Spindleruv Mlyn: Marlies Schild is back on top

After struggling in the tech events since early December, slalom queen Marlies Schild is back on the throne.
    The Austrian took first place in Sunday’s slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn besting Slovakian veteran Veronika Zuzulova by 0.32 seconds with a two-run combined time of one minute, 46.35 seconds. Coming in third was Germany’s Maria Riesch 1:47.53, and rounding out the top five were Sweden’s Therese Borssen and Czech’s Sarka Zahrobska in forth and fifth, respectively. America’s top finisher was Julia Mancuso who placed ninth.

AFTER STRUGGLING in the tech events since early December, slalom queen Marlies Schild is back on the throne.
    The Austrian took first place in Sunday’s slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn, besting Slovakian veteran Veronika Zuzulova by 0.32 seconds with a two-run combined time of one minute, 46.35 seconds. Coming in third was Germany’s Maria Riesch 1:47.53, and rounding out the top five were Sweden’s Therese Borssen and Czech’s Sarka Zahrobska in forth and fifth, respectively.
    ''As always, I wanted to go as fast as I can,'' said Schild, who won the opening two slalom events of the season in Reiteralm, Austria; and Panorama, Canada, but failed to get a point in the following two.   
    It was snowing during both runs, but Schild said that wasn't a problem.
    "Some parts of the course were icy and I had to be cautious,'' she said. ''It was the same for everyone.''   
        The defending World Cup slalom champion picked up her 18th career World Cup victory to move into second place in the overall standings with 300 points, five behind Nicole Hosp, who failed to finish.
    America’s top finisher was Julia Mancuso who placed ninth. Two of the top overall leaders, America's Lindsey Vonn and Austria's Hosp, did not finish their second run.
    Hosp, the defending discipline and overall World Cup champion, maintained her overall World Cup lead with 559 points, with Riesch climbing to the second, 34 points behind.   
    Mancuso is third on 505 points. Mancuso finished ninth in the slalom following her eighth-place finish in the giant slalom a day earlier.
    ''I could definitely have had better results, but I took a little break and didn't ski between Lienz and here,'' she said. ''There's always a prize you have to pay for taking a little time off.
    ''It's just a matter of fighting till the end, as so many girls are skiing well this year that it's gonna be really tough and exciting all the way till the last day.''
    Vonn trails Mancuso by just point overall. Vonn, a speed specialist, was fifth after the first slalom run but failed to finish the second.
    ''It was out of control today,'' she said. ''I was really risking a lot today.''
    The podium finish was Zuzulova's first this season. She placed third four times in previous seasons in slalom events.   
    ''It was the best place for me in my career and I hope that even better results are still to come,'' Zuzulova said. ''I've never was so close to winning, but Marlies was so good today that I had no chance.''
    Zuzulova — whose father and coach Timotej Zezula set the first run — was trailing the leader by 0.28 seconds after the first run. She said there was no difference for her between the two runs.
    ''The course was seemingly quite easy, but it was icy and you could easily lose it at some parts,'' she said. ''I started good in the new year and hope to get more podiums.''
    This is Schild’s third slalom win of the season. After winning the first two slaloms in Reiteralm and Panorama, Schild struggled in the tech events. She DNFed in Aspen; DNFed in the St. Anton super combined; DNFed in the Lienz slalom; and DNQ for the second run in yesterday’s giant slalom. Nonetheless, Schild is back on top and she didn’t just post another win, she smoked the field. Zuzulova was the only competitor close to Schild. Even Riesch, in third, was more than a second back. Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen in sixth place was more than two seconds back. Norway’s up-and-comer Nina Loeseth in 12th was more than three seconds back.
     On another note, the good news for world slalom champion Sarka Zahrobska is that she got to compete in the slalom hosted by her home country. It was up in the air whether she would compete after a shard of glass from a champagne bottle narrowly missed her eye at a ceremony last week to name one of the resort's six slopes after the Czech star.

    — The AP contributed to this story

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The SCOOP

By Hank McKee
Equipment
Women's slalom, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Jan. 6, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Zuzulova, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
4 Borssen, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Zahrobska, Head/Head/Tyrolia
6 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
7 Hansdotter, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
10 Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
 
Women's Slalom, Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Jan. 6, 2008. … It is the 16th race of the women's 39 event 2008 World Cup schedule. … It is the halfway point of the slalom schedule, the fifth of ten scheduled slaloms. … It is the fourth race held at Spindleruv Mlyn which was first added to the World Cup slate in December of 2005. … It is the second slalom held at the site.
    It is the 19th career World Cup win for Marlies Schild. … Her fourth win of the season. … and third this season is slalom having previously won at Rieteralm Nov. 10 and Panorama Nov. 25. … She also won the Lake Louise super G Dec. 2. … She is the defending World Cup slalom champion and has won 10 of the last 14 slaloms.
    It is the fifth career World Cup podium for Veronika Zuzulova, but a career best. … She had not previously finished better than third. … Her best previous result of the season had been fifth in the slalom at Rierteralm.
    It is the 14th career World Cup podium for Maria Riesch. … Her third in slalom. … It is her fourth podium of the season all of them coming in different disciplines. … She needs a GS top three to complete the cycle.
    It is the 58th career World Cup top 10 for Julia Mancuso. … Her sixth in slalom. … She has not finished better than eighth in slalom. … She matched her placing at the same site from Dec. 22, 2005. … Lindsey Vonn had been fifth after the first run. … She and Nicole Hosp were the only two who failed to complete the second run.
    Winning margin is .32 of a second. … Just two racers are within the same second. … Top five within two seconds. … Top 11 within three seconds. … Nicole Hosp (2nd run DNF) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 559
-535 for Maria Riesch. … Julia Mancuso is third at 505 and Lindsey Vonn (2nd run DNF) fourth at 504. … Marlies Schild moves to fifth at 490. … Hosp holds the lead of the slaloms standings as well 305-300 over Schild. … Tanja Poutiainen (6th in race) is third at 262 and Veronika Zuzulova fourth with 231pts. … Top U.S. competitor in the slalom standings is the injured Resi Stiegler in 11th place with 111pts. … Austria leads the women's Nations Cup 2774-1429 for Italy with the U.S. third at 1285. … Canada is eighth at 603.

