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www.skiworldcup.org/Semmering (AUT) 28.12.2002
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Women's Giant Slalom- Race report
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| Report I Race results I SWC GS I Overall |
Third
season victory for Karen Putzer
Karen
Putzer was once more out of reach for
her rivals in Semmering’s giant
slalom in which she celebrated her third
season victory in front of thousands
of spectators.
The 24-year-old silver medallist of
the 2001 World Championships beat by
37/100 Croatia’s triple Olympic
Champion Janica Kostelic after setting
the fastest time in the first run, while
her teammate Denise Karbon reached her
first World Cup podium ever in coming
in 3rd.
Karbon tied with Austria’s great
talent Nicole Hosp. Another Austrian,
Brigitte Obermoser was 5th ahead of
Canada’s Britt Janyk who achieved
her best performance in a World Cup
giant slalom.
The 1999 World Champion Alexandra Meissnitzer
was 8th behind the reigning World Champion,
Sonja Nef from Switzerland.
Earlier this month, Putzer also dominated
a Super-G in Canada’s Lake Louise
and a giant slalom in Val d’Isère.
Michaela Dorfmeister, who lives nearby
Semmering, situated one hour drive from
Vienna, only finished a far 12th and
France’s Carole Montillet 28th.
Both lost much ground on Kostelic in
the Overall World Cup standings after
this race. The Croat has already amassed
more than 800 points in less than two
months of racing – she should be
able to score more than 1200 points
as she did in 2001 in Are, where she
captured her first Overall title.
Skiers from seven different teams skied
among the top-10, including Spain’s
Maria-Jose Rienda-Contreras, 10th after
clocking the third best time in the
morning.
Karen out of reach
Karen
was half a second faster than her nearest
rival, Brigitte Obermoser, in the first
run in which she started in third position.
In the second run, the Italian beat
most of her rivals after another solid
run to capture her fifth World Cup race.
“I was lucky to start early this
morning and I could make the best out
of the good course conditions”
she said afterwards.
“You have to ski with much feeling
on such a wet snow. I was relaxed before
this race after reaching so much in
Lake Louise and Val d’Isère.
This helped me to take more risks. The
second run was rougher but I felt comfortable
and I just let run my skis”.
“I’m very proud to lead the
giant slalom World Cup standings and
I will try hard to defend my chances
until the Finals”.
Janica was impressed
Janica
Kostelic was also impressed by Karen’s
performance today.
“She obviously raced with great
confident here, she was cool and always
smooth” Janica said. “She
made no major mistake and she deserves
to win again. I’m just happy to
be second behind her. I reached more
than expected in that race after being
7th this morning. I had a strong second
run but I didn’t hope to improve
my position so much. This is my best
result in a World Cup giant slalom.
It’s great to finish the year so
well. I aim to score a maximum of points
here so that I could eventually skip
the next speed events in Austria”.
In fact Janica and her colleagues may
take a long break in the coming weeks.
The technical races planned next weekend
in Germany’s Berchtesgaden had
to be cancelled because of warm temperatures
which are also affecting other parts
of the Alps.
In Semmering the weather should be just
good enough for the night slalom planned
for Sunday evening. Janica Kostelic,
the winner here two years ago, is again
the skier to beat with Finland’s
Tanja Poutiainen, 9th today, or Sweden’s
Anja Paerson the winner in Aspen and
Sestriere.
Also ready for another great achievement
is Nicole Hosp, who accumulated a series
of strong results since her success
in Soelden. For the moment Nicole has
only scored points in the technical
disciplines but she has the talent to
also excel soon in the speed events.
Four skiers are classified within hundred
points behind Janica Kostelic –
Karen Putzer, Michaela Dorfmeister,
Martina Ertl and Carole Montillet. They
seem to be the only serious contenders
of Janica in the Overall standings.
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| Manuèle Lang |
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