ALPINE:

Schild rules slalom in tour's return to Courchevel

Dec. 21, 2010  

COURCHEVEL, France — Austrian skier Marlies Schild flew down the Courchevel course in France to win her second World Cup slalom of the season on Tuesday, while overall leader Lindsey Vonn and rival Maria Riesch crashed out in their first