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Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	1	55590	SCHILD Marlies	1981	AUT	53.33	53.02	1:46.35	0.00
2	5	705287	ZUZULOVA Veronika	1984	SVK	53.58	53.09	1:46.67	1.84
3	11	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	53.30	54.23	1:47.53	6.77
4	2	505610	BORSSEN Therese	1984	SWE	53.75	54.09	1:47.84	8.55
5	3	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	54.32	53.85	1:48.17	10.44
6	7	185140	POUTIAINEN Tanja	1980	FIN	54.96	53.41	1:48.37	11.59
7	24	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE	55.39	53.06	1:48.45	12.05
8	14	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	55.39	53.33	1:48.72	13.59
9	16	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	55.42	53.34	1:48.76	13.82
10	9	55838	ZETTEL Kathrin	1986	AUT	54.99	54.13	1:49.12	15.89
11	34	205168	DUERR Katharina	1989	GER	55.55	53.63	1:49.18	16.23
12	19	425771	LOESETH Nina	1989	NOR	55.07	54.46	1:49.53	18.24
13	20	295435	GIUS Nicole	1980	ITA	55.82	53.86	1:49.68	19.10
14	13	205636	BERGMANN Monika	1978	GER	55.37	54.61	1:49.98	20.82
15	32	515619	GINI Sandra	1982	SUI	56.11	53.92	1:50.03	21.11
16	23	385027	FLEISS Nika	1984	CRO	55.96	54.22	1:50.18	21.97
17	8	195912	DE LEYMARIE Florine	1981	FRA	56.28	53.98	1:50.26	22.43
18	28	206035	CHMELAR Fanny	1985	GER	55.81	54.60	1:50.41	23.29
19	21	296259	MOELGG Manuela	1983	ITA	56.23	54.27	1:50.50	23.80
20	33	515733	BONJOUR Aline	1985	SUI	56.01	54.56	1:50.57	24.20
21	25	205993	HOELZL Kathrin	1984	GER	56.36	54.25	1:50.61	24.43
22	40	206099	PERNER Nina	1986	GER	55.61	55.08	1:50.69	24.89
23	36	196016	DAUTHERIVES Claire	1982	FRA	56.74	54.33	1:51.07	27.07
24	43	55885	STRENG Simone	1987	AUT	56.60	54.53	1:51.13	27.42
25	35	206160	RIESCH Susanne	1987	GER	56.72	54.54	1:51.26	28.16
26	39	425432	MUELLER Anne Marie	1980	NOR	56.54	57.01	1:53.55	41.30
27	15	296354	COSTAZZA Chiara	1984	ITA	54.82	1:05.04	1:59.86	77.49

 

Did not finish 1st run :

HULTDIN Kristina (SWE), SOCHOROVA Eva (CZE), HRSTKOVA Lucie (CZE), SMUTNA Michaela (CZE), GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka (POL), HONKONEN Jessica (FIN), LOESETH Lene (NOR), FERNSEBNER Carolin (GER), NOENS Nastasia (FRA), DREV Ana (SLO), SPRINGL Monika (GER), TRIENDL Katrin (AUT), CAMASTRAL Aita (SUI), KARBON Denise (ITA), KIRCHGASSER Michaela (AUT)

Did not finish 2nd run :

VONN Lindsey (USA), HOSP Nicole (AUT)

Disqualified 2nd run :

PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria (SWE)

Did not qualify 1st run :

BERECZ Anna (HUN), TRMCIC Marija (SRB), ALCOTT Chemmy (GBR), BREM Eva-Maria (AUT), NOVOSELIC Sofija (CRO), ALFIERI Camilla (ITA), PERSYN Karen (BEL), KURFUERSTOVA Eva (CZE), LOLOVIC Jelena (SRB), BERTHOD Pascale (SUI), ZAKOURILOVA Petra (CZE), GRAND Rabea (SUI), CICCONE Caitlin (USA), JAZBEC Katja (SLO), NIGG Marina (LIE), DUKE Hailey (USA), FERK Marusa (SLO), GOERGL Elisabeth (AUT), CERESA Annalisa (ITA), LEINONEN Sanni (FIN), KARASINSKA Katarzyna (POL), AUBERT Sandrine (FRA), JELUSIC Ana (CRO)