EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

Swiss 1-2

Nef wins slalom, Kostelic takes World Cup overall lead

Click here for more on this story

Sonja Nef posted an aggregate time of two minutes, 23.16 seconds to gain her third win of the season. AP

SEMMERING, Austria (Reuters) -- Sonja Nef led a Swiss one-two for her third giant slalom win of the season on Saturday while Croatian teenager Janica Kostelic seized the overall lead in the Alpine skiing World Cup.

First run leader Nef, a winner in Park City and Sestriere last month, posted an aggregate time of two minutes 23.16 seconds down the Zauberberg slope.

Corinne Rey Bellet (1:23.79), who improved on a first run fourth placing, sealed Switzerland's first one-two finish of the season in the final race of the year.

Sarah Schleper of the United States completed the podium in Semmering, a small resort some 75 kilometers south of Vienna, clocking 2:24.40 for her best giant slalom showing.

Kostelic, winner of all five slaloms this season including Thursday's race in Semmering, finished seventh on Saturday to take the overall lead from Germany's Martina Ertl.

Ertl lost control of her skis to crash out after completing the opening leg in 11th place. Officials suspect she may have injured inner knee ligaments.

Kostelic led the World Cup last season before injuries to both knees sustained during downhill training in St. Moritz in December 1999 ended her season prematurely.

All skiers battled with the demanding slope and weather conditions. Light snowfall and poor visibility affected the first run while heavy winds caused problems in the second leg.

Austrian skiers disappointed the 15,000 strong home crowd with reigning giant slalom World Cup champion Michaela Dorfmeister failing to capitalize on a first run second quickest time to finish overall fourth.

"Conditions were so different in both runs. The visibility -- caused by snow being blown onto the track -- was so bad in the second run there was a time when I could no longer see my skis," Dorfmeister said. Austria's Overall World Cup champion Renate Goetschl, third after the opening leg, crashed out shortly after clocking the fastest intermediate time.

Nef, runner-up in Thursday's slalom, was the best to master conditions but said: "Conditions were very difficult, especially in the second run. I won despite a huge error in the middle section.

"At the moment everything is going really well. This makes up for all the bad luck and injuries I had to endure in the past," added Nef, who suffered five serious knee injuries.

Second place came as a surprise for Rey Bellet, a speed specialist whose last and only podium in a technical discipline dates back to a third place in a 1992 giant slalom in Crans Montana.

"I love challenges so demanding races such as the one we had today really suit me," she said.

Schleper, whose only other podium was in last month's Sestriere slalom, said: "The course was really rough, I never felt I was really perfect. I always ski well in front of big crowds."

Leading standings after the women's Alpine skiing World Cup slalom on Saturday:

    Overall (after 17 races): 
   1. Janica Kostelic (Croatia)         655 points
   2. Martina Ertl (Germany)            634
   3. Michaela Dorfmeister (Austria)    573
   4. Sonja Nef (Switzerland)           544
   5. Regine Cavagnoud (France)         538
   6. Renate Goetschl (Austria)         521
   7. Brigitte Obermoser (Austria)      446
   8. Anja Paerson (Sweden)             426
   9. Isolde Kostner (Italy)            419
  10. Corinne Rey-Bellet (Switzerland)  400
  11. Carole Montillet (France)         301
  12. Trine Bakke (Norway)              275
  13. Petra Haltmayer (Germany)         256
  14. Christel Saioni (France)          252
  15. Kristina Koznick (U.S.)           213
  16. Sarah Schleper (U.S.)             206
  17. Karen Putzer (Italy)              205
  18. Tanja Poutiainen (Finland)        197
  19. Tanja Schneider (Austria)         191
  20. Mojca Suhakolc (Slovenia)         186
    Giant Slalom (after 5 races): 
   1. Nef                               376 points
   2. Dorfmeister                       281
   3. Parrson                           280
   4. Ertl                              236
   5. Obermoser                         226
   6. Putzer                            147
   7. Rey-Bellet                        143
   8. Kostelic                          139
   9. Andrine Flemmen (Norway)          109
  10. Cavagnoud                         108
  11. Maria Rienda Contreras (Spain)     90
  12. Poutiainen                         89
  13. Ylva Nowen (Sweden)                84
  14. Anna Ottosson (Sweden)             82
  15. Saioni                             81
  16. Christiane Mitterwallner (Austria) 72
  17. Alexandra Meissnitzer (Austria)    66
  18- Schleper                           64
  18- Allison Forsyth (Canada)           64
  20. Goetschl                           63

 

Related information
Stories
Resurgent Kostelic takes fourth straight slalom Kostelic wins fifth straight World Cup slalom race
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2001 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.