Queen of slalom
Meissnitzer golden again in World Alpine Ski Championships
Posted: Thursday February 11, 1999 07:44 PM
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Meissnitzer, who has never finished off the podium, maintained her dominance in the event. AP |
VAIL, Colo. (AP) -- Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer overtook
teammate Anita Wachter on the second run of the women's giant
slalom Thursday to claim her second gold medal in the World Alpine
Ski Championships.
The silver medal went to Norway's Andrine Flemmen and the bronze
to Wachter.
Meissnitzer, who also won gold in the Super G last week, trailed
first-run leader Wachter by .21 seconds after the first run.
Flemmen stood third, .55 seconds off the lead.
Quick second runs by Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg and Switzerland's
Corinne Rey Bellet put pressure on the leaders, but Flemmen
responded with the third-fastest time on the second heat of 1
minute, 6.57 seconds to momentarily take the lead with a total of
2:08.84.
The steady Meissnitzer than flashed across in an almost
identical 1:06.61 for a combined time of 2:08.54.
Wachter was faster than Meissnitzer through the first
intermediate clocking but lost time in the middle of the course,
and her 1:07.41 left her at 2:09.13.
"I'm feeling very happy," Meissnitzer said. "On the first
run, the course was very fast, and it was very close. I knew I had
to give everything in the second run. I knew I needed to be fast,
but I wasn't scared. I tried to make speed in every turn."
Wiberg, ninth after the first run, had the quickest second run
of 1:05.93 to climb to fourth overall in 2:09.27.
Germany's Martina Ertl was fifth in 2:09.46, followed by Rey
Bellet in 2:09.52. Italy's Deborah Compagnoni, the defending world
champion in giant slalom who also won the event in the 1998
Olympics, was seventh in 2:09.90.
Rounding out the top 10 were Slovenia's Spela Pretnar in
2:09.98, France's Leila Piccard in 2:10.18 and Sweden's Anna
Ottosson in 2:10.30.
The top North American was Canada's Allison Forsyth, who
finished 16th in 2:11.75. Kirsten Clark of Raymond, Maine, was the
top American, winding up 22nd in 2:12.67.
Meissnitzer, the World Cup overall and giant slalom leader who
has won three out of six GS races this season and has never
finished off the podium, maintained her dominance in the event. The
25-year-old Meissnitzer was second in the giant slalom in the '98
Olympics.
She and Wachter gave Austria its 12th medal in these
championships. Norway is runner-up with six.
The bronze medal marked Wachter's eighth appearance on the
podium in races at Vail, one of her favorite venues.
| Women's Giant Slalom Results |
| Finish |
Name |
Country |
Time |
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
|
Alexandra Meissnitzer
Andrine Flemmen
Anita Wachter
Pernilla Wiberg
Martina Ertl
Corinne Rey Bellet
Deborah Compagnoni
Spela Pretnar
Leila Piccard
Anna Ottosson
Sonja Nef
Birgit Heeb
Maria Rienda Contreras
Tanja Poutiainen
Ainhoa Ibarra-Astelarra
Allison Forsyth
Lilian Kummer
Christiane Mitterwallner
Karin Roten
Natasa Bokal
|
Austria
Norway
Austria
Sweden
Germany
Switzerland
Italy
Slovenia
France
Sweden
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Spain
Finland
Spain
Canada
Switzerland
Austria
Switzerland
Slovenia
|
2:08.54
2:08.84
2:09.13
2:09.27
2:09.46
2:09.52
2:09.90
2:09.98
2:10.18
2:10.30
2:10.33
2:10.50
2:11.42
2:11.71
2:11.73
2:11.75
2:11.86
2:12.03
2:12.10
2:12.22
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Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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