German team interrupts Compagnoni's winning
streak
Deborah Compagnoni's last defeat
in Giant
Slalom prior to the fifth event
in that specialty
hold Saturday on the demanding
"Stelvio"
course at Bormio happened a year
ago at Maribor,
Slovenia, where she came 2nd
behind her teammate
Sabina Panzanini. But she couldn't
celebrate
her 10th success in a row on
her home run
in a race originally scheduled
to take place
in ...Maribor : two skiers of
the strong
German team prevented her to
win again in
front of her fans.
The 1996 Giant Slalom World Cup
champion
Martina Ertl and her colleague
Katja Seizinger
were able to beat the Queen of
the discipline
who had not lost a single Giant
Slalom since
January 17th 1996. Ertl, the
best by far
in the second run won her eighth
World Cup
race with 74/100 advance on Seizinger
and
78/100 on Compagnoni. Norway's
Andrine Flemmen,
who set the best time in the
much faster
first run, finished finally 4th.
Switzerland's darling Sonja Nef
was a strong
5th but Austria's Alexandra Meissinitzer
was more disappointed 6th. She
was 3rdon
last Tuesday behind Compagnoni
and Ertl.
No American could qualify for
the second
run, yet Julie Parisien was an
impressive
44th. The last US skier to have
won a World
Cup slalom started in 69th position
in the
first run. Her teammate Kirsten
Clark was
50th.
Katja Seizinger increased her
lead in the
Overall World Cup in which she
already passed
the limits of thousand points.
3rd in the
first run only 30/100 behind
Flemmen and
9/100 behind Ertl, Compagnoni
had not enough
energy and power this time to
come back in
the lead as she so often could
in recent
competitions such as Val d'Isere
where the
two Germans crashed in the second
run on
their way to victory. Handicapped
by a cold
she caught earlier this week,
the Italian
superstar couldn't be as aggressive
as she
wanted in the run set by her
personal trainer
Tino Pietrogiovanna. She clocked
the third
best time loosing 69/100 on Ertl
and 11/100
on Seizinger.
"I knew of course that I
would loose
once a Giant Slalom this season
but I was
hoping to win again here in front
of my fans"
she said. "It was just not
my day :
I didn't feel very motivated
this morning
when I woke up and I had a hard
time to focus
on the race. I almost missed
the recognition
of the second run because I was
wrong about
the times. In the first run I
did a big mistake
in the upper part and I spent
much energy
to fight back afterwards. I was
still confident
before the second run but I was
too tired
at the end of the race".
"It's
not such a problem. It's better
to be beaten
here than next month in Japan.
The pressure would have been
increasing and
increasing if I would have kept
winning.
Ertl and Seizinger were both
very close to
win in Val d'Isere." In
fact both athletes
believed in their chances to
win after their
great first run in France.
"Martina was my favorite,
I felt in
the past days that she was ready
for victory
after two good runs " Katja
said. "
On Tuesday she was already very
fast but
Deborah achieved two great runs.
This time
she had more problems and we
were ready to
make the best out of it. It's
good for her
that she wins again after her
tough past
years. It's also nice for me
to finally get
back on the podium after my problems
in some
of the past races. I gives me
great momentum
before the coming speed events
in Austria
next week end". In fact
the leader in
the Overall World Cup standings
crashed twice
in Park City and Val d'Isere
while she was
aiming for a top-3 finish .Her
last podium
in Giant Slalom goes back the
finals at Vail
in March 1997 when she could
come on the
podium on all four specialties.
Ertl on her
side hasn't won a race since
1996 when she
clinched the World Cup title
in that discipline.
Injured twice at her left knee
last winter
she couldn't ski at her best
in the World
Championships in Sestriere where
she was
12th in the Giant Slalom. She
had a strong
comeback in October in Tignes
where she finished
2nd behind Compagnoni. The 24-year-old
skier
from Lenggries was very motivated
before
that race despite a bad cold
which prevent
her to train as intensively as
usual.
Ironically it may well be one
of the reasons
which allow her to be very aggressive
today.
"I save some energy in the
past days
and this may have helped me to
be stronger
today" she said. "It
was again
a difficult race but I was ready
to take
my chance. It's a nice feeling
the be the
first to win a race after Compagnoni's
great
moments but it's even a nicer
one to come
back among the winners after
my past health
problems. The entire team is
very motivated
". The Germanns are in fact
dominating
the season with Seizinger's six
wins in all
the speed events while Hilde
Gerg won a parallel
race in Mammoth Mountain and
a combined.
