Janica Kostelic just keeps on winning. The skier from Zagreb, Croatia, clinched the third slalom of the season, held in Sestrière, Italy, on one of the most demanding slopes of the women's tour. This dramatic race was also marked by the first podium finish of USA's Sarah Schleper, one of the young talents on the American team.

"This is not good for my heart, this is crazy."

Top slalom skier Trine Bakke, of Norway, was 3rd in front of Germany's Martina Ertl and Sweden's Anja Paerson. France's favorite, Christel Saioni, skied out. USA's Kristina Koznick was 11th and Slovenia's 2000 Slalom World Cup Champion Spela Pretnar was 14th. A third US skier, Caroline Lalive, was 17th.

Ertl's latest 4th place helps reinforce her lead in the Overall World Cup standings. The Bavarian will be difficult to beat if she keeps regularly accumulating points in all events.

Kostelic's season hat trick was far from being evident after the first run, during which she only clocked the 10th best time, just ahead of Schleper. Claudia Riegler from New Zealand was in the lead ahead of Bakke and Paerson and ready to celebrate her first win since 1997.

Croatian "wondergirl" Janica said afterwards that she felt tired in that tough first run set on the steep and icy Giovanni Agnelli slope. "I was so passive, I could not react," she explained before going back to her hotel between races.

Kostelic was upset and frustrated, which ultimately helped her overcome her weakness during the second run. Skiing without pressure, she achieved an incredible run to set a new best time, 33/100 ahead of Schleper. "A top-10 place is fine so far, I can't win all the time," Janica uttered after her run.

But she kept an eye on the timing board and on the course as she watched her rivals struggle down the course. She was smiling when her rank kept improving after the skiers behind her crossed the finish.

Her mother Marica had a hard time controlling her nerves. Her heart was already beating hard while Janica skied down the mountain, but it beat even harder as she moved up the standings.

"This is not good for my heart, this is crazy," she said from the sidelines.

It got worse for Marica when Janica kept the lead after Paerson and Bakke ended their race. Only Riegler had a chance to beat her, but this lasted only half a minute as the Austrian-born racer skied out at mid-course.

The elated Croatian delegates, which included a large group of reporters, went nuts and jumped up and down, shouting loud enough to be heard all the way to Zagreb! Marica had a hard time catching her breath and remaining calm. "This is incredible, how could Janica win this race?"

Her daughter couldn't give her an answer. "I was not happy after the first run and I decided to ski as directly as possible without thinking too much about the result," she said. "I was very focused, but not tense, so I could achieve a fast yet nice run. I was not preoccupied by my final position. I only wanted to come down that mountain as quickly as possible. I'm really amazed again to win that race. I never thought that could be possible."

Only a few top skiers in history, such as Switzerland's Vreni Schneider, Erika Hess or Alberto Tomba, have achieved similar comebacks. Janica, who will turn 20 next month, will for sure be able to move on the same level in the future. As she said, she is still young and ready for much more.

She didn't dream of such a comeback last summer. "My goal was to make it healthy through this season and get back in top form next year for the Olympics," she said.

Well, she is ahead of her schedule so far. The slalom World Cup title is always getting closer, and her 5th place the other day in the GS shows that she may also aim for the overall crown as soon as she decides to train and race in speed events.

This victory will also have a strong psychological influence on the other slalom stars who believed that she would be less efficient on the European snow. From now on, they will fear her even more and take more risks to beat her - perhaps forcing them to make more errors. They may have a tough road ahead.

The next women's races — two downhills — are planned next weekend at St. Moritz, in Switzerland. The following technical races that were originally scheduled in 10 days at Jasna, in Slovakia, have been cancelled and may be organized here in Sestrière.

Kostelic would not complain.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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