TORINO: Alpine: Paerson wins slalom for her first gold; U.S. women in pain

TORINO: Alpine: Paerson wins slalom for her first gold; U.S. women in painSESTRIERE, Italy – Sweden’s Anja Paerson was perfect in the Olympic women’s slalom on Wednesday, linking two short runs through the fog into a gold-medal performance.

Meanwhile, American Kristina Koznick raced with a completely torn ACL, rather than the partial tear, as officials had described it.

Paerson zipped down the Sestriere slope in 1 minute, 29.04 seconds, with Austrians Nicole Hosp and Marlies Schild in silver and bronze.

Paerson’s second run knocked her arch-nemesis Janica Kostelic of Croatia from the podium into fourth place.

The top American in the race was Sarah Schleper, in 10th. Resi Stiegler was 12th and Lindsey Kildow 14th.

As actual fog descended on the course through the run, an emotional fog settled over the U.S. team, whose injured women are as far from the podium as their male counterparts were in the previous week.

Koznick, skiing with a brace on her injured knee, finished well out of the race and was near tears in the finish area. She said her run had been painful, and that she was going home for surgery.

Koznick, who finished 3.34 seconds out on that 42-second course, skipped the second run of slalom to protect her knee from further injury.

The 30-year-old Minnesotan, who injured her knee Feb. 4 and returned until Feb. 16, announced on Feb. 19 that she would compete in Wednesday’s slalom.

‘It’s been a long two weeks, and to know that tomorrow I’m going to be on a plane to have surgery, I’m emotionally relieved a little bit’ she said, in tears at the finish.

‘I think that with it being icy like this, it’s one of those things where you feel like you’re pushing it but you’re just holding it, making sure you don’t slip’ said Dan Stripp, Koznick’s coach. ‘It’s been pretty tough.’

Stripp said Koznick hadn’t skied any course as long as this one, having tried to minimize trauma in the joint, where she had a partially torn ACL and severe bone bruising, according to U.S. team doctors.

Kildow also suffered through the race, carrying pockets of fluid in her back since her crashes in the downhill and combined earlier in the week.

‘I still don’t want to get it drained right now’ she said of the swelling. ‘I’ll have five days off after the GS and I’ll do it then. Sarah [Schleper] has her back issues, and Koz has knee problems, besides that we’re all OK.”

“On the bottom it was really difficult to see,” Kildow said of her second run. “The course was really turny. I was having a hard time focusing on the turn and where to go next. The visibility at the bottom – I was looking andlooking for the next gate and sometimes I didn’t see until the last moment. It’s weird because in slalom you think the gates are so close, you’d be able to see them but you really couldn’t.”

Schleper finished the day 2.34 seconds behind Paerson. She sat out the beginning of the season with a back injury, and didn’t return to World Cup racing until just after Christmas.

“My father always told me the worse the weather gets, the better we get,” Schleper said. “I was fired up about the conditions, I just wish I had put down a faster first run so I would have given myself a better chance.

“I’m getting my timing back and I’ll be taking some confidence into the GS.”

Stiegler, who raced with her signature tiger ears, also missed the early part of the year, resting a ruptured interosseous membrane.

“It was a turnier course and I was trying to stay on top of it, but I go straight on turny courses and got thrown a bit, but at least I was charging,” Stiegler said. 

Not finishing on the podium is a huge disappointment for Kostelic, who has been battling a virus, her coaches say, despite the ability to win races.

Schild trails Kostelic in the World Cup slalom standings, despite having won three races to Kostelic’s one.

There have been six women’s slaloms on the World Cup this year. They were at Aspen on Dec. 12 (winner: Anja Paerson); Spindleruv Mlyn on Dec. 22 (winner: Anja Paerson); Lienz on Dec. 29 (winner: Marlies Schild); Zagreb on Jan. 5 (winner: Marlies Schild), Maribor on Jan. 9 (winner: Marlies Schild), and Ofterschwang on Feb. 5 (winner: Janica Kostelic).
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Ski Racing’s Bill McCollom contributed to this report.

