Dead heat

Koznik, Oester win slalom as Paerson crashes; Kostelic third

Marlies Oester and Kristina Koznick were joint winners in the slalom. AP

BERCHTESGADEN, Germany (Reuters) -- American Kristina Koznick and Marlies Oester of Switzerland shared first place in a women's World Cup slalom on Sunday after favorite Anja Paerson of Sweden crashed just before the finish line.

The race marked the return to form of Janica Kostelic, who finished third for her best result since a trio of knee operations sidelined her last year after she had won the overall and slalom World Cup titles.

Koznick and Oester had an identical combined time of one minute 56.30 seconds to share first place after Paerson's spectacular tumble, which also cost the Swede the chance of getting back the overall World Cup lead. Kostelic clocked 1:56.60.

Koznick was delighted to get her first win of the season just three weeks before the Winter Olympics on home ground at Salt Lake City.

"It feels great to win here before the Olympics," said Koznick, 26. "I was trying to plan my season to peak for the Olympics. I've been training well and just tried to translate that into race results.

"Everyone's really motivated for the Olympics," Koznick added. "There's going to be a great spirit there. I'm really excited to go home for the first time since November. I need to do some laundry."

Paerson, hoping to end a recent slump after dominating the slalom earlier this season, had held a comfortable 0.61-second lead over the field after the first leg on the Goetschen slope in the southern German Alps.

The 20-year-old Swede, a medal favourite at Salt Lake City after winning four of the first five slalom races this winter, was also trying to reclaim the overall World Cup lead she lost on Saturday to Austrias Michaela Dorfmeister, who won the giant slalom in convincing fashion.

Cup points

Always an aggressive skier, the powerfully built Paerson charged down the slope on her second leg and opened a half-second lead at the midway point of the technically challenging 865-meter run.

But her skis got caught in a rut some 200 meters above the finish line and she spun backwards before crashing to the ground in full view of the crowd of some 10,000 spectators.

"I don't know what happened," said a despondent Paerson, who has now crashed out of two consecutive slalom races. "I thought I was going to win. I'm disappointed about losing the World Cup points."

Paerson had stood atop the World Cup standings going into the weekend but lost her lead to Dorfmeister, who does not race the slalom.

Bib number 13 proved lucky for Oester who had never won a World Cup race before.

She moved up from ninth after the first run to joint winner with the fastest second leg of the day.

"The course conditions were difficult on the second leg," the 25-year-old Swiss said of the mixture of snow, rain and sunshine. "Sometimes it just works out for me."

Kostelic, plagued by injuries over the last year, said she was happy to be back on the podium for the first time this winter.

But the Croat said she was still far from the form that allowed her to dominate the World Cup last season.

"I lost a lot of training as a result of all the injuries," she said. "I feel like I'm two or three months behind where I should be this season."

Kostelic puts pain aside for podium place

BERCHTESGADEN, Germany -- The pained expression that Janica Kostelic has worn on her face this winter turned briefly into a smile on Sunday when the once-dominant Croat finally tasted a bit of success again.

The defending World Cup overall and slalom ski champion has been plagued by injuries, pain and the heavy load of her country's high expectations.

After three knee operations last year and countless disappointments this season, Kostelic snatched a third place at a slalom race here on Sunday, behind joint winners Kristina Koznick of the United States and Marlies Oester of Switzerland.

It was her first podium finish in an individual race this season, after a second place in the combined event last weekend in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and gave the 20-year-old Kostelic some slight hope for next month's Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City.

"I'm not frustrated," said Kostelic, who thoroughly dominated the women's World Cup last season. "I have been injured. They expect a lot from me [in Croatia]. But it's impossible when you are injured."

Kostelic, who said most of her body ached, complained in an interview with Reuters that the expectations of her compatriots -- still eager to wave the new flag a decade after winning their independence from Yugoslavia -- were sometimes unrealistic.

"They expect a lot from me," she said. "It's a strange mentality. When you are first everyone expects you to be first. Being second isn't good enough any more."

She said Croatia's soccer team had faced similar pressure to succeed following their third place at the last World Cup.

"The expectations are too high," she said. "But I don't care. After all my injuries, they don't expect anything from me now. It feels okay."

Kostelic prepared for Sunday's race by training with her older brother Ivica, who came sixth in a slalom at Kitzbuehel on Sunday. Expectations on him had grown as well, she said.

Wearing a broad smile despite an aching back and sore knees, Kostelic said she felt the injuries and operations had knocked her off course this season because she had been unable to train properly.

"Maybe now two or three months after the start of the season my results will start to be good," she said.

But she said she expected the Olympics to be difficult.

"I don't have high expectations," she said. "I don't think all that much about the Olympics. I want to be in shape. I hope to do well. Everyone wants to win there. It will be very hard."

Kostelic, whose first comeback this season was cut short by a crash in France in December in which she injured her shoulder, said she felt she was skiing at only 70 to 80 percent of her potential.

Her knees, back and shoulders all hurt, she said.

So was there any part of her body that did not ache?

"My right arm," she laughed.

 

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Reuters contributed to this report.