2003 World Cup season opens with triple victory

It’s with a unique triple victory that the 2002/ 2003 World Cup season started this week- end in Austria where a couple of giant slalom races took place on the demanding Rettenbacher glacier above Soelden.
In the women’s giant slalom marked by difficult weather conditions, Norway's veteran Andrine Flemmen, a winner here in October 1998, shared the first place with Tina Maze of Slovenia and Austrian newcomer Nicole Hosp, two determined teenagers who never enjoyed such a great moment so far.
The competition was very demanding for most of the favorites because of the strong gusts of wind which made the conditions irregular.
Yet at the end, most of the spectators and the competitors liked the issue of the race which was pretty exciting to watch.

"It's amazing," Flemmen said who already set the fastest time in the first run. "Really unbelievable. It was an absolutely crazy race. There was sometimes very much wind. You needed a bit of luck to finish a the top of the standings. I think you could say today you had to get some help to win here. It’s really fun to share the first place with two other athletes. This race will make history!"

No problem for the young skiers

The young skiers had apparently less problems to master the wind and the difficulties of the two runs than many more experienced leaders. Hosp, 36th to start in the first leg, didn’t seem disturbed at all by the strong winds and came in 11th in the opening leg. The 19-year-old Austrian, who never reached a top-20 in her previous six World Cup appearance gained so much confidence that she dominated all the other skiers in the second run. She set a new best time of 1. 49,91 which was never improved.
After a while she was joined by Maze, 5th after the first run but there were still some favorites as Switzerland’s Sonja Nef or Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen at the start. But none of them could do better. Sonja ended a disappointing 6th place and Tanja a far 9th!
At the end, only Flemmen starting with a strong lead after the first run could beat them. In fact the 27-year-old Scandinavian attacked aggressively the hard course but she lost much time on the last flat part – yet saved her first place with this stunning tie with her younger rivals.
There have never been a triple win at a World Cup race before Soelden - but 10 two-way draws since 1967 . The last one was between American Kristina Koznick and Switzerland’s Marlies Oester last year in a slalom in Berchtesgaden, South of Germany.

Hosp goes for the Overall

"My goal was only to qualify for the second run" Hosp said candidly. "It was really tough. There was really strong wind coming and going. Fortunately, I was able to stay relaxed and focused. I just wanted to ski the way I can. And here I'm winning! It was quite crazy too in the finish line after the race. I was not ready for this, I’m really surprised!”
Hosp, who was 3rd in downhill and 4th in the slalom at the 2002 junior world championships in Italy, said she aims to ski all four disciplines.
"My goal is for sure to fight once for the Overall World Cup title" added Hosp, who also finished fourth in final standings of the 2002 Europa Cup. "Good racers should be able to excel in all events. My raw model is Kjetil André Aamodt because he excels in all the disciplines. He is such a great ski champion."

It was less a surprise for Maze, who is competing in her third World Cup season. The Slovenian was 2nd in a giant slalom in Maribor last season. She is considered for many years as one of the great young talents on the tour. Slovenia’s has not won a women’s GS since the success of Spela Pretnar, the 2000 slalom World Cup champion, in Bormio in March 1995.

A good day for Slovenia

"Today, I attacked as hard as I could" explained Maze. “ I was happy to be 5th earlier and it gave me great momentum for the final run. It’s just fantastic. I was looking for this since I’m a kid. This is also an important result for our team”.
Her teammate Alenka Dovzan also skied among the top-10 as she ended 8th – her best result ever in this event. She didn’t reach a top-10 place in the last two years.
While most of the top favorites as Nef, Paerson, Kostelic or Dorfmeister, the winner here a year ago and only 30th in the first run, struggled on their way down the slope, another teenager created a huge sensation – Sweden’s shooting star Jessica Lindell-Vikarby finished 7th despite starting in 59th position in the morning.
The 18-year-old skier from Stockholm entered her very first World Cup race after showing her potential during the last training camps. Her outstanding performance made her winning the “winStar of the Race” award given out by FIS (International Ski Federation) and Winterthur Insurance for skiers reaching top-15 places after starting higher than 45 in the race. She will now compete next month in park City, where the World Cup tour resumes after a 3-week break.