Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch won the women’s alpine skiing World Cup slalom race on Saturday, with a knife-edge lead of 0.01 seconds over Slovakia’s Veronika Zuzulova.
Canada’s Marie-Michele Gagnon was third, 00.11 seconds back, in her first-ever podium finish.
The taste of victory was sweet for Olympic champion Hoefl-Riesch — who also topped last season’s overall World Cup standings — as she had not won in the slalom since January last year and crashed out last week in Ofterschwang, Germany.
“I was looking for a podium today and I had nothing to lose, no globe to win, just points to score for next season,” Hoefl-Riesch said.
She had placed third in the first leg, behind Zuzulova and world champion Marlies Schild of Austria.
Schild, who has already secured the slalom title after dominating throughout the season, came in sixth in Saturday’s second leg, 00.29 seconds back.
Lindsey Vonn of the US failed to complete the second leg after falling.
Gagnon’s third place was her team’s second success in a row after teammate Erin Mielzynski last week won in Ofterschwang, becoming the first Canadian in 40 years to do so in the discipline.
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