10 MAR 2001 > Women's Slalom
Victory for Nef, First Cup for Kostelic
Race Results

Switzerland's Sonja Nef won the last slalom race of the season in Are, Sweden, after setting the fastest time in the first leg. She beat Germany's Martina Ertl by 40/100 of a second and Sweden's World Champion Anja Paerson by 41/100. Nef, the reigning GS World Champion, has not won a slalom since her first win at Sestrière, Italy, in January 1996.

"I have hoped for many years to win a slalom again...."

A controlled second run was enough for her to beat Ertl, the combined World Champion, and to move up to second place in the slalom standings. Earlier this season she reached two podiums but she didn't expect to do so well today.

"I thought that Janica, who is fighting for the overall title, would be out of reach again," Nef explained. "I was quite pleased to find myself in the lead, which never happened to me before, and I fought hard to defend this position. I have hoped for many years to win a slalom again. It's really great. I'm also very proud to be 2nd in the final rankings after winning the GS World Cup."

A winner here last year, Nef will be the skier to beat in the last race, a GS, on Sunday. Among her rivals is Anja Paerson, who wants to defend her third place in the GS standings.

USA's Kristina Koznick, who won her first World Cup race here in 1998, was a distant 12th while the other US skiers, Caroline Lalive and Sarah Schleper, failed to finish the first run. Koznick finished the season's slalom standings in 7th place, Schleper 11th.

Croatia's Janica Kostelic, who dominated women's slalom events this season, was only 11th, her worst result in a long time. She was suffering from stomach and knee problems and never found her rhythm. However, she still managed to consolidate her lead in the overall World Cup ranking as her main rival, Austria's Renate Goetschl, straddled a gate at the middle of the first run.

Next week, Kostelic will undergo knee surgery in Basle, Switzerland, after a short stop in Zagreb.

"I'm in bad shape; it's too bad I can't enjoy this great moment," Kostelic explained. "I had no energy in me. I couldn't fight harder. My knee hurts a lot and I was happy to be able to finish that race."

Kostelic will start in tomorrow's GS with a lead of 67 points in the overall standings — it should be enough for her to clinch the big Crystal Globe. A top-10 would be enough for her to clinch it. The defending champion, Goetschl, would have to finish in the top-2 to score enough points to beat her. But Goetschl has never done better than 3rd in a World Cup giant slalom, and today's race was the third in a row that she failed to finish.

"I can't wait for this to be over," Kostelic said. "I have felt so much pressure for many weeks now, I'll be glad when everything will be finished. I have reached much more than expected, but I don't think about the overall Cup for the moment. It will be another tough day."

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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