Panorama: Unflappable Schild wins another SL

PANORAMA, British Columbia — Marlies Schild of Austria displayed her machine-like precision once again Sunday in Canada, turning a slim lead after the first run into a comfortable margin of victory after the second to win her second World Cup slalom race of the season.
    Schild bested the reigning slalom World Champion, Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic by 0.49 seconds, finishing in an unofficial time of 1:39.95. Schild finished second to Zahrobska at worlds last season in Sweden but exacted a small dose of revenge Sunday. Zahrobska, third after the first run, clocked 1:40.63. Croatia’s Ana Jelusic finished third by a hundredth of a second, clocking 1:40.64 after sitting in second place after the opening run.
  
PANORAMA, British Columbia — Marlies Schild of Austria displayed her machine-like precision once again Sunday in Canada, turning a slim lead after the first run into a comfortable margin of victory after the second to win her second World Cup slalom race of the season.
    Schild bested the reigning slalom World Champion, Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic by 0.49 seconds, finishing in an official time of 1:39.95. Schild finished second to Zahrobska at worlds last season in Sweden but exacted a small dose of revenge Sunday. Zahrobska, third after the first run, clocked 1:40.63. Croatia’s Ana Jelusic finished third by a hundredth of a second, clocking 1:40.64 after sitting in second place after the opening run.
    Rounding out the top five were Finland’s Tanja Poutianien and Austria’s Nicole Hosp. American Resi Stiegler, eighth after the first run, ended up ninth, 0.51 back of Schild. Julia Mancuso finished 16th, while Lindsey Vonn faded badly in her second run to drop from ninth position all the way to 29th.
    "Resi was just crushing it coming through the top section," U.S. coach Chris Knight said, "but she backed off a bit at the bottom. She wanted to make sure she finished. This gives her 400 points over the last 12 months [in the World Cup Start List], which is excellent, and it will move her up to 16th for starts in the giant slaloms. It's a huge opportunity for her."
    He added, "Resi's been on the wrong side of the weather in a couple of races, but she's hung in there. She had wind gusts in Reiteralm in that first slalom and the snow, and today it was flat light until just after she went. Still, she crushed it. She's skiing with good confidence and that's great for her."
    Schild, who won now six of her last seven World Cup slaloms, was pleased to remain unbeaten in that specialty so far after her recent triumph at Reiteralm. "I hope this is the start of another winning streak," she said with a big grin after the race.  "In fact I feel more confident and stronger too right now than a year ago even if I could not ski as aggressively as I wanted in the first steep pitch.
    “My fourth place in Saturday's giant slalom was a nice boost for my morale. This slalom slope here is quite demanding and I didn't dare to fully attack at the beginning yet I skied the bottom part very well," added the Austrian who regained the lead in the overall World Cup standings.
    "I'm looking forward now for the speed events at Lake Louise. It's exciting to ski fast again after this series of technical events," also said Marlies who told the reporters that she will certainly be inspired in Lake Louise by the strong performance of her boy friend Benjamin Raich who finished 2nd in today's super-G race won by Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal.
    "It's nice to think that I done better than him today, I sort of beat him," she commented with a smile.
    A year ago, both stars managed to win a slalom race on the same site at Levi but they never celebrated a victory on the same day.   
    With her 15 slaloms victories, Schild moved up to fourth place on the list of top slalom specialists behind Switzerland's Vreni Schneider (34), Croatia's Janica Kostelic (20) and Anja Paerson (18). The self confident skier from Saalfelden should increase that amount in the coming months while battling for her first win in the overall World Cup standings.

Zahrobska and Jelusic back in business
Yet Schild's closest rivals don't seem ready to challenge her in the next slalom events.
    "She certainly amassed much confidence in winning all those races during the last season, it helps her to approach her limits when it really matters," commented Zahrobska who captured her first podium of the season, her fourth in total on the World Cup circuit.
    "It's a huge advantage in slalom where it matters so much. I'm satisfied by my race today, my season start has been very good so far. I also did well yesterday in giant slalom where I still want to improve my level. It's important to get so quickly such a positive result, I can build on it and try always harder from now on.
    “My goal is to be consistent and ready for a great race at home in Spindleruv Mlyn in January. It will be fun to compete there as the reigning World Champion, I hope a lot of people will show up and make it a big event.
    Ana Jelusic's season highlight is taking place a month later, in February, at the slalom scheduled in Sljeme, nearby Zagreb, where she finished second last January. "I want to be totally ready for that night slalom, it's such a huge event for our team," said the skier from Rijeka who was fourth at the World Championships at Are
    "This top-three finish reinforces my moral after my disappointing race two weeks ago at Reiteralm where I finished far behind the leaders. This slope is very nice and challenging, the first steep part perfectly suits my style," said the tiny Croat who turns 21 in a month.
    "The end of my last season was disappointing, I was sick and I could not fight as hard as I wanted to confirm my potential. But now I'm back where I wanted to be," also said the Croat who moved to California last summer to resume her studies.
    The women's World Cup now moves to nearby Lake Louise for the first speed events of the season, a downhill on Saturday followed by a super G on Sunday.