XX Winter Olympics

Final ranking
1. (1) Anja Paerson, Sweden, (1, 42.38; 2, 46.66) 1:29.04.
2. (3) Nicole Hosp, Austria, (2, 42.83; 1, 46.50) 1:29.33.
3. (4) Marlies Schild, Austria, (6, 43.09; 3, 46.70) 1:29.79.
4. (2) Janica Kostelic, Croatia, (5, 43.07; 4, 46.87) 1:29.94.
5. (19) Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, (3, 42.97; 7, 47.31) 1:30.28.
6. (5) Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, (4, 43.05; 11, 47.74) 1:30.79.
7. (12) Annemarie Gerg, Germany, (8, 43.37; 9, 47.52) 1:30.89.
8. (21) Chiara Costazza, Italy, (17, 44.15; 5, 46.93) 1:31.08.
8. (13) Therese Borssen, Sweden, (7, 43.21; 13, 47.87) 1:31.08.
10. (8) Sarah Schleper, United States, (14, 43.61; 12, 47.77) 1:31.38.
11. (23) Florine De Leymarie, France, (9, 43.40; 14, 47.99) 1:31.39.
12. (17) Resi Stiegler, United States, (17, 44.15; 8, 47.33) 1:31.48.
13. (11) Sarka Zahrobska, Czech Republic, (12, 43.52; 17, 48.03) 1:31.55.
14. (15) Lindsey C. Kildow, United States, (15, 43.92; 10, 47.66) 1:31.58.
15. (18) Ana Jelusic, Croatia, (10, 43.42; 23, 48.36) 1:31.78.
16. (9) Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, Germany, (11, 43.48; 23, 48.36) 1:31.84.
17. (35) Brigitte Acton, Canada, (27, 44.75; 6, 47.15) 1:31.90.
18. (20) Anna Ottosson, Sweden, (16, 44.09; 14, 47.99) 1:32.08.
19. (26) Manuela Moelgg, Italy, (13, 43.59; 28, 48.58) 1:32.17.
20. (24) Henna Raita, Finland, (20, 44.29; 19, 48.04) 1:32.33.
21. (25) Maria Pietilae-Holmner, Sweden, (19, 44.16; 22, 48.31) 1:32.47.
22. (22) Veronika Zuzulova, Slovakia, (24, 44.53; 16, 48.00) 1:32.53.
23. (10) Nika Fleiss, Croatia, (21, 44.31; 21, 48.30) 1:32.61.
24. (27) Annalisa Ceresa, Italy, (25, 44.55; 20, 48.22) 1:32.77.
25. (32) Ana Kobal, Slovenia, (22, 44.36; 27, 48.53) 1:32.89.
26. (29) Vanessa Vidal, France, (23, 44.49; 26, 48.48) 1:32.97.
27. (43) Mizue Hoshi, Japan, (30, 45.35; 17, 48.03) 1:33.38.
28. (33) Eva Kurfuerstova, Czech Republic, (28, 45.03; 25, 48.44) 1:33.47.
29. (28) Noriyo Hiroi, Japan, (26, 44.74; 29, 48.85) 1:33.59.
30. (31) Katarzyna Karasinska, Poland, (33, 45.41; 30, 48.89) 1:34.30.
31. (41) Mojca Rataj, Bosnia-Herzegovina, (29, 45.34; 31, 49.03) 1:34.37.
32. (37) Jessica Walter, Liechtenstein, (31, 45.37; 32, 49.73) 1:35.10.
33. (50) Alexandra Coletti, Monaco, (32, 45.38; 35, 50.58) 1:35.96.
34. (30) Anne-Sophie Barthet, France, (37, 46.28; 33, 50.38) 1:36.66.
35.
(49) Nicola Campbell, New Zealand, (35, 45.90; 36, 50.92) 1:36.82.
36. (44) Macarena Simari Birkner, Argentina, (35, 45.90; 37, 51.17) 1:37.07.
37. (47) Maria Belen Simari Birkner, Argentina, (38, 46.35; 38, 51.26) 1:37.61.
38. (45) Mami Sekizuka, Japan, (42, 47.22; 34, 50.50) 1:37.72.
39. (54) Chirine Njeim, Lebanon, (43, 47.24; 39, 51.90) 1:39.14.
40. (53) Erika Mcleod, New Zealand, (44, 47.96; 40, 52.61) 1:40.57.
41. (80) Oh Jae-eun, South Korea, (45, 48.07; 43, 53.77) 1:41.84.
42. (52) Kirsten Mcgarry, Ireland, (48, 49.64; 41, 52.79) 1:42.43.
43. (39) Jelena Lolovic, Serbia-Montenegro, (39, 46.44; 47, 56.36) 1:42.80.
44. (55) Tiiu Nurmberg, Estonia, (46, 48.77; 45, 54.21) 1:42.98.
45. (56) Yulia Siparenko, Ukraine, (49, 50.31; 42, 52.95) 1:43.26.
46. (51) Marija Trmcic, Serbia-Montenegro, (47, 49.47; 44, 53.99) 1:43.46.
47. (59) Vera Eremenko, Kazakhstan, (50, 50.73; 46, 55.27) 1:46.00.
48. (62) Ivana Ivcevska, Macedonia, (51, 52.40; 48, 57.73) 1:50.13.
49. (61) Reka Tuss, Hungary, (52, 53.76; 49, 57.83) 1:51.59.
50. (57) Dong Jinzhi, China, (53, 55.40; 50, 58.66) 1:54.06.
51. (63) Neha Ahuja, India, (54, 55.45; 51, 1:00.71) 1:56.16.

