WC Rewind: A battle of warriors, and newcomers

The photo shows two warriors who have accomplished what they set off to do. The photo was snapped at the finish area of the women’s slalom at Reiteralm (Nov. 10) and shows the two Austrian women who finished first (Marlies Schild) and second (Nicole Hosp) savoring the moment. The snow is falling steadily and the two are armored up. They still clutch their battle equipment.
    History will show Schild continued a string of powerful slalom races to open the 2007-08 season. The figures will say it was her eighth win in 10 World Cup slaloms, and the race will likely never be viewed as a turning point. But it may have been.
THE PHOTO SHOWS two warriors who have accomplished what they set off to do. The photo was snapped at the finish area of the women’s slalom at Reiteralm (Nov. 10) and shows the two Austrian women who finished first (Marlies Schild) and second (Nicole Hosp) savoring the moment. The snow is falling steadily and the two are armored up. They still clutch their battle equipment.
    History will show Schild continued a string of powerful slalom races to open the 2007-08 season. The figures will say it was her eighth win in 10 World Cup slaloms, and the race will likely never be viewed as a turning point. But it may have been.
    Italian first-run leader Chiara Costazza had her career-best finish in third. Resi Stiegler hung in with the determination required at this level to finish fourth, matching her career best and promising she may have stepped up onto the final plateau where she can challenge for every slalom win. Veronika Zuzulova in fifth has had some success at this level, but had never finished better than third in a World Cup. Maria Pietilae-Holmner in sixth matched her career best in slalom.
    The Slovaks, the Czechs, the Finns, the Croatians and Liechtenstein’s Marina Nigg all made the front page of the results sheet, though everything from fifth down was more than a half-second off the pace.
    For Nigg, the race will forever represent her first Cup points. Likewise for Swiss skier Aita Camastral. It was the second scoring result for German Nina Perner, who was 26th in Zwiesel in March, and it was the second scoring result for Frida Hansdotter of Sweden.
    If there were questions before the race, there were many, many more being presented during it. Schild may well have won a race she shouldn’t have. Runner-up and teammate Hosp was quoted saying “without the mistake, she would have beat me by a second.”
    Schild said the race was “a beautiful victory.” A German-language piece in the Austrian paper Der Standard is credited to the Austrian Press and not to an individual writer, but it is significant to this view that the author commented that Schild “radiated, as she rarely had previously.” The race apparently carried large significance for her.
    Of the mistake, Schild said — and the translation is rough here — that she ran impudently over a crest, found herself going too straight and had to brake hard. “However when racing, one is in a trance and I simply tried to make up the speed again.”
    She also said (again a rough translation): “Everyone said the victory leads across me and that does not make it easier. I wanted to win.”
    There are changes going on. Costazza in third should have been enough to prove that. The win for the young Austrian stars was bigger than it might have seemed.
    It was especially big because after two races, the Austrian men have yet to score a podium finish — and that is with two races at home. The easily found difference is that Swiss first-run winner of the men’s slalom, Marc Gini, despite being a bit starstruck in the start house, held on to win. It was not just Gini’s first win, it was only the second time he had been better than 10th. Second-place Kalle Palander has been on top of races a dozen times before, and it is significant he takes over control of the overall standings.
    For third-finishing Manfred Moelgg, it was his fifth podium (he has no wins yet), and his first before the end of January in any year. Fourth-finishing Jean-Baptiste Grange matched his career best. Julien Lizeroux matched his second-best career finish. It was the second-best slalom placing (by one slot) for Jimmy Cochran, and the second-best for Bernard Vajdic.
    By all measures, it was a nasty race. Forty percent of the field failed to finish the first run. The hill is relatively flat and falling snow made it difficult. One could say, it was a bit out of the norm. The Austrian men are likely to rebound. But this is not your father’s slalom.