Sierra Nevada: Schild wins slalom crown

Marlies Schild won a World Cup slalom at Sierra Nevada, Spain, Sunday to take the season discipline title with two races to spare. The Austrian also moved into the lead in the overall standings.
    Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was second and Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia third.
    ''It's good that she can manage it already here. Now she can ski more relaxed in the remaining slaloms,'' Austria women's head coach Herbert Mandl said. ''It's also important for the overall. If she can win the last two slaloms and also do good in GS, I think she's the favorite.''
    American Resi Stiegler had been second after the first of two legs but failed to finish the second.
      "Yeah, I wanted to win it and I went for it. I don't have anything to show for it but I've got a lot of positives to take away. And that's the consequences, really — especially in slalom, of putting my heart into it and taking risks," Stiegler said.

SIERRA NEVADA, Spain — Marlies Schild won a World Cup slalom at Sierra Nevada, Spain, Sunday to take the season discipline title with two races to spare.
    Schild's sixth slalom win of the season came in 1 minute, 43.61 seconds to clinch the slalom crown. The Austrian also moved into the lead in the overall standings.
    ''It's good that she can manage it already here. Now she can ski more relaxed in the remaining slaloms,'' Austria women's head coach Herbert Mandl said. ''It's also important for the overall. If she can win the last two slaloms and also do good in GS, I think she's the favorite.''
    Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was second and Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia third.
    American Resi Stiegler had been second after the first of two legs but failed to finish the second.
    Schild won six of the seven slaloms held so far this season and was third in the other paving a direct path to her first World Cup title. In the slalom standings, Schild has 660 points. Ana Jelusic of Croatia, who finished fifth Sunday, is next, 332 points behind. Wins are worth 100 points each, so Schild has an insurmountable lead.
    ''My slalom season has really been perfect,'' Schild said.   
    It was the best result of the season for Poutainen, who had won the slalom title in 2005. Zuzulova matched her career best in third, the best-ever results for Slovakia.
    Poutiainen, the 2005 slalom champion, said Schild's key is her consistency.
    ''The balance is there and then it doesn't matter how the slope is or how the conditions are,'' Poutiainen said. ''She's always really fast.''
    The Americans were led by Julia Mancuso, who finished 15th in her worst discipline. She has only been better in slalom once this season. Mancuso is in position to make a run at the World Cup overall title, but Schild regained that with the win, taking a 33-point edge over speed skiing teammate Renate Goetchl. Nicole Hosp, also an Austrian, is third in the standings and finished fourth here to cement her chances. Mancuso is fifth, 93 points behind.
    Schild and Stiegler had been 1-2 in the first run and Stiegler tore down the top half of the 57-gate second run, devouring time and leading by .99 as she passed the lone timing check. But within seconds, she straddled a gate coming out of a flush and lost her bid for the first World Cup top three of her career.

Stiegler takes away positives
    "I was so happy, it's such a nice day out," Stiegler said, adding that in between runs, she "tried to stay focused, stay in my 'now' and not worry about falling or making mistakes, or coming down winning. My mind goes 100 miles an hour, so I just tried to ski like I know I can.
    "Yeah, I wanted to win it and I went for it. I don't have anything to show for it but I've got a lot of positives to take away. And that's the consequences, really — especially in slalom, of putting my heart into it and taking risks."
    Stiegler, who was eighth a week ago in SL at the World Championships in Sweden and whose best World Cup performance has been fourth a couple of times, said she could feel her confidence rising in recent races. Saturday, she started 51st in a giant slalom and finished 10th. "It's been coming along but it's still frustrating to lose this result," she said. "It's a bummer, but I have to move on."
    As she scorched the top of the second run, she went into a combination of gates and straddled as she finished a flush, i.e., several slalom poles in short, rapid-fire sequence. "I went into the flush and I knew I had a lot of speed coming through there," she recalled, "so I was focusing on the next couple of turns, having to get after it … and I caught my tip as I came out," Stiegler said.
    "The snow was amazing. I haven't seen snow like this all year long," she said. "It was perfect yesterday for the GS — that second run was awesome [as she vaulted from 22nd to 10th with the fifth-fastest run]. But it's been so warm, it's crazy how nice the snow has held up. It's perfect."
    Coach Chris Knight took a step back from the moment and said, "When you haven't had a podium, and you're going for the win — the win, not just a top-three finish, that can happen. Resi has such great speed and she was carrying so much speed that she got caught up …
    "That's what happens, though, when you're going for a win, taking risks and not just playing it safe. And Resi was definitely going for the win.
    "In the first run, the top half was grippy and it changed for the second run to super, super hard snow, and that's where she got caught because she had so much speed. She's got unreal potential and I think she really could thrive from this result."
    Knight also was amped with Mancuso's second run. Mancuso, whose weakest event is slalom, was first when she came down but was passed by others after her "but she went for it and had an outstanding run."