Other skiers
DNF 1st: Martina Ertl-Renz, GER; Daniela Merighetti, ITA; Petra Zakourilova, CZE; Sona Maculova, Eva HUckova, SVK; Matea Ferk, CRO; Duygu Ulusoy, TUR.
DSQ 1st: Kathrin Zettel, AUT; Laure Pequegnot, FRA; Magdalini Kalomirou, GER.
DNS 2nd: Kristina Koznick, USA.
DNF 2nd: Lucie Hrstkova, CZE; Maria Kirkova, BUL.

THE SCOOP

Equipment
Women’s Slalom, Sestriere, Italy, Feb. 22, 2006
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1. Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
2. Hosp, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
3. Schild, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4. Kostelic, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5. Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6. Poutiainen, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
7. Gerg, Head/Lange/Marker
8. Costazza, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8. Borssen, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10. Schleper, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

XX Olympic Games
Women’s slalom (night), Sestriere, Italy, Feb. 22, 2006. … It is the seventh victory of the season for Anja Paerson. … Her third in slalom and her first in slalom since Spinderluv Mlyn on Dec. 22. … It is her fifth Olympics medal in six career Olympic races. … Her first gold medal. … It is the 13th Olympic medal in alpine racing for Sweden. … The fifth gold. … It is the second gold medal in slalom for Sweden, the other coming from Ingemar Stenmark in 1980 at Lake Placid. … Paerson has won Sweden’s last five medals dating back to a bronze medal in slalom Feb. 20, 2002 at Deer Valley, Utah. … It is her third medal of the 2006 Olympic Games.

It is the fifth podium result of the season for Nicole Hosp. … Her second in slalom. … It is her second Olympic finish and first Olympic medal. … She also finished fifth in the combined, completed Feb. 18.

It is the eighth podium of the season for Marlies Schild. … Her sixth in slalom. … It is her second Olympic medal and second of the 2006 Winter Games, having also won a silver medal in combined Feb. 18. … Hosp and Schild scored the 96th and 97th alpine Olympic medals for Austria. … They are the 10th and 11th Austrian medals of the 2006 Olympics, tying the mark set at Nagano in 1998 (with two races remaining). … It is the third straight race in which Austria has won two medals.

It is just the second top-10 result for Sarah Schleper this season, the other a ninth in a World Cup GS at Ofterschwang Feb. 4. … It is the 31st Olympic top 10 in slalom for an American skier. … It is the best of three Olympic results for Schleper, and her first result of these Games. … She was 22nd in SL and 21st in GS in the 2002 Games. … It is the third-best result of the season for Resi Stiegler and second best of the Olympics. … She was previously 11th incombined. … Fourteenth matches the 17th-best result of the season for Lindsey Kildow. … It matches her fifth-best result of the season in slalom. … It is her third result of the 2006 Olympics, the others being eighth in DH and seventh in SG. … It is the second-best result of the season for Brigitte Acton. … And second-best of the 2006 Olympics. … She was also 10th in the combined.

Winning margin is .29. … Top four skiers are within the same second. … Top seven skiers within two seconds. … Race was held in fog.