30 DEC 2000 > Women's Giant Slalom
Third Win for Sonja Nef
Race Results

Thousands of spectators flocked to Semmering, hoping to attend the victory of an Austrian skier in today's giant slalom. Most were cheering for Michaela Dorfmeister, who lives less than an hour's drive away from this small mountain, but at the end of the day, two Swiss and an American ruined their New Year's on the "Zauberbeg" — the "Magic Mountain."

Sonja Nef won her third race of the season after a dramatic competition marked by a series of unusual yet spectacular events. The charming 28-year-old beat her teammate Corinne Rey-Bellet by a mere 63/100 of a second, while American Sarah Schleper achieved her best performance ever in the GS taking 3rd place, 8/100 of a second ahead of Dorfmeister.

It was the best US result in the GS since 1994 when Heidi Völker reached the podium in Morzine — and it's the sixth US top-3 result this season!

Interestingly enough, none of the top favorites for the overall World Cup finished this final race of 2000. Germany's Martina Ertl, Austria's Renate Goetschl and France's Régine Cavagnoud all skied out in the second run, allowing Janica Kostelic, despite strong gusts of wind in the upper part of the course, to take command in the general standings, gaining 21 points on Ertl.

Also unlucky was Sweden's Anja Paerson, 31st in the first leg, only 3/100 of a second behind the qualifying 30th place. She was passed in the GS standings by Nef and Dorfmeister. Kristina Koznick, who lost a ski on Thursday night while fighting for a top-3 finish in the slalom, came in a distant 24th after clocking the 13th best time in the morning.

Sonja Nef is quite popular in Austria, where she lives most of the year with her boyfriend, a trainer for the German team. "I feel at home here and I'm happy to have finally won a race in Austria," she said after the race. "It has been quite a tough competition because of the fresh snow which covered part of the slope this morning. In the afternoon, the course was harder but also quite bumpy and there was also some wind. I was lucky not to ski out at mid-course."

"Nef should be the skier to beat at St. Anton next month during the Ski World Championships."

"It's a great way to finish the year 2000 which has been quite successful for me. I have won a total of five races in the last nine months. I have also learned a lot about myself. I feel mentally much stronger now. I'm also quite healthy which is the most important. I have no problems at all with my knees and I perfectly handle the pressure before the races. It's great to win a race after setting the best time in the first run — it hasn't happened to me so often. It's very good for my confidence."

A strong leader in the GS World Cup standings, Nef should be the skier to beat at St. Anton next month during the Ski World Championships. The Swiss skier deserves a gold medal after all the tough times she has faced in the past. In 1996, she led after the first run at Sierra Nevada, but skied out in the second.

At the finish area, Sarah Schleper lifted her arms as winner when she found out that she reached her first GS podium — three weeks after coming in 2nd in a slalom at Sestriere. She, Nef and Ertl are the only three skiers who have achieved top-3 performances in both technical events this winter. The skier from Vail didn't score any top-10 finishes in the GS last season.

Yet she reached the podium she had been aiming for — two days ago she made a huge mistake just a few gates before the finish line. "I don't want to be only a slalom skier, I wish to become also very consistent in GS," she said after the race.

"I was quite mad after the slalom, then I cooled down because I realized that I was very close to crashing out of the course and losing my spot in the first seed. So I had a positive attitude before this race and I liked the bumpy course. It was quite an exciting race and I kept pushing myself, looking for more speed."

Sarah, who spent Christmas in Paris with three friends, will celebrate New Year's in Salzburg before moving on to Maribor. She has good memories from the Slovenian resort where last year she broke the top-10 for the first time with a 7th place in slalom.

At Semmering, where Schleper started in 33rd position, only Switzerland's Lilian Kummer, 9th at the end, was faster in the second run. Schleper clocked the 12th best time in the morning, 9/100 ahead of Koznick.

This strong result should help the 21-year-old to become part of the top tier in giant slalom as well, one of her goals this winter. She is now in 22nd position in the World Cup GS start list, but there are three GS races left until the Worlds at St. Anton.

In the overall standings, she is in 16th position just behind Koznick, but she has the potential to move up very soon and seems more than ready for her first victory.

— Manuèle Lang, World Cup Correspondent

Email this story to a friend