Anna Fenninger of Austria upstaged the favorites to win a super-G race on Sunday, while overall World Cup winner Tina Maze was placed under police protection after organizers received a death threat against the Slovenian.
Maze finished fourth in the race and said she was not disturbed by the e-mailed threat, but she had two bodyguards close by after the race.
The death threat came in an e-mail received on Saturday afternoon, after Maze had won the downhill race and broken the points record for a season.
“That’s sad. If somebody is strong and showing good performances and perfect in the thing you are doing, there are people who want to disturb you,” Maze said. “I guess it’s part of the game, but it didn’t disturb me that much.”
“It shouldn’t be part of the game, but life is not perfect. It’s not nice for me, it’s not nice for my team. I haven’t seen the e-mail ... they want to ruin your day, ruin the record, but I enjoyed the day 100 percent,” Maze said.
Peter Fischer, chief of the organizing committee, said the e-mail came from an anonymous source and that it was immediately turned over to the police.
“We had to take it seriously, our job is to keep everyone safe here,” Fischer said. “Police took over the case and provided protection.”
Maze said she had never felt safer in her life: “I’ve had police in front [of] my door all the time since yesterday.”
Fenninger beat hometown favorite Maria Hoefl-Riesch by 0.20 seconds on the Kandahar course for her third career victory and second of the season.
The Austrian also saw off Julia Mancuso of the US in third and Maze in fourth.
Mancuso and Maze are still battling for the super-G title, which will now be decided at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in two weeks.
Maze is already assured of the overall title and became the first skier to collect more than 2,000 points in a season by winning Saturday’s downhill on the same slope. She now has 2,074 points.
Maze leads Mancuso 420-365 in the super G standings with a maximum of 100 points up for grabs in the final race.
Like Mancuso, Maze also said she had problems with the jump in the middle section.
“It was pretty difficult to find the right line, I didn’t do my best, but fourth is fine,” Maze said.
MEN’S SUPER-G
AP, KVITFJELL, Norway
Aksel Lund Svindal clinched the World Cup super-G title on Sunday after winning his first race in his home country, Norway.
Svindal edged Austria’s Georg Streitberger by 0.52 seconds to win in 1 minute, 29.79 seconds. Werner Heel of Italy ended third, 0.57 seconds back.
The victory gives the Norwegian an unassailable 480 points, ahead of Italy’s Matteo Marsaglia on 249 and Matthias Mayer of Austria with 228.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38
SPEEDSKATER: Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s run at the Asian Winter Games without a medal since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990 Speedskater Chen Ying-chu yesterday made history as the first athlete representing Taiwan to secure a medal at the Asian Winter Games. Competing at the HIC Speedskating Oval in Harbin, China, Chen clocked 10.510 seconds in the women’s 100m event, finishing third behind South Koreans Lee Na-hyum and Kim Min-sun, who posted times of 10.501 and 10.505 seconds respectively. Her bronze medal ended Taiwan’s drought at the Asian Winter Games since the nation first participated in the second iteration in 1990. This year’s Games mark Chen’s debut at the event. Previously excelling in roller speedskating, she won six medals at world championships before transitioning