Another win for Paerson closes the books on the 2003-04 World Cup season

Another win for Paerson closes the books on the 2003-04 World Cup seasonSweden’s Anja Paerson wrapped up the World Cup season in style Sunday in Sestriere, Italy, using the fastest second run to overtake first-run leader Denise Karbon of Italy and win the women’s GS going away.

In the final World Cup race of the season, Paerson, who had previously wrapped up the slalom, GS and overall globes, had a two-run time of 2:13.70 seconds, 1.11 seconds faster than Karbon. Austria’s Alexandra Meissnitzer was third in 2:14.97.

Sarah Schleper, the only American starter in the women’s GS, used the fourth-fastest second run to move up from 13th to seventh. Despite taking time off to deal with a back injury, Schleper closed out her season with four straight World Cup top-10s, including her runner-up finish in Saturday’s slalom.

“I’m psyched. I’m really psyched,” Schleper said. “I’m really surprised. I figured out racing and training are totally different. I’ve kind of separated them; race day is different. I’ve just accepted it … and now it’s different.”

She returned home a month ago for treatment of two bulging discs in her lower back, missing two slaloms and GS. She was “skeptical” of returning for World Cup Finals, Schleper said, but wanted to race “to see if I could improve my standings … and I didn’t want to lose any more in my slalom ranking.” Her second-place finish helped stem the erosion in points; Schleper finished the season 17th overall — 11th in slalom, 12th in GS.

“I’m going to take about three or four months off, do some core [strength] work and let my back rest some more,” she said. “I’m totally psyched about being more consistent next season.”

Allison Forsyth, the only Canadian starter, finished fifth, her best result of the season.

Maria Jose Rienda Contreras of Spain finished fourth, holding onto the third-place position in the GS standings, a historic feat for her nation (Francisco Fernandez-Ochoa was third in the slalom standings in 1991 and 1992).

It was an emotional week for the Granada native. She was shaken by the terrorist bombings in Madrid, and brought the Spanish flag onto the podium to express sympathy for her mourning nation.

“I’ve been close to the podium several times,” she said. “To finish third in the World Cup is a very important step for me, for my team and for my country. I’m very happy but I still feel like I could improve a lot.

“It’s a very sad for all those problems that they’re having there, and there is a lot of sadness inside of Spain and also out in the rest of the world.”

Alpine World Cup Finals

Women’s Giant Slalom

Sestriere, Italy

March 14, 2004

1. Anja Paerson, SWE 2:13.70

2. Denise Karbon, ITA 2:14.81

3. Alexandra Meissnitzer, AUT 2:14.97

4. Maria Rienda Contreras, SPA 2:15.19

5. Allison Forsyth, CAN 2:15.36

6. Elisabeth Goergl, AUT 2:15.57

7. Sarah Schleper, USA 2:15.66

8. Tanja Poutiainen, FIN 2:15.73

9. Andrine Flemmen, NOR 2:15.76

10. Michaela Dorfmeister, AUT 2:15.89

11. Martina Ertl, GER 2:15.92

12. Tina Maze, SLO 2:16.13

13. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten, SUI 2:16.24

14. Hilde Gerg, GER 2:16.86

15. Anna Ottosson, SWE 2:17.00

16. Silvia Berger, AUT 2:17.02

17. Nicole Gius, ITA 2:17.12

18. Sonja Nef, SUI 2:17.19

19. Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, GER 2:17.44

20. Marlies Oester, SUI 2:17.58

21. Maria Riesch, GER 2:18.86

22. Nadia Styger, SUI 2:19.16

DNS: Isolde Kostner, ITA;

DNF 1st: Carole Montillet, FRA; Manuela Moelgg, ITA

DNF 2nd: Renate Goetschl, AUT.

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Women’s Giant Slalom

Sestriere, Italy, March 14, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

2 Karbon, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

3 Meissnitzer, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

4 Rienda Contreras, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

5 Forsyth, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

6 Goergl, Volkl/Lange/Marker

7 Schleper, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

8 Poutiainen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

9 Flemmen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

10 Dorfmeister, Blizzard/Nordica/Marker

It’s the 21st victory of the season for Salomon skis. … Anja Paerson wins the World Cup overall title 1561-1344 over Renate Goetschl. … It’s Paerson’s first overall trophy. … She also wins the SL and GS titles, the GS title a repeat from last season. … Top American in the overall standings is Kirsten Clark in 15th with 456 points; Clark has not raced since being injured 1/30/04. … The final GS standings have Paerson at 630 points and Denise Karbon at 343. … Sarah Schleper leads the U.S. on that list in 12th at 201.

Paerson claims the final race of the season by a whopping 1.11 seconds. … It’s her 22nd career victory and her 11th of the season, three shy of the all-time record (14, Vreni Schneider,1989) … It’s the sixth career podium for Denise Karbon, all in GS, all in the last two seasons. … The 36th career podium for Alexandra Meissnitzer, but just her second this season. … It’s her first podium in GS since December 2002. … It’s the best result of the season for Allison Forsyth (sixth at Maribor had been her previous best). … Sarah Schleper finishes the season with a string of four top-10 results. … She winds up a career-best 17th in the overall standings.

The U.S. misses second place in the Nations Cup by 35 points. The final overall Nations Cup standings: AUT 17042; ITA 4935; USA 4900; SUI 4826; GER 4096. … Final women’s standings: AUT 6414; GER 3770; USA 2357; SWE 2357; SUI 2165.