The natural order has been restored to the women's World Cup circuit. Anja Paerson is back on top.
The Swedish great earned her 27th World Cup triumph on Sunday, storming back from more than a second behind in the second run to edge Janica Kostelic by three-hundredths of a second in the season's first women's slalom.
Paerson, third following the first of the two runs, sailed down the Aspen Mountain course under a clear blue sky in 46.71 seconds in the second run to win with a combined time of 1 minute, 36.01 seconds.
PHOTO: AP
Kostelic, winner of three gold medals for Croatia at the Salt Lake City Olympics, was second at 1:36.04. Kathrin Zettle of Austria, third in Saturday's giant slalom, was third on Sunday, too, in 1:36.44.
The competition wrapped up three days of racing at the Aspen Winternational, the only US stop on the women's World Cup circuit.
Making up a one-second deficit is a daunting challenge for anyone, even Paerson, the two-time defending overall World Cup champion.
"Normally you never take one second off," she said. "I was just trying to make my run as quick and as charging as possible, and just try to go for it as much as I could."
Paerson, second in Saturday's giant slalom, celebrated her latest World Cup victory with her trademark belly slide at the finish, although she acknowledged it was not one of her most impressive post-race efforts. She has won 15 World Cup slalom races.
Her strong Aspen showing came after an awful week at Lake Louise, where she failed to score a World Cup point. She was pointing to this one because she knew how strong she was in slalom.
Kostelic was 0.84 seconds faster than her nearest competitor, Zettel, in the first round, but her second run time of 47.77 was more than a second slower than Paerson.
Kostelic, who underwent surgery on her right knee in June, won one of the two slaloms in Aspen last season. She has 21 World Cup titles and two overall championships in a career that has been disrupted by injury and illness. She underwent three knee operations and her thyroid was removed, missing the entire 2003-2004 season.
Martina Ertl-Renzff broke the World Cup record for most race appearances with 403. The 32-year-old German was presented with a bouquet at the end of her first run. The previous mark of 402 was held by Anita Wachter of Austria.
"Yeah, that's really many races. I'm proud of it," Ertl-Renz said.
ap, VAL D'ISERE, France
Switzerland's Didier Defago was disqualified Sunday from a World Cup super-combined race for an equipment infringement -- giving Austria's Michael Walchhofer his second victory in as many days.
Officials said that Defago's skis did not conform to the requirements of the International Ski Federation (FIS).
A representative from Rossignol, manufacturer of Defago's skis, said that the distance between the base of Defago's ski and the sole of his boot was above the FIS limit of 55mm.
"Simply, and maybe stupidly, the regulation was applied," said Michel Vion, Rossignol's competition director. "I asked for Didier to have the benefit of the doubt. There are rules and there is the spirit of the sport, which was not taken into consideration."
Vion said that around 10 measurements were made on Defago's skis and that around half were under the limit and half over the limit at "55.1 or 55.2 millimeters."
Vion added that he argued heatedly with Guenther Hujara, the men's World Cup race director in a tent after the race, but conceded that Rossignol was ultimately responsible.
"Hujara did not invent our skis, he just applies the rules. They are not new rules,'' Vion said. ``Rossignol was not vigilant enough and we assume our responsibility. It's our product."
Defago had looked set to become the first Swiss male to win a World Cup ski race since Didier Cuche won the downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Jan. 30, 2004.
Austria's Rainer Schoenfelder moved into second place, while World Cup champion Bode Miller of the US finished third to extend his lead in the overall standings to 378 points after nine races.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal is second on 343 after finishing the super-combined in seventh place. Walchhofer is third with 318 points, with American Daron Rahlves fourth on 303 and Austria's Fritz Strobl fifth on 288. Both Rahlves and Strobl opted out of the slalom.
The super-combined is split into a shortened downhill run of 2.95km, followed by a slalom. Defago was fourth after the downhill, which was won by Erik Guay of Canada.
However, Guay's lack of technique on the slalom became apparent when he missed a gate.
ap, VERNON, Canada
Canadian Beckie Scott skied to gold and teammate Sara Renner won the bronze in a World Cup cross-country race on Sunday.
Norway's Tor Arne Hetland won the men's race.
Scott sent home fans into a frenzy with a dominant victory in the women's 1.1km sprint final. Germany's Claudia Kuenzel was second.
It was Scott's second trip to the podium in as many days -- she won silver on Saturday in the 15km pursuit in Vernon, the first time in 10 years Canada has hosted a World Cup competition.
ap, HARRACHOV, Czech Republic
Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic won a World Cup ski jumping event Sunday to claim his third victory of the season.
Janda led after a first-round jump of 138.5m and his 141-meter leap was also the biggest of the second round. He collected 287.1 points on the K125 hill.
Janne Ahonen of Finland finished second with jumps of 137.5m and 139m to earn 281.7 points.
Switzerland's Andreas Kuettel was third with jumps of 132m and 137.5m for 268.6 points.
Janda leads the overall standings with 452 points, followed by Kuettel and Ahonen on 385.
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