Paerson wins Maribor giant slalom; Clark, 18th, tops among four U.S. qualifiers

Paerson wins Maribor giant slalom; Clark, 18th, tops among four U.S. qualifiersAnja Paerson vaulted back to the top of the overall World Cup standings on Saturday with a polished win in giant slalom at Maribor, Slovenia.

Trailing Austria’s Michaela Dorfmeister after the first run, the Swedish world champion laid down the fastest second run for a combined time of two 2:18.27 for her sixth victory this season.

Dorfmeister made crucial errors on her second run but held on to second place in 2:19.25, her best performance in the technical discipline for two years. Spain’s Maria Jose Rienda Contreras hung on for third place in 2:19.50 to equal her career-best finish.

It was classic Paerson, finding the extra power to combine with her trademark fluidity as she stormed to her fifth career win at Maribor. The Swede won last season’s giant slalom and slalom at the Slovenian venue and she has a chance to repeat that feat and extend her overall lead over Austria’s Renate Goetschl on Sunday.

“I always feel comfortable on this hill and you know there is a big crowd there cheering you to your fastest; it was a lot of fun,” said Paerson. “I really went for it in the second run and took risks. I’m really proud of myself even if I made some mistakes. I made sure that I didn’t go out with those errors.”

Four American skiers qualified for the second run, and Kirsten Clark wound up leading the way overall in 18th. Libby Ludlow was 19th, Sarah Schleper 21st and Caroline Lalive 27th.

Allison Forsyth of Canada had the top North American finish in sixth, her first top-10 of the season and best result in more than two years. Teammate Brigitte Acton also made it into the points in 25th.

Speed specialist Goetschl finished 11th and now trails Paerson by five points in what is developing into a fascinating duel for the title.

Nineteen-year-old German Maria Riesch produced her best performance in giant slalom to take fourth place ahead of Paerson’s compatriot Anna Ottosson.

Austrian Nicole Hosp and Switzerland’s Sonja Nef both failed to finish their second run with Hosp, second to Paerson in the giant slalom standings, taking a bad fall after smashing into a gate.

Alpine World Cup

Women’s Giant Slalom

Maribor, Slovenia

January 24, 2004

1. Anja Paerson (Sweden) 2:18.27 (first run 1:08.07/second run 1:10.20)

2. Michaela Dorfmeister (Austria) 2:19.25 (1:07.90/1:11.35)

3. Maria Jose Rienda Contreras (Spain) 2:19.50 (1:08.30/1:11.20)

4. Maria Riesch (Germany) 2:19.71 (1:09.50/1:10.21)

5. Anna Ottosson (Sweden) 2:20.36 (1:08.57/1:11.79)

6. Allison Forsyth (Canada) 2:20.54 (1:09.89/1:10.65)

7. Tanja Poutiainen (Finland) 2:20.55 (1:09.06/1:11.49)

8. Elisabeth Goergl (Austria) 2:20.56 (1:09.11/1:11.45)

9. Andrine Flemmen (Norway) 2:20.61 (1:09.2s

11. Renate Goetschl (Austria) 2:20.70 (1:08.99/1:11.71)

12. Silvia Berger (Austria) 2:20.94 (1:09.18/1:11.76)

13. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten (Switzerland) 2:21.03 (1:09.19/1:11.84)

14. Stina Hofgard Nilsen (Norway) 2:21.12 (1:09.48/1:11.64)

15. Brigitte Obermoser (Austria) 2:21.34 (1:09.13/1:12.21)

16. Chimene Alcott (Britain) 2:21.35 (1:09.63/1:11.72)

17. Marlies Oester (Switzerland) 2:21.38 (1:10.15/1:11.23)

18. Kirsten Clark (U.S.) 2:21.50 (1:10.08/1:11.42)

19. Libby Ludlow (U.S.) 2:21.51 (1:09.81/1:11.70)

20. Denise Karbon (Italy) 2:21.83 (1:09.16/1:12.67)

21. Sarah Schleper (U.S.) 2:21.84 (1:10.05/1:11.79)

22. Carole Montillet (France) 2:21.86 (1:09.60/1:12.26)

23. Hilde Gerg (Germany) 2:21.87 (1:09.59/1:12.28)

24. Tina Maze (Slovenia) 2:21.95 (1:09.54/1:12.41)

25. Brigitte Acton (Canada) 2:22.01 (1:09.88/1:12.13)

26. Maddalena Planatscher (Italy) 2:22.03 (1:10.07/1:11.96)

27. Caroline Lalive (U.S.) 2:22.37 (1:10.03/1:12.34)

DNF 2nd: Nicole Hosp (Austria), Sonja Nef (Switzerland), Lilian Kummer (Switzerland)

Other North Americans:

DNQ 2nd: Britt Janyk, Gail Kelly (Canada); Julia Mancuso, Kristina Koznick (U.S.)

THE SCOOP

> by Hank McKee

Equipment, Women’s Giant Slalom

Maribor, Slovenia, January 24, 2004

Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

2 Dorfmeister, Blizzard/Nordica/Marker

3 Rienda Contreras, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

4 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia

5 Ottosson, Dynastar/Lange/Tyrolia

6 Forsyth, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

7 Poutiainen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

8 Goergl, Volkl/Lange/Marker

9 Flemmen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

10 Meissnitzer, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

The 21st race of the women’s 36-race schedule, and the fifth of eight giant slaloms. … It’s a big margin of the victory for Anja Paerson at 0.98 seconds. … Paerson’s 17th career victory, and fifth in GS. … It’s her sixth win (second in GS) this season. … Her fifth straight win at Maribor dating to 1/5/2000.

It’s the 44th career podium finish for Michaela Dorfmeister, and sixth of the season, in three disciplines (GS, SG, DH). … Third matches Maria Jose Rienda Contreras’s career best finish (Soelden 10/25/03). … It’s the 28th World Cup podium for Spain, with siblings Francisco and Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa accounting for 25.

Allison Forsyth’s 11th top-six finish, all in GS. … It’s her best result of the season (11th at Park City and Alta Badia GS’s), and best since December 2001. … The 16th scoring finish of the season for Kirsten Clark, sixth for Libby Ludlow, eighth for Sarah Schleper and ninth for Caroline Lalive. … It’s the seventh consecutive race in which the U.S. women have recorded four or more scoring finishes.

Paerson regains the overall lead 898-893 over Renate Goetschl. … Clark is the top U.S. skier in ninth at 456. … Paerson also controls the GS standings 330-260 over Nicole Hosp. … Schleper is the top U.S. skier on the list in 12th at 120. … Austria maintains the overall Nations Cup lead 10304-2851 over the U.S., which has edged out Italy for second by a point. … The Austrians lead the women’s standings 4145-2306 over Germany. … U.S. is fourth at 1474.