11 MAR 2001 > Women's Giant Slalom
Kostelic Wins Women's Overall Title, Nef Wins Race
Race Results

Croatia's Janica Kostelic became the 2001 women's overall World Cup champion after her main rival, Austria's Renate Goetschl, crashed in the last race of the season Sunday in Are, Sweden.

In the first leg of the giant slalom, the defending overall champion Goetschl skied out at the twentieth gate after trying hard to come back from 2nd place in the overall standings. It has been a dramatic week for her — she hasn't finished three of the four races here.

"I feel relieved now; this season has been quite exciting but also very demanding..."

Kostelic, who sat in the inspection tent at the finish area, was very emotional when her last rival crashed.

"It has been such a tough week and such a struggle that I was afraid until the end," Kostelic said after being congratulated by her friends and her team. "My left knee hurts a lot, and I feel weak after my problems from yesterday. I did not have enough energy today to fight back if Renate had done better. I feel relieved now; this season has been quite exciting but also very demanding."

In the afternoon, Kostelic gave what she could to reach an honorable position, but she was not able do better than 21st. This put her several seconds behind the winner, Switzerland's Sonja Nef, who celebrated her eighth success of the season, her second win in 24 hours, and her giant slalom title.

Sweden's Anja Paerson and Ylva Nowen were 2nd and 3rd, repectively, but both lost almost two seconds on the winner. USA's Sarah Schleper was a far 16th and didn't score any points.

After the race, Kostelic was very busy answering numerous questions from the media before receiving the Crystal Globe on the winners' podium.

"The big Cup is quite heavy — I was really surprised. It was strange to be standings next to Hermann Maier, too," Kostelic said. "I still have a hard time believing that I clinched that Cup. It was not even a dream at the season start. I remember watching the ski races on TV when I was a child, but I didn't believe then that I would become a competitor."

"I reached much more than expected," she continued. "This last week was very difficult because of my knee pain and because of the tension. I felt so bad yesterday in the slalom. I think Renate's crash in the downhill was the turning point of the week. She is a great fighter. I was lucky to beat her in the super G and then that she skied out again in the slalom."

Kostelic says when she started to compete in international events, her first goal was to win an Olympic medal and then to become a contender for the Overall World Cup. She won the Globe much earlier than expected, but a gold medal at Salt Lake City will be a priority for her next winter.

"An Olympic champion remains forever a sports hero in his country and his sport. This is my next goal. Then I hope to keep on improving in the other specialties. I'm only 19 and I wish to race for eight more years," she said.

Goetschl tried to accept her defeat gracefully. "I had some good results this winter, a dozen podiums as well as this silver medal in downhill at St. Anton," she said. "But I lost several races by a few hundredths of a second, and I also had these bad crashed at St. Anton. You need luck to succeed in this sport. I can only try my best race after race. I have enjoyed great victories in recent years, so I'm pleased the same. Janica has done really well and she deserves the victory after her strong comeback and her accident last winter. I will be motivated next season to fight back."

The World Cup season is over. Next season will begin in seven months at Soelden, in Austria.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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