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Friday,
09.02.2001
Race
Report
Women’s giant slalom
Sweet revenge for Sonja Nef
It’s a sweet and joyful revenge
that Switzerland’s Sonja Nef
celebrated on Friday at St Anton in
clinching her first gold medal five
years after her disastrous second
run at Sierra Nevada where she felt
after having clocked the fastest time
in the first run.
But this time she remained cool despite
the great pressure to beat by over
a second Italy’s midget Karen
Putzer, the bronze medal winner in
combined, and by 1,51 second Anja
Paerson from Sweden, the recent slalom
World Champion.
The bad race conditions prevented
the other favorites to defend their
chances in a fair way – experts
like Michaela Dorfmeister, the 2000
GS World Cup champion was only 8th
while her teammate Renate Goetschl
skied out as the defending champion
Alexandra Meissnitzer or Germany’s
Martina Ertl, the winner of the first
GS at Soelden in October.
Janica Kostelic, who feels some pain
at her groin for a week, preferred
not to start to rest for the end of
the season.
Sonja Nef is as tough as charming.
Her smile hides an impressive determination
which helped her to overcome a series
of knee surgeries between 1989 and
1996 as well as bad luck in many major
events.
In 1996, she took the decision to
go on her own during the summer ski
training in order to follow her own
rhythm because of her painful knee
which prevented her to train as intensively
as her teammates.
She hired her own trainer, Sepp Brunner
from Austria, which she paid by herself
at the beginning before receiving
some financial support from her Federation
when her results started to improve.
Her patience and dedication started
to pay off in February 1998 when she
finished 2nd in a giant slalom at
Are, in Sweden, just before the Nagano
Olympics. There she felt again after
she hit a gate in the first GS run.
In October 1999, she finally won her
first GS race – and since then
she is the best specialist on the
World Cup tour with a total of eight
wins. Last winter, she fought till
the last race for the GS World Cup
conquered by Austria’s Michaela
Dorfmeister despite suffering a severe
flue in December.
But this year, Sonja felt healthy
and strong in her mind as never before
– this helped her to accumulate
the victories – five until now
in seven races.
At Cortina d’Ampezzo, she scored
enough points to be assured to receive
the Crystal Globe at Are during the
World Cup final planned for early
March.
This helped her to be a little more
relaxed before this crucial race.
The way she attacked the course in
both runs showed her confidence.
"It's a kid’s dream which
becomes true today" she said.
"I prayed to the Lord before
the second run not to crash again.
I was quite nervous before the race
but now I feel such a great joy in
me".
"I was only aiming for gold –
I couldn’t care less about silver
or bronze. I gave what I could –
it was tough because the piste was
quite damaged and I feared Karen Putzer,
an excellent skier on these kinds
of runs."
"I was lucky to start in 2nd
position this morning, I could ski
my own line. Afterwards, it was impossible
to make up some time – it was
too bumpy."
The Austrian can share part of Sonja’s
success. Her boy-friend, a trainer
in the German Team, is Austrian and
they live together near Salzburg.
Her personal trainer she hired on
her own for her summer ski training
in 1996 is also Austrian.
Several Swiss racers won that title
before her in the last twenty years
– Erika Hess in 1982, Vreni Schneider
in 1987 and 1989.
A former four-time junior World Champion,
Karen Putzer also showed strong nerves
in that occasion after grabbing an
unexpected bronze medal in the combined.
The first racer on course in the opening
run, she was able to make the best
out of the better course condition.
In the afternoon, she defended her
chances for a place on the podium
with a gutsy second run.
"A silver medal behind Sonja
is excellent for me and the team –
I was often second on the World Cup
tour, but today I don’t mind"
she said while she was carried on
triumph on the shoulders of her trainers.
The World Championships are now over
for the women – yet the World
Cup tour resumes next week-end at
Garmisch-Partenkichen where two Super-G
races and a slalom are scheduled.
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