Aspen: Paerson charges to fourth-place finish

ASPEN, Colorado — Anja Paerson didn’t come away with the podium finish she wanted, but last year’s Olympic slalom gold medalist came away with renewed confidence after Sunday’s World Cup slalom at the Aspen Winternational.

ASPEN, Colorado — Anja Paerson didn’t come away with the podium finish she wanted, but last year’s Olympic slalom gold medalist came away with renewed confidence after Sunday’s World Cup slalom at the Aspen Winternational.
    The dynamic Swede, who’s coming off knee surgery over the summer, rebounded from a less-than-spectacular 12th-place finish in the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland, with a fourth-place result on a difficult Aspen hill.
    “It’s really good. I’m really close now so I’m very happy,” she said. “I felt more comfortable with the skis and everything the second run, so I charged as much as I can.”
    Sixth after a first run in which Paerson skied poorly in some sections of the course, the Swede powered to the third-fastest time in the second run, trailing only Austrian podium finishers Marlies Schild and Nicole Hosp. She finished just more than a second behind Schild, who made it 2-for-2 in WC slaloms this season after winning in Levi.
    “It was a difficult set in the second run because he changed a lot of distance, sometimes very fast, sometimes very turny, very technical,” Paerson said. “I’m not in super shape, so it was a little bit better for me so I could be tough.”
    Paerson said her knee was a bit sore following the race, but her heart was warmed by a number of solid performances from her teammates this weekend. Therese Borssen finished third Sunday. Maria Pietilae-Holmner finished 12th Sunday after a ninth-place effort in Saturday’s GS.
    Paerson said the Swedish team is progressing nicely and should be in top form in time for the World Championships in February in Are.
    “It’s nice because then the pressure on me is not so high. When I’m not doing great then the other girls pick it up — and the boys,” she said. “Everybody’s doing strong and proving how big and strong our team’s going to be. It’s showing what we’ve been planning to do for so many years before the World Championships at home.
     “We set the goal to be big, strong group for World Championships, and I see for both men and women we are 10 people and everybody’s qualifying and some are even getting podiums. … At the moment [the women’s team] is the second-best team in the World Cup.”
    Paerson also was asked to update the condition of her veteran racer and compatriot Freddy Nyberg, who was badly injured in a super G training crash early last month in Austria. Paerson said she talked to Nyberg a week ago and his knee is still immobile with torn ligaments.
    “He still has to lie in bed and not use his leg at all. It’s really mentally tough for him at the moment but he’s really determined to come back in some kind of shape for skiing,” Paerson said. “He knows his [racing] career is over, but he wants to come back and coach the youngsters. He’s been in this development team for youngsters and he wants to keep doing that. He still had a lot of goals for himself for skiing.”