Sonja Nef enjoys competing in Sestrière. In January 1996, the charming Swiss won her first race here — a slalom. Tuesday she celebrated her second success in giant slalom at the Italian resort which hosted the 1997 Ski World Championships.

Nef had to fight hard to beat Sweden's Anja Paerson, leader in the first run. Austria's Renate Goetschl was 3rd. Goetschl, the defending overall World Cup champion, scored her first podium in that event - the only one she has not won yet.

"Four of us a really close to each other on the slopes and the World Cup standings so there is no room left for mistakes."

Germany's Martina Ertl was once again 4th - good enough to reinforce her lead in the overall World Cup standings ahead of France's Régine Cavagnoud, 9th this time. Croatia's "Wondergirl," Janica Kostelic, who is leading the slalom standings, was 10th.

Kristina Koznick was the best US skier in 20th place. Sarah Schlepper and Kirsten Clark missed the cut. Sarah, 2nd here in the slalom ten days ago, was only two tenths behind 30th place - missing the opportunity to log points. This was quite a disappointment for the racer from Vail who will try to confirm her strength in slalom on Wednesday.

For once, Nef achieved a good first run. She was 2nd in the morning, only a few hundredths behind Paerson — the most consistent specialist so far this winter with a series of four consecutive places on the podium.

In a tactical second run, Nef perfectly managed this treacherous course, allowing her to pass the more emotional Paerson, who has not won a race since her first success in Mammoth Mountain, California, in December 1998.

Paerson has often set the fastest times in the opening runs - including a slalom here last March and also at the last World Cup finals at Bormio, but she has a hard time controlling her nerves in the second runs.

It was particularly difficult for her this time. She wore the red bib given to the various standings leaders. She badly wanted to win her first GS after her strong past results at Soelden, Park City and here in Sestrière ten days ago in a race won by Michaela Dorfmeister.

But once more, she didn't control the pressure and clocked one of the slowest times in that run - loosing half a second on Nef and a surprising one-and-a-half seconds on Canada's Britt Janyk. Britt, who scored her very first World Cup points, was the fastest racer in the afternoon after clocking the 29th best time in the morning.

"It was so difficult - I was again very nervous," Anja said. "It's tough to fight for victory when you wear this red bib. I want to win it and to show the Crystal Cup to my fans at the finals in Are. But I also aim for my first victory in two years."

In the past, Nef also paid a high price to be one of the toughest and most experienced GS skiers on the tour. When she was younger, she missed opportunities because she could not handle the pressure. In February 1996, she was leading a GS race at the Worlds at Sierra Nevada then fell at the beginning of the second run. She struggled in subsequent seasons until she received counselling from a mental trainer who tough her to block her negative thoughts before the races.

Now the 28 year old is focusing on the excitement and the challenges of ski racing. "I'm much stronger in my head now, and I have learned to manage my career and my races," Nef said. "Today I tried to be more aggressive in the first run in order to have time to recover in the afternoon - it was a good tactic and it worked out fine. Four of us are really close to each other on the slopes and in the World Cup standings, so there is no room for mistakes. I like it that way, it motivates me even more."

Nef is on her way to finally clinching a medal at St. Anton in six weeks - it would be a nice reward after all her troubles; from 1989 to 1996, she underwent six knee surgeries. She is careful with her health during summer training. In fact, she trains with her own technician in the summer before joining the rest of the team at the start of the winter — an efficient system as it turns out.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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