In the Slalom on Sunday, Compagnoni
will
try to fight back after her disappointing
12th place last Monday.
The skier to beat is again Sweden's
Ylva
Nowen, who has won the last four
slalom.
Also among the favorites, Urska
Hrovat from
Slovenia and Kristina Koznick
from the US
Ski Team. |
Women's 5th Giant Slalom, January 10,1998
| Rank |
Name |
Nat. |
Total |
| 1 |
ERTL Martina |
GER |
2:21.89 |
| 2 |
SEIZINGER Katja |
GER |
2:22.63 |
| 3 |
COMPAGNONI Deborah |
ITA |
2:22.67 |
| 4 |
FLEMMEN Andrine |
NOR |
2:22.85 |
| 5 |
NEF Sonja |
SUI |
2:23.46 |
| 6 |
MEISSNITZER Alexandra |
AUT |
2:23.66 |
| 7 |
PICCARD Leila |
FRA |
2:24.16 |
| 8 |
GERG Hilde |
GER |
2:24.39 |
| 9 |
BORGHI Catherine |
SUI |
2:24.48 |
| 10 |
SCHUSTER Stefanie |
AUT |
2:25.06 |
| 10 |
PRETNAR Spela |
SLO |
2:25.06 |
| 12 |
LEFRANC-DUVILLARD Sophie |
FRA |
2:25.30 |
| 13 |
ZURBRIGGEN Heidi |
SUI |
2:25.41 |
| 14 |
GALINDO SANTOLARIA Ana |
SPA |
2:25.44 |
| 15 |
OTTOSSON Anna |
SWE |
2:25.51 |
| 16 |
POUTIAINEN Tanja |
FIN |
2:25.74 |
| 17 |
HEEB Birgit |
LIE |
2:25.75 |
| 18 |
FORTKORD Martina |
SWE |
2:25.77 |
| 19 |
HROVAT Urska |
SLO |
2:25.84 |
| 20 |
REY BELLET Corinne |
SUI |
2:26.13 |
| 21 |
SEKINO Fujiko |
FRA |
2:26.30 |
| 22 |
VIERIN Sonia |
ITA |
2:26.85 |
| 23 |
DUVILLARD Kristina |
FRA |
2:26.87 |
| 24 |
DE MARTIN TROPANIN Tiziana |
ITA |
2:26.95 |
| 25 |
IBARRA ASTELARRA Ainhoa |
SPA |
2:27.11 |
| 26 |
BOKAL Natasa |
SLO |
2:27.43 |
| 27 |
GERG Annemarie |
GER |
2:27.94 |
Did not start 1st run:
ANDERSSON Kristina (SWE)
Did not finish 1st run:
MITTERWALLNER Christiane (AUT), GOETSCHL Renate (AUT), WACHTER Anita (AUT),
KOELLERER Karin (AUT), OBERMOSER Brigitte (AUT), HVIDSTEEN Katrine (DAN), WOLF
Stefanie (GER), PUTZER Karen (ITA), MARKEN Ingeborg Helen (NOR), HANSSON Erika
(SWE), GRUENENFELDER Corina (SUI), KUMMER Lilian (SUI), SHAFFER Alexandra (USA),
SUHADOLC Mojca (SLO), BRACUN Spela (SLO)
Did not finish 2nd run:
SCHNEIDER Tanja (AUT), NOWEN Ylva (SWE), ROTEN MEIER Karin (SUI)
Did not qualify 2nd run:
ROZSA Edith (CAN), KURFUERSTOVA Eva (CZE), OLAMO Petra (FIN), SOURD Isabelle
(FRA), JACQUEMOD Ingrid (FRA), GALLIZIO Morena (ITA), MERLIN Barbara (ITA),
MARQUIS Antonella (ITA), GIUS Nicole (ITA), KARBON Denise (ITA), KOSTNER Isolde
(ITA), IKEDA Kazuko (JPN), KASHIWAGI Kumiko (JPN), HIROI Noriyo (JPN),
FJELDAVLIE Merete (NOR), KVINLOG Gro (NOR), RIENDA CONTRERAS Maria Jose (SPA),
YDESKOG Linda (SWE), HAELLDAHL Sandra (SWE), NEUENSCHWANDER Katrin (SUI),
BERTHOD Sylviane (SUI), PARISIEN Julie M.j. (USA), CLARK Kirsten L (USA), KOREN
Katja (SLO), DOVZAN Alenka (SLO), KVOPKOVA Maria (SVK)
|
