Madonna di Campiglio, women’s slalom 2

Nicole Hosp tamed Anja Parson.

Madonna di Campiglio, Dec.17th . Sweden’s Anja Paerson failed to achieve her expected hat-trick in Madonna di Campiglio as she lost the third slalom race of the season to Austria’s Nicole Hosp, 3rd on Tuesday. So far, she was out of reach in the two previous events hold in Park City and here on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Hosp, clocking the fastest times in both runs, beat the Scandinavian by 29/100 of a second, while Marlies Schild was 3rd as in Park City.

Another member of this strong Austrian team, Elisabeth Goergl was 4th, half a second away from the podium. She was 3rd last week in giant slalom in Alta Badia. Experts consider her as the most talented athlete of the younger Austrian generation.

The French Laure Pequegnot and Christel Pascal could not repeat their strong performances from the first race here – Laure was only 12th this time and Christel 14th.

Yet Parson, who travelled to St Moritz where the next speed events are scheduled for the coming weekend, increased her lead in the overall World Cup standings. She is now followed by Hosp at 190 points, while Martina Ertl, 8th in that slalom, is 3rd at 238 points. At that point, the skier form Taernaby is sure to stay in the lead until the next technical races in Lienz – the speed specialists classified behind Ertl can’t hope to pass her in St Moritz.

Three US skiers ended among the top-15 – Kristina Koznick was 9th ex aequo with Sarah Schleper while Resi Stiegler reached a promising 13th place. Last year, she came in 11th in a slalom in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

A long wait

The Austrian team had to wait a long time for this slalom win – since December 1999, when Sabine Egger won in Lienz, Austria. Yet it was only a question of time until Hosp, Schild or Goergl would stand atop of a podium in this specialty. These three skiers often finished among the best three in recent slalom races.

“I felt confident this morning and in fact I achieved two great runs” said Hosp, who already won a giant slalom in Soelden last season. “I was very determined and aggressive in the lower steep part where I gained much time on Anja in both runs. This result means a lot to me because I fought hard for it. I knew before my start in the second run that Anja was leading and I was ready to give my best to beat her this time”.

“My first victory in Soelden was a total surprise for me and I didn’t really understood what happened to me that day. I was very happy that my father and some members of my fan-club attended this race. I enjoyed sharing my emotion with them”.

Hosp, who won two silver medals at the last Worlds in St Moritz in slalom and giant slalom, reached her fourth consecutive podium in five races today. She was already among the best-3 in the giant slalom races in Park City and Alta Badia and 3rd in slalom on Tuesday. She aims to continue to challenge Paerson in the slalom and GS World Cup standings but without putting too much pressure on herself. “The most important is to enjoy my racing and to have fun” she added.

A new shoe from Fischer

Interestingly enough, the Austrian is using a new model of racing boots produced by Fischer, also a well-known ski producer. “I tested them in August and I felt soon very comfortable” Hosp explained. “The difference with the other boots mostly concerns the position of the feet inside the shoes – they are in a duck-like position with toes pointing out wide. It’s more natural and I had no problem getting used to it last summer”.

For the moment, Hosp is the only racer using this new product launched earlier this year by Fischer and developed with the help of a long-time trainer of Nicole, Johann Leitner. “We work together since I’m 14 and I trust him a lot” she said. “I guess the other skiers must be quite curious now about this model”.

Anja Paerson was tired

Anja Paerson was not to upset to have lost her first slalom this season. Her strong lead in the various World Cup standings helps her to feel good about today’s race even if she didn’t win it.
“Of course I always want to win, but today I couldn’t attack more in the final part” she explained. “I skied the first flat part quite perfectly but I had not enough energy to reach my limits in the steep part” she added.
“I felt tired and I lost half a second in the lower part, but at the end of the day, this 2nd place is not so bad. I had my best season start ever with three wins, two podiums and a 4th place”.

“I will sleep well in the car going to St Moritz this afternoon. I will decide there what I’m going to race. I’ll not take any risk if the conditions are difficult. I want to enjoy a nice Christmas break in Taernaby with my family”.

The first training run in St Moritz in planned for Thursday morning. The downhill will take place in Saturday and the Super-G on Sunday.

Patrick Lang