    — Patrick Lang contributed to this report

Panorama World Cup women's slalom

Did not start 1st run :
BERGMANN Monika (GER)

Did not finish 1st run :
ALFIERI Camilla (ITA), ZAKOURILOVA Petra (CZE), FERNSEBNER Carolin (GER), DREV Ana (SLO), STAPLES Kiley (USA), FENNINGER Anna (AUT), STRENG Simone (AUT), HULTDIN Kristina (SWE), MUELLER Anne Marie (NOR), RIESCH Susanne (GER), TRIENDL Katrin (AUT), HANSDOTTER Frida (SWE)

Did not finish 2nd run :
PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria (SWE)

Did not qualify 2nd run :
SKRYABINA Anastasiya (UKR), RYLEY Kate (CAN), ROUTHIER Eve (CAN), LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica (SWE), DESFORGES Emilie (CAN), WORLEY Tessa (FRA), NOVOSELIC Sofija (CRO), RYLEY Megan (CAN), MERIGHETTI Daniela (ITA), ROSS Lauren (USA), GOODMAN Anna (CAN), SANTON Aurelie (FRA), ROBNIK Petra (SLO), GRAND Rabea (SUI), KOBAL Ana (SLO), KLUS Aleksandra (POL), BARTHET Anne-Sophie (FRA), LOESETH Lene (NOR), DUKE Hailey (USA), PERNER Nina (GER), ZIKOVA Lucie (CZE), FERK Marusa (SLO), GRANT Sterling (USA), DAUTHERIVES Claire (FRA), BONJOUR Aline (SUI), HANGL Celina (SUI), BRYDON Emily (CAN), GOERGL Elisabeth (AUT), GINI Sandra (SUI), RICHARDSON Kaylin (USA), LEINONEN Sanni (FIN), KARASINSKA Katarzyna (POL)

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Women's slalom, Panorama, Canada, Nov. 25, 2007
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Zahrobska, Head/Head/Tyrolia
3 Jelusic, Atomic/Salomon/Atomic
4 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
5 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
6 Zuzulova, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Costazza, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Stiegler, Dynastar/Lange/Look
10 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Women's Slalom, Panorama, BC, Canada, Nov. 25, 2007. … It is the fourth race of the women's 39 event 2007-08 World Cup schedule. … It is the second of 10 scheduled slaloms. … It is the 11th World Cup race held at Panorama, the first slalom held at the site.
    It is the 17th career World Cup win for Marlies Schild. … Her 15th in slalom. … She has won nine of the last 11 World Cup women's slaloms including both this season. … It is her fourth slalom win scored in November with two coming last season.
    It is the fourth World Cup podium result for Sarka Zahrobska, the third time she has been second to Schild in slalom. … She holds the best eight results for the Czech Republic, although Jana Soltysova and Olga Charvatova both score wins for Czechoslovakia in the 1980's.
    It is the second career World Cup podium for Ana Jelusic. … Her only better result a second in slalom at Zagreb last Jan. 4. … She is the lone Croatian not named Kostelic to score a World Cup podium.
    It is the 15th career top 10 World Cup result for Resi Stiegler. … the 11th in slalom. … It is her second top 10 result in slalom this season having placed fourth at Reiteralm earlier this month. … Julia Mancuso matches her ninth best Cup slalom result in 16th. … Her best slalom result is eighth from Lenzerheide March 12, 2005. … Lindsey Vonn got the final scoring position in 29th.
    Winning margin is .68 of a second. … Top four are within the same second. … Top 10 within two seconds. Schild takes over control of the World Cup overall standings 262-209 over Denise Karbon (28th in race). … Defending Cup champion Nicole Hosp (fifth in race) is third at 162. … Julia Mancuso is the top North American in the overall standings in seventh with 121pts. … Resi Stiegler is eighth with 117pts. … Austria leads the women's Nations Cup standings 730-541 over Italy. … Sweden is third at 289 and the USA fourth at 275.