World champion Marlies Schild was a class above the rest of the field in Aspen, Colorado, on Sunday when she won the first slalom of the World Cup season.
The Austrian was more than one second faster than her nearest rival over the two legs on the demanding Lower Ruthie’s run.
Schild bagged her 30th World Cup victory, the 28th in a slalom, in 1 minute, 43.72 seconds, beating last year’s winner Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden by 1.19.
Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany made up for a disappointing start to the season with third place, nearly two seconds adrift at 1.96.
Schild, like most of the leading contenders, had to adapt to changing light conditions, the weather being sunny in the morning while the piste was in the shade in the finishing stages of the second run.
Hoefl-Riesch made it clear her first podium of the season had come as a great relief as her World Cup title defense had begun with lackluster performances in two giant slaloms.
Her archrival Lindsey Vonn, hampered by a back injury sustained in practice, decided not to start the race to rest ahead of this weekend’s trip to Lake Louise, where the American has won seven races in the past.
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