ALPINE:

Riesch, 4th in slalom, regains overall lead as final race looms

March 18, 2011 

LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland ― Lindsey Vonn lost the lead for the overall World Cup title Friday and trails Maria Riesch by three points after the German finished fourth in the slalom.

Riesch regained the overall lead by earning 50 points in a race won by Tina Maze of Slovenia.

Vonn, the three-time defending champion, had led by 27 points but finished 13th in the final slalom of the season. She scored 20 points.

"I did my best and I tried," Vonn said. "I just was not quite fast enough. Anything is possible still tomorrow."

The overall title will be decided in a giant slalom race on Saturday worth 100 points to the winner.

"I think my chances are 50-50," said Riesch, overall runner-up to her friend Vonn for the past two years. "I can't remember that it has ever been this close. In the end it doesn't matter if you are one point or 200 points down."

Maze kept up her recent form to win in a combined two-run time of 1 minute, 29.33 seconds. World Cup slalom champion Marlies Schild of Austria was second, 0.05 seconds behind, and Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia was third. Canada’s Marie-Michele Gagnon finished 14th.

Riesch was second in the morning run and produced only the 21st-fastest time the second time down on soft snow that formed deep ruts for later racers. The Olympic slalom champion looked up at the scoreboard with a wry expression, showing neither happiness nor frustration, on seeing her time.

"It was a tough fight, especially in the second run," Riesch said. "I just wanted to get to the finish and not go out."

Vonn watched from the finish area after racing 15 minutes earlier, having tied for 14th in the first run. She moved up on the other skiers despite losing around 0.70 in the bottom section of her run, when Vonn appeared to catch a gate and was twisted sideways.

"I got a little angry after the first run, and I tried to hammer it down," Vonn said. "I made a couple of mistakes, but I got some points."

The American can take some confidence from a recent giant slalom race into the event on Saturday. Vonn earned her first career podium finish in the discipline, placing third last weekend at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.

Maze's 11th career World Cup win was her second this month. She also won gold in super-combined at the World Championships held last month in Riesch's hometown Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Que., started 25th and was 22nd after the first run. But the 21-year-old laid down a stirring second run of 45.21 seconds on a deteriorating course, the fifth-fastest second run of the day, to finish 14th overall with a combined time of 1:30.99.

The talented young Canadian had trouble seeing the course the second time around when a blast of wet snow covered part of her goggles. But her time was still 0.04 seconds faster than the second-run time recorded by eventual winner Maze.

"Right out of the start I hit the first gate and all of a sudden my whole mask was full of water," said Gagnon. "It didn't bother me that much — it was just the vision. I tried to make the best of it.

"I'm pretty happy. It was a big fight — the snow was soft, obviously. But everyone worked really hard and they made it as good as it could be. I'm happy to be in the points."

Gagnon has been skiing well this season and recorded a World Cup career-best fifth-place finish in the giant slalom in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December.

"There's still stuff to work on," said Gagnon. "On the top part I was one of the slowest but I got it back lower down.

"Every time I finish I seem to be in the top 15. I'm going to try for more consistency next year but I've got the speed."

Gagnon punched her ticket for the World Cup Finals as the 25th-ranked skier in the world. Her goal was a top-15 finish against the best of the best.

"She qualified for finals by a hair. After the first run I thought it was going to be fairly difficult because everyone finished —no one went out," said head coach Hugues Ansermoz of Gagnon. "That was always the goal — top 15. To be 14th was excellent. We are really happy."

Both super-G races were canceled Thursday due to rain and the men's giant slalom race also fell victim to the conditions on Friday.

The women’s slalom went ahead but the snow was soft and wet and deep ruts appeared on the course, particularly near the bottom, as the race progressed.

"It was a tough day. Really tough preparation," said Ansermoz. "Marie-Michèle was attacking all the time. She showed she can ski against the best in the world. It was exciting."

Gagnon ends the season ranked 22nd in the world in slalom with 85 points.

Saturday's women’s giant slalom race is due to be screened on CBC at 2 p.m. ET, with the men's slalom race following at 5 p.m. ET.

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Lenzerheide women's World Cup slalom results