Schild still chasing Kostelic's slalom mark
    The only slalom races Schild did not win this season came in the World Cup in Semmering, Austria, in December, and the World Championships in Are, Sweden, earlier this month.
    Schild was third in Semmering and won the silver medal at the worlds behind Czech skier Sarka Zahrobska.
    ''A gold in slalom would have been great but Sarka was faster,'' Schild said. ''But now I have the slalom title and also a chance at the overall.''
    Zahrobska finished sixth in her first race as world champion.
    Last season, Schild ended up second in the slalom standings behind Janica Kostelic, who is taking this year off.
    If Schild wins the final two slaloms — in Zwiesel, Germany, on March 11 and at the season finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, on March 17 — she can match Kostelic's record of eight slalom vict
ories in 2000-01. Kostelic won all eight in succession, however.
    An Austrian woman had not won the slalom title since Sabine Egger in 1999.
    Olympic champion Anja Paerson missed a gate early in her first run and did not finish. The Swede blamed too sharp skis for her exit.
    ''I had trouble to keep them on the snow,'' Paerson said. ''It was really hard to find the right rhythm.''
    Michaela Kirchgasser, who won Saturday's giant slalom, also skied out in the opening leg.
    Poutiainen has won four slaloms in her career but had not climbed the podium in the discipline in two years.
    ''It's like a victory for me, it's been so long,'' said Poutiainen, who was third in Saturday's giant slalom.
    Zuzulova recorded the third podium finish of her career _ all of them third places. Her coach set the first run.
    ''I was a little tired the second run but I'm on the podium, so I'm happy,'' she said.

THE SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment

Women's slalom, Sierra Nevada, Spain, Feb. 25, 2007
skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
3 Zuzulova, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
5 Jelusic, Atomic/Salomon/Atomic
6 Zahrobska, Head/Head/Tyrolia
7 Bonjour, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Borssen, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Costazza, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Gini, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker

Women's slalom, Sierra Nevada, Spain, Feb. 25, 2007. … It is the 26th race of the women's 37-race World Cup schedule. … It is the seventh of nine scheduled slaloms. … It is the second of two races scheduled for Sierra Nevada.
    It is the 14th career World Cup win for Marlies Schild. … The 12th in slalom. … It is her seventh win of the season. … The sixth in the seven slaloms held. … She wins the slalom crown. … She has not finished worse than third in a slalom all season.
    It is the 22nd career World Cup podium for Tanja Poutiainen. … Her 12th in slalom. … It is her fourth podium of the season and the first in slalom. … She has not won a race this season. … She was World Cup slalom and GS champion in 2005.
    It is the third career World Cup podium for Veronika Zuzulova. … All of them third places and all in slalom. …  Two of them are from this season (Kranjska Gora Jan. 7). … They are the highest placings ever by a Slovakian racer.
    It is the seventh best career slalom result and second best of the season for Julia Mancuso. … Her slalom pinnacle is eighth, achieved twice. … Resi Stiegler was second after the first run but failed to finish the second.
    Marlies Schild wins the World Cup slalom title. … She leads Ana Jelusic (fifth in race) 660-328 with two slaloms remaining. … The title was held by Janica Kostelic who skipped this season. … Therese Borssen (eighth in race) is third in the current slalom standings at 324. … The top U.S. skier on the list is Resi Stiegler (2nd run DNF) in 15th with 117pts. … Schild also takes the lead of the overall standings 1052-1019 over Renate Goetschl (did not race). … Nicole Hosp (fourth in race) is third at 989. … Julia Mancuso is fourth at 959 and Lindsey Kildow fifth at 808. Winning margin is .32. … Top four are within the same second. … Top nine within two seconds.

Sierra Nevada women's World Cup slalom results

Did not start 1st run:
DREV Ana (SLO)

Did not finish 1st run:
ROBNIK Mateja (SLO), GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka (POL), FERNSEBNER Carolin (GER), KELLEY Jessica C (USA), KARBON Denise (ITA), PERSYN Karen (BEL), MUELLER Anne Marie (NOR), FENNINGER Anna (AUT), RIESCH Maria (GER), FISCHBACHER Andrea (AUT), CERESA Annalisa (ITA), GERG Annemarie (GER), KIRCHGASSER Michaela (AUT), PAERSON Anja (SWE)

Did not finish 2nd run:
HULTDIN Malin (SWE), LEINONEN Sanni (FIN), BERGMANN-SCHMUDERER Monika (GER), STIEGLER Resi (USA), ZETTEL Kathrin (AUT)

Did not qualify 1st run:
CLEMENTE Mireia (SPA), LOLOVIC Jelena (SRB), RUBENS Shona (CAN), PERNER Nina (GER), ROBNIK Petra (SLO), SANTON Aurelie (FRA), VIKEN Line (NOR), BARTHET Anne-Sophie (FRA), HANSDOTTER Frida (SWE), RICHARDSON Kaylin L (USA), LOESETH Nina (NOR)

World Cup slalom standings (after 7 races)
1. Marlies Schild, Austria, 660 points.
2. Ana Jelusic, Croatia, 328
3. Therese Borssen, Sweden, 324
4. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 294
5. Sarka Zahrobska, Czech Republic, 285
6. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 257
7. Veronika Zuzulova, Slovakia, 244
8. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 237
9. Chiara Costazza, Italy, 148
10. Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, Germany, 145
11. Maria Pietilae-Holmner, Sweden, 144
12. Florine de Leymarie, France, 135
13. Annemarie Gerg, Germany, 126
(tie) Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, 126
15. Resi Stiegler, United States, 117

World Cup overall standings (after 26 races)
1. Marlies Schild, Austria, 1,052 points.
2. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 1,019.
3. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 989.
4. Julia Mancuso, United States, 959.
5. Lindsey Kildow, United States, 808.
6. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 579.
7. Kathrin Zettel, Austria, 568.
8. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 543.
9. Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, 479.
10. Sarka Zahrobska, Czech Republic, 444.
11. Ingrid Jacquemod, France, 430.
12. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 339.
13. Therese Borssen, Sweden, 331.
(tie) Ana Jelusic, Croatia, 331.
15. Kelly VanderBeek, Canada, 322.