatia) 1:44.12 (49.41/54.71)

18. Kathrin Zettel (Austria) 1:44.37 (50.12/54.25)

19. Laure Pequegnot (France) 1:44.47 (50.62/53.85)

20= Veronika Zuzulova (Slovakia) 1:44.60 (50.26/54.34)

20= Sonja Nef (Switzerland) 1:44.60 (50.14/54.46)

22. Martina Ertl (Germany) 1:44.70 (50.20/54.50)

23. Anna Ottosson (Sweden) 1:44.83 (50.34/54.49)

24. Renate Goetschl (Austria) 1:47.92 (51.80/56.12)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Women’s Slalom

Sestriere, Italy. March 13, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Schild, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

2 Schleper, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

3 Poutiainen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

4 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia

5 Bergmann-Schmuderer, Volkl/Rexxam/Marker

6 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

7 Viken, Dynastar/Lange/Look

8 Goergl, Volkl/Lange/Marker

9 Borsson, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

10 Bakke Rognmo, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

It’s the 35th race of a 36-race women’s schedule, with just tomorrow’s GS remaining. … It’s the 26th win of the season for Atomic — the first by a woman.

The first career win for Marlies Schild. … She now owns seven podium results, five from this season and all in slalom. … It’s the third career podium for Sarah Schleper and her first since December 2000. Second place matches her best finish ever in a World Cup, also in a slalom at Sestriere, in December 2000. … It’s the 20th podium of the season for the U.S. … It’s the sixth career podium for Tanja Poutiainen and her second of the season; she won on February 28 at Levi, Finland.

It’s the eighth top 12 of the season in slalom for Kristina Koznick. … Resi Stiegler matches her second best result of the season. … She was eighth at Region Arber and has now been 13th three times.

Anja Paerson, who finished sixth, claims the World Cup overall title with just one race left. … She leads 1461-1344 over Renate Goetschl (24th, and last, in the slalom on Saturday). … She becomes the third Swede, behind Ingemar Stenmark and Pernilla Wiberg, to win the overall. … Kirsten Clark remains the top American on the list in 15th with 456 points. … Paerson had previously clinched the slalom title. … She concludes the season with a 770-457 margin over Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer… Marlies Schild finishes a close third at 447. … Kristina Koznick is the top American on the slalom list in eighth with 297 points. … Sarah Schleper is 11th at 215.

The U.S. moves back into second place in the Nations Cup behind Austria 16710-4828. … The Swiss are third at 4786 and the Italians fourth at 4783. … In the women’s standings, it’s Austria at 6288, Germany at 3728 and the U.S. at 2321.