Maze edges Schild for her first World Cup slalom win; Riesch takes slim lead in overall

Slovenia’s Tina Maze added another first-time accomplishment to her long list of successes this season with her career first win in a World Cup slalom at the season Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland today (March 18).

Maze, who stood third after the first run on the very same shortened course, again made it happen in the second run as she took the sixth-fastest second-run time to capture her 11th World Cup career victory by edging this season’s World Cup slalom champion, Austrian Marlies Schild by 0.05 seconds.

“It’s a great atmosphere, my fan club was here, they were giving me some energy today and it’s a tough race but I was fighting for it so I’m really happy,” said Maze, who thrilled her fans with her celebratory cartwheel in the finish area. “Marlies [Schild] is the best slalom skier but this time  I was better.”

Slovakia’s Veronika Zuzulova, 13th after the first run, rocketed to the fastest second-run time to take third place 0.64 seconds back.

Schild, who also won the slalom World Championship this season, guaranteed herself this season’s slalom title – the third of her career – with her sixth win of the season last week in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. Finn Tanja Poutiainen (12th today) finished second in the slalom standings, 169 points behind Schild. German Maria Riesch (fourth today) landed third in the season-long slalom rankings.

Most of today’s attention belonged to American Lindsey Vonn and Riesch who are the only two racers within reach of this season’s overall globe.

Faced with a rutted up course on her second run, Riesch slipped from second in the first run to finish fourth and regain the lead with a three-point advantage on Vonn (13th today) in the overall standings with only tomorrow’s giant slalom remaining on the schedule.

“It was a tough fight, especially in the second run,” Riesch told the Associated Press. “I just wanted to get to the finish and not go out. I think my chances are 50-50. I can’t remember that it has ever been this close. In the end it doesn’t matter if you are one point or 200 points down.” 

After Riesch controlled the overall lead most of the season, Vonn took it back with a 27-point cushion following her fourth-place performance in Wednesday’s final downhill.

Tomorrow’s GS will decide if Vonn will claim her fourth consecutive overall title or Riesch will take home her first ever.

A rain snow mix fell through the night prompting officials to call in several dozen Swiss Army troops to pack down the course and delay the start two hours as they treated it with chemicals and water in an effort to firm up the track. The challenging weather also persuaded organizers to lower the start about eight gates, taking out the steepest part of the hill. The delayed start meant cramming both runs in a few hours. To compensate, both runs were run on the same German-set, 49-gate course with no second-run course inspection.

Similar snowy and fog conditions that caused the cancellation of yesterday’s final super G races also canceled the men’s final giant slalom scheduled for this morning.

With tomorrow’s weather forecast calling for similar conditions, all Vonn can do is hope that race officials can pull off tomorrow’s GS where they could not today. FIS rules dictate that Finals races are not rescheduled.

“I did my best. I’m really disappointed that yesterday’s race was canceled. I really hope they try for tomorrow’s race because I know I have a chance to be in there tomorrow,” said Vonn. “But, all I can hope for is that FIS pushes hard to have the race and they try and then I’ll fight and we’ll see what happens.”
 
Vonn was tied for 14th after the first run and fought her way down the chewed up course to secure only her fourth finish in a World Cup slalom this season. Julia Mancuso – the only other American to qualify for the slalom final – finished 26th after standing 23rd in the first run. The day did have a sweet finish for the U.S. duo as they received their awards for finishing first (Vonn) and third (Mancuso) in the super G standings. Vonn also officially collected her crystal globe representing her super combined title. She now has 12 World Cup titles total.

“Beginning my career I never thought I’d have so many titles. I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to achieve so far in my career. But I still have a lot more goals for the future,” said Vonn. “I’m going to ski for quite a few more years still. I’m just going to try to keep building on what I accomplished – try to win races every year, try to continue to win titles and we’ll see where it takes me.”

Marie-Michele Gagnon, the only Canadian in today’s field, finished 14th after jumping from 22nd in the first run with the fifth fastest second-run time.

Maze’s record season was also highlighted by her first gold medal (Olympic of World Championships) in the Worlds giant slalom. She also grabbed her first World Cup super combined win and stands untouchable in the third spot in this season’s overall rankings. “This is my best season,” she said. “I had some tough times this season but it’s my first victory in slalom today and it’s amazing.” 

World Cup Finals competition continues Saturday with the women’s giant slalom and men’s slalom. The World Cup season concludes Sunday, March 20 with a team event.

