Austrian Marlies Schild claimed her 26th World Cup victory when she claimed the slalom title on Wednesday.
Schild completed the two runs, the second held under floodlights, in a combined total of 1 minute 42.06 seconds, 0.32 seconds ahead of Germany’s Maria Riesch.
Riesch, a double Olympic champion in the slalom and combined, had rebounded from a disappointing 17th in the first run with a trail-blazing 51.20 seconds in the second to put her in pole.
PHOTO: AFP
However, Schild, starting last with a 2.40-second difference, delighted her adoring home fans by keeping her cool and triumphing over Riesch.
“I turned in a really good first run, but it was tough on the second,” Schild said.
“In the end I won and that was what counts. I knew starting off on the second run that Maria was in the lead and had a couple of seconds in hand.”
“After that first run I was really disappointed to have made a big mistake. After that I really dug in and the effort I put in made things go like a dream,” she said.
Another German, Christina Geiger, completed the podium, a further 0.20 seconds adrift of the Austrian’s pace.
Riesch’s second place, following a similar finish in Tuesday’s giant slalom, saw her consolidate her lead atop the overall World Cup standings.
The German has now amassed 738 points, with American Lindsey Vonn second on 617.
In the slalom standings, Schild leads after four of ten events with 300 points ahead of Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen (250) and Riesch (240).
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