Austria's Nicole Hosp wins second Madonna slalom; Koznick, Schleper tie for ninth

Austria’s Nicole Hosp wins second Madonna slalom; Koznick, Schleper tie for ninthAustria’s Nicole Hosp ended Anja Paerson’s string of slalom wins this season at two, taking a women’s World Cup race at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, on Wednesday.

Hosp, the first-run leader, edged Paerson by 0.29 seconds. Marlies Schild of Austria was third, 0.53 back. Another young Austrian, Elisabeth Goergl, had the fastest second run and landed in fourth. Youth was served in the second slalom at Madonna in two days. Hosp is 20 and Paerson, Schild and Goergl are all 22.

For the U.S., Sarah Schleper and Kristina Koznick, sixth and seventh, respectively, after the first run, wound up tied for ninth place, 1.98 behind the winner.

U.S. teenager Resi Stiegler made a splash in the race, coming from 25th after the first run to a 13th-place finish on the strength of the third fastest second run.

The win was Hosp’s second on the World Cup, and first in slalom. Schild matched her best-ever finish. She’s now finished third four times in World Cup slaloms, most recently at Park City last month.

No Canadian racers qualified for the second run.

The race Wednesday took the place of a slalom scheduled in Vratna, Slovakia, that had to be cancelled due to lack of snow.

Alpine World Cup

Women’s Slalom

Madonna di Campiglio, Italy

December 17, 2003

1. Nicole Hosp (Austria) 1:37.97 (first run 48.71/second run 49.26)

2. Anja Paerson (Sweden) 1:38.26 (48.98/49.28)

3. Marlies Schild (Austria) 1:38.50 (48.83/49.67)

4. Elisabeth Goergl (Austria) 1:39.04 (50.30/48.74)

5. Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer (Germany) 1:39.28 (49.31/49.97)

6. Tanja Poutiainen (Finland) 1:39.31 (49.85/49.46)

7. Christine Sponring (Austria) 1:39.73 (50.66/49.07)

8. Martina Ertl (Germany) 1:39.94 (49.83/50.11)

9= Kristina Koznick (U.S.) 1:39.95 (49.80/50.15)

9= Sarah Schleper (U.S.) 1:39.95 (49.61/50.34)

11. Annemarie Gerg (Germany) 1:40.03 (50.13/49.90)

12. Laure Pequegnot (France) 1:40.11 (49.33/50.78)

13. Resi Stiegler (U.S.) 1:40.19 (51.00/49.19)

14. Christel Pascal (France) 1:40.27 (49.82/50.45)

15. Sarka Zahrobska (Czech Republic) 1:40.30 (50.93/49.37)

16. Therese Borssen (Sweden) 1:40.52 (50.82/49.70)

17. Michaela Kirchgasser (Austria) 1:40.56 (50.87/46.69)

18. Sabine Egger (Austria) 1:40.79 (50.55/50.24)

19. Susanne Ekman (Sweden) 1:40.83 (50.59/50.24)

20. Nika Fleiss (Croatia) 1:40.88 (50.68/50.20)

21. Maria Riesch (Germany) 1:40.92 (50.89/50.03)

22. Sonja Nef (Switzerland) 1:41.02 (50.16/50.86)

23. Annalisa Ceresa (Italy) 1:41.06 (50.88/50.18)

24. Karin Truppe (Austria) 1:41.16 (50.98/50.18)

25. Corina Gruenenfelder (Switzerland) 1:41.40 (51.36/50.04)

26. Marlies Oester (Switzerland) 1:41.71 (50.86/50.85)

27. Line Viken (Norway) 1:42.06 (51.08/50.98)

DNF 2nd: Denise Karbon (Italy), Veronika Zuzulova (Slovakia), Trine-bakke Rognmo (Norway)

Other North Americans:

DNQ 2nd: Kaylin Richardson, Julia Mancuso, Jessica Kelley (U.S.); Britt Janyk, Emily Brydon, Allison Forsyth (Canada)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Women’s Slalom

Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, December 17, 2003

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker

2 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

3 Schild, Atomic/Lange/Atomic

4 Goergl, Volkl/Lange/Marker

5 Bergmann-Schmuderer, Volkl/Rexxam/Marker

6 Poutiainen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

7 Sponring, Atomic/Tecnica/Atomic

8 Ertl, Rossignol/Nordica/Rossignol

9 Koznick, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

9 Schleper, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

This second Madonna slalom replaces Vratna, Slovakia, on the schedule. … It is the ninth of 36 scheduled World Cup races for women, and the third of 11 slaloms.

This race would indicate slalom is a young woman’s sport. More than 40 percent of the finishers are 23 or younger, including the entire podium. … It is a relatively close race with Nicole Hosp winning by 0.29 over Anja Paerson and Marlies Schild just 0.53 behind the winning time in third.

The second career win for Hosp, who last won in October 2002; that race was a GS. … She has been on the podium in all four races she’s finished this season, and has not missed the podium since last January, including the world championships. … The fifth win for Austria this season. … The first for Austria at Madonna since Mario Matt, 12/19/2000.

It’s the 36th podium for Anja Paerson, and her fifth of the season, including three wins. … It’s the fourth career podium for Marlies Schild — all third-place finishes in slalom. … Austria has not put two women on a slalom podium since November 2001. … Fourth-place finisher Elisabeth Goergl had the fastest second run.

The 21st top-10 finish for Sarah Schleper, and third of the season. … It is the 39th top 10 finish for Kristina Koznick, and third of the season. … It’s the second best finish of Resi Stiegler’s young career; she was 11th at Lenzerheide, 12/22/02. … Her third scoring finish of the season in three slalom chances.

Anja Paerson maintains the World Cup overall lead 510-320 over Hosp. … The top U.S. skier is Kirsten Clark in 15th at 142. … Paerson holds the slalom standings lead 280-160 over Hosp. … Kristina Koznick is the top U.S. skier at eighth with 100.