Images by Gepa

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Women’s World Cup slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 18, 2011
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
2 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3 Zuzulova, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Riesch, M, Head/Lange/Head
5 Pietilae-Holmner, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Geiger, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Noens, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
10 Reisch, S, Head/Lange/Head

Women’s World Cup slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 18, 2011. … It is the  37th of 38 races on the women’s  schedule with four cancellations. … the last of ten slaloms with one cancellation. … It is the sixth of eight races set at Lenzerheide for World Cup Finals with three cancellations. It is the 29th Cup race for Lenzerheide. … third this season.

It is the 11th career World Cup win for Tina Maze. … her first in slalom. … It is her third win of the season including the gold medal in GS at World Championships.

It is the 55th career World Cup podium for Marlies Schild. … her 43rd in slalom. … It is her eight podium of the season, the other seven all wins, including the gold medal in slalom at the World Championships. …  It is the third time she has finished second in a Cup race at Lenzerheide, the others in SG March 11, 2005 and in DH March 14, 2007.

It is the tenth career World Cup podium result for Veronika Zuzulova. … all in slalom. … It is her second podium of the season having placed second at Arber-Zweisel Feb. 4.

It is the 22nd time Lindsey Vonn has finished 13th or better in a World Cup slalom. … the fourth time this season. … Marie-Michele Gagnon matches her third best career slalom finish. … her second best of the season snd fifth best in all disciplines. … Julia Mancuso matches her 27th best career slalom result. … She will gain no points.

With one race remaining Maria Riesch (4th in race) regains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1728-1725 (3pts) over Vonn
(13th in race). … Maze is third with 1139pts. … Mancuso is fifth with 976pts behind Elisabeth Goergl (did not race) with 992pts. … Marlies Schild wins the World Cup slalom title 680-511 over Tanja Poutiainen (12th in race). … She had already cinched the crown at Spinderluv Mlyn March 12. … Riesch finishes third with 470pts. … Vonn is the top American on the list in 19th with 107pts. … Gagnon the top Canadians in 22nd with 85pts. … Austrian leads the women’s Nations Cup 4720-3480 over Germany. … The U.S. is third with 3436pts. … Canada 10th with 528pts.

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	15	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	44.08	45.25	1:29.33	0.00
2	3	55590	SCHILD Marlies	1981	AUT	43.38	46.00	1:29.38	0.34
3	7	705287	ZUZULOVA Veronika	1984	SVK	44.92	45.05	1:29.97	4.37
4	2	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	43.87	46.12	1:29.99	4.51
5	5	505760	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	1986	SWE	44.29	45.71	1:30.00	4.58
6	4	55838	ZETTEL Kathrin	1986	AUT	44.40	45.67	1:30.07	5.05
7	20	206279	GEIGER Christina	1990	GER	44.44	45.65	1:30.09	5.19
8	18	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	45.19	45.11	1:30.30	6.62
9	1	196806	NOENS Nastasia	1988	FRA	44.76	45.64	1:30.40	7.31
10	10	206160	RIESCH Susanne	1987	GER	44.59	46.05	1:30.64	8.95
11	11	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE	44.75	45.97	1:30.72	9.49
12	6	185140	POUTIAINEN Tanja	1980	FIN	44.68	46.19	1:30.87	10.52
13	16	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	45.13	45.85	1:30.98	11.27
14	25	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN	45.78	45.21	1:30.99	11.34
15	17	206035	CHMELAR Fanny	1985	GER	45.45	45.61	1:31.06	11.81
16	23	515997	FEIERABEND Denise	1989	SUI	45.96	45.14	1:31.10	12.09
17	8	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	45.29	45.98	1:31.27	13.25
18	12	505610	BORSSEN Therese	1984	SWE	44.73	46.57	1:31.30	13.45
19	28	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT	46.29	45.07	1:31.36	13.86
20	14	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	44.88	46.50	1:31.38	14.00
21	21	195972	AUBERT Sandrine	1982	FRA	45.13	46.29	1:31.42	14.27
22	19	56032	SCHILD Bernadette	1990	AUT	45.86	45.60	1:31.46	14.54
23	29	56059	DEPAULI Jessica	1991	AUT	45.42	46.20	1:31.62	15.64
24	22	295435	GIUS Nicole	1980	ITA	46.27	45.39	1:31.66	15.91
25	24	385032	JELUSIC Ana	1986	CRO	46.24	45.53	1:31.77	16.66
26	27	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	45.85	46.06	1:31.91	17.62
27	13	205168	DUERR Katharina	1989	GER	45.25	47.28	1:32.53	21.85
28	26	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	45.72	48.86	1:34.58	35.85
Did not start 1st run
	9	296259	MOELGG Manuela	1983	ITA