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Second slalom Pretnar wins as race tightens
Posted: Sunday January 09, 2000 04:37 PM
BERCHTESGADEN, Germany (AP) -- Slovenia's Spela Pretnar captured her second slalom title of the season Sunday, beating her top rivals by almost a second as the overall lead in the event continued to tighten up. Pretnar mastered the tight curves at the bottom of the Groetchen slope better than her competitors as she compiled a 1:33.31 time for her two runs. France's Christel Saioni finished second in 1:34.23 while Norway's Trine Bakke retained her lead in the overall standings with 391 points with a third in 1:34.36. But Saioni was just 20 points behind and Pretnar 41 as the season-long battle for the overall slalom continued. Pretnar, with her third career World Cup win and second slalom after Copper Mountain this season, was just .04 seconds ahead of Saioni's halfway through her second run under the lights. But Pretnar's polished technique helped her pull away down the course, hugging the gates as the curves mounted on the hard-packed icy snow on one of the tour's easiest courses. "I'm just so happy to win," said Pretnar. Pretnar and Saioni had tied for the victory at Copper Mountain, a relatively flat course regarded as similar to Berchtesgaden. Croat teen sensation Janica Kostelic had been the only skier to win two slaloms this season. Her knee injury during a downhill last month has opened up the race for the slalom title.
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