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Maria Jose Rienda wins giant slalom

Maria Jose Riendas of Spain on her way to winning a World Cup giant slalom event in Ofterschwang, Germany, on Friday. Sweden's Anja Paerson came in second. PHOTO: AFP

Maria Jose Rienda of Spain won her second giant slalom of the season on Friday to establish herself as one of the Olympic favorites.

Rienda had the fastest time in both runs to win in 2 minutes, 19.52 seconds, a week before the Turin Games starts. She was .64 seconds ahead of Sweden's Anja Paerson, with Austrian Kathrin Zettel third in 1:11.02.

"I'm feeling good and I will try to feel the same at the Olympics," Rienda said. "I'm skiing so well -- I think it was perfect today."

The 30-year-old Rienda won her fourth career race, all coming during the past two seasons. She picked up her second win this season after Aspen, Colorado.

The veteran Spaniard, sixth in the giant slalom at the last Olympics, became the first skier to win the discipline twice this season. The five previous races had produced five different winners.

"She can take the favorite role, I don't mind. She is skiing very well right now," Paerson said. "In giant slalom, we really have a tight top -- a lot of girls are skiing well."

Paerson is the world champion and tops the giant slalom season standings, ahead of Janica Kostelic.

The Swede came down the second run a huge .84 seconds ahead of Zettel and appeared poised to win her 32nd World Cup race.

But Rienda, the last racer left, turned on the speed in the middle of a course covered with icy snow -- the fastest part -- to eclipsed Paerson's time.

"I think I beat her in only one place today -- the start," Paerson said. "She beat the heck out of me everywhere else."

American Julia Mancuso was 10th, while triple Olympic gold medalist Janica Kostelic was 14th after two mistake-riddled runs.

Like Kostelic, her longtime rival, Paerson is a threat to win several golds at the Olympics. Both have recorded World Cup wins this season in all four major disciplines.

Paerson planned to skip the World Cup to concentrate on Turin, then changed her mind when a giant slalom canceled at Maribor, Slovenia, was added to give Ofterschwang three races.

The 24-year-old, who is still chasing her first Olympic gold, also wanted to test her form in the slalom and giant slalom after the women's tour recently went through a series of speed races.

"I'm feeling good about my racing," said Paerson, who won a super-G last weekend. "Right now I'm trying to get in a rhythm."

Another giant slalom will be held Saturday and a slalom Sunday -- the final races before the Winter Games start Feb. 10.

Benjamin Raich came back from 17th place after the downhill leg to win a men's World Cup super-combi on Friday and extend his lead atop the overall standings.

The Austrian completed the morning's shortened downhill and lengthy afternoon slalom to win in a combined time of 2 minutes, 36.48 seconds. Teammate Rainer Schoenfelder was runner-up in 2:37.31.

Bode Miller, returning from a golfing break in Dubai, placed third in 2:37.47 for his third podium result in the combined this season.

The reigning overall champion, who was second in the traditional combined event in Kitzbuehel, Austria, two weeks ago and third in the super-combi in Val d'Isere, France, in December, is a favorite for the Olympic title later this month.

Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, who posted the fastest time in the morning's downhill leg, finished back with the pack after losing time all the way down the slalom track.

Hermann Maier, who initially hoped to get a strong result ahead of the Olympic combined event, was third-quickest in the downhill but later withdrew from the race in protest.

The Austrian was unhappy with the race's format, arguing that the downhill had been shortened too much and the slalom leg was too long, favoring the technical skiers. The downhill was shortened 530m and the slalom included 64 gates.

"This is not fair this way," Maier said. "It looks like they try to get two slalom runs in one now. It's not good for downhillers. Slalom skiers have a big advantage."

Maier is considering competing in the traditional combined event -- which adds the times from a downhill to the times of two slalom legs -- at the Olympics.

Raich, Michael Walchhofer and Schoenfelder have three of the four berths available on the Austrian squad. The fourth Austrian who was supposed to compete, Mario Matt, suffered a hard crash in Wednesday's downhill training session and was forced to head home.

Matt suffered no specific injuries but was bruised and battered. It is uncertain whether he can compete at the Olympics.
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