Sonja Nef Wins First US Race
Switzerland's Sonja Nef fought like a shark to win the first World Cup giant slalom in North America's opening race at Park City, Utah. After losing almost a second and a half in the first run, Sonja made a second-run comeback to win over Austria's Brigitte Obermoser by 32/100 of a second and Sweden's Anja Paerson by half a second.

She admits the special shark oil injections she receives regularly during the year to help heal her knee and smooth her repaired ligaments may boost her killer instinct in the gates. "It might help me to boost my adrenaline when I'm on the course," she said with a smile after the race.

"I gave everything I had in me because I was pretty upset by my slow first run," she added. "I have never been as aggressive in the past - it was a double or nothing situation for me. Win or bust, there was no other option after my terrible race at Soelden where I only finished 15th." Sonja said she put too much negative pressure on herself in Austria. She was more relaxed and had more fun here. She also felt more confident after changing skis and trying a shorter, carved model in Soelden. But here she took back her 193cm-long skis from last year.

Sonja also took advantage Brigitte Obermoser's errors in the second run. Obermoser, who won the final GS race in Bormio last season, could not repeat her amazing performance from the morning run, losing time in the middle part of the demanding course after making several errors.

"I gave my best, but my confidence faded at the end because of my mistakes, and I couldn't take as many risks as in the morning," Obermoser explained. "But I don't want to be too disappointed - I had such a dream run this morning and a top-3 result is always a success at our level. I'm basically a speed specialist, so I'm astonished to ski so well in GS for two years now - for sure a consequence of the use of the carved skis in the technical events. I still feel stronger in downhill and super G."

"Win or bust, there was no other option after my terrible race at Soelden where I only finished 15th."

Brigitte forms an impressive team within the Austrian group with her roommate Michael "Michi" Dorfmeister who finished 4th today. Michi came back from 13th in the morning race. Their teammate Renate Goetschl, the defending Overall World Cup champion, didn't qualify for the second run - quite a disappointment for the reigning downhill World Champion who crashed at Soelden three weeks ago.

The winner from that first race, Germany's Martina Ertl, had to be content with 7th place - still a strong result considering the fact that she was only 19th in the first leg. The Bavarian kept the lead in standings ahead of Obermoser and Paerson. Paerson, a four-time junior World Champion who is only 20, might well develop into one of the best technical skiers this coming season.

The US representatives had a better day than the last race in Austria - Kristina Koznick entered the top 20 and Kirsten Clark was 26th. For the moment USA II still ahead of USA I (Koznick is currently racing independently outside of the US Ski Team system). On Saturday, Kristina will aim for much more in the slalom. The men's giant slalom should be at least at fascinating - once again, "The Herminator" will try to stay out of the reach of his rivals. Two years ago, he skied out of the race here in Park City after leading the first. His Austrian pals such as Christian Mayer, Benjamin Raich and Stephan Eberharter will try their best to beat him.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

Races this weekend: Women's Slalom | Men's GS | Men's Slalom | Park City Preview

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