America’s Kristina Koznick is a "night owl" — she won her second night slalom Monday evening in Austria’s Semmering thanks to an outstanding second run. She beat Switzerland's Karin Roten by 84/100 of a second and Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg by almost a full second.

	"Koz" in fine form

"It’s fabulous to win again in front of this great crowd," she said. "In the second run, I was able to ski at my best level. I wanted badly to win again after my disappointing season start. This is a great way to finish the year."

Spela Pretnar from Slovenia, the fastest skier in the opening run, finished 4th at 1.34 second in front of Austria’s Ingrid Salvenmoser and Andrine Flemmen from Norway.

Koznick, who started skiing under floodlights as a child, showed that she was back in shape after a very slow season start in North America. She finished 2nd in Veysonnaz, Switzerland last week and went for it today, losing only 1/100 on Pretnar in the second run and taking all risks in the longer and more demanding course.

Koznick crushed all her rivals this time to win her second World Cup slalom in 1998. Her father was the first to congratulate her at the finish line.

This result will boost her morale just six weeks before the World Championships in Vail.

Roten also confirmed her strong form with her 2nd place finish. "It was very important for my confidence to confirm as soon as possible my win from last week," Roten said. "In slalom, you need to finish as often as possible among the best to be able to take risks."

Pernilla Wiberg, who marked her third time on the podium this season, showed her strength in the second run in which she was among the fastest. "This result is very important to me because slalom has always be my best event," said Wiberg. "Now I feel able to aim again for more victories. I expected the season start to be difficult but now I really feel that my form is improving."

The next women’s races will take place next week in Maribor, Slovenia where a super-G, a giant slalom and a slalom are scheduled.

— Mountain Zone European Ski Correspondent