JanicaWins in Lenzerheide
Croatia's Janica Kostelic celebrates on the podium after winning the women's World Cup slalom and the combined in Lenzerheide, December 22, 2002. Kostelic won in a time of one minute and 42.97 seconds ahead of second placed Tanja Poutiainen of Finland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Croatia's Janica Kostelic wins slalom and combined at World Cup event
Kostelic leads the overall with 775 points, holding a comfortable lead of 337 points over Dorfmeister.
Look at her smile !
Canadian Press
Sunday, December 22, 2002
CREDIT: (AP/Keystone, Eddy Risch)
Olympic champion Janica Kostelic from Croatia races down the slope to during the World Cup women's slalom in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Sunday. Kostelic skied two excellent runs to easily win a World Cup slalom and combined. (AP/Keystone, Eddy Risch)
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LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (CP) - Olympic champion Janica Kostelic skied two excellent runs Sunday to easily win a World Cup slalom and combined. The Croatian, who leads the World Cup overall and slalom standings, had a total time of one minute 42.97 seconds. She was 1.23 seconds ahead of Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, with Claudia Riegler of New Zealand third.
Britt Janyk of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian, finishing 19th with a two-run time of 1:45.44.
Kostelic also won the combined, giving her a runaway lead in the overall World Cup standings after 14 events. She has a total of 15 World Cup victories.
Genevieve Simard of Val-Morin, Que., finished 13th in the combined with a total 3:38.87.
"I've given myself a great Christmas present," said Kostelic, the only skier along with Germany's Martina Ertl to race in all five disciplines. "I was lucky to win, I nearly skied out.
"My goggles were really wet and I had to wipe them clean a couple of times, which made me make a mistake in the upper part of the course."
Kostelic's wide margin of victory in the slalom assured her the win in the combined in which times from Saturday's downhill were added to those of the slalom, with the quickest winning.
Kostelic was sixth in Saturday's downhill with a full second to make up over winner Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria, the reigning overall World Cup champion.
But Kostelic easily made up the deficit in the slalom, with Dorfmeister finishing back in the pack in the slalom, to finish the combined in seventh place.
Kostelic leads the overall with 775 points, holding a comfortable lead of 337 points over Dorfmeister.
In the combined, Ertl was second and German compatriot Maria Riesch was third.
This was Kostelic's 13th World Cup slalom victory. At Salt Lake City, Kostelic became the first Alpine skier to capture four medals in a single Olympics.
She won the season-opening slalom in Park City, Utah, then finished runner-up in Aspen, Colo., and fourth in the new elimination slalom in Sestriere last weekend.
Kostelic has had a slower start to the season in the speed events. The Croatian underwent an appendectomy in August. She also had three knee operations last year.
Poutiainen, fourth after the opening leg, climbed two spots into second place at 1:44.20. Riegler surged from 18th after the opening leg into third with a time of 1:44.44.
The Kiwi watched from the finish area as 15 other skiers tried to better her time, each struggling with the wet snow and rutted course.
Germany's Annemarie Gerg was seeking her first career World Cup victory after eight years on the circuit. She was second after the opening leg but finished fifth. The result still topped her previous best performance, sixth place in a slalom in Zwiesel, Germany, in 1997.
Reigning giant slalom world and World Cup champion Sonja Nef of Switzerland was third heading into the final run but dropped into a seventh-place tie with Schleper at 1:44.73.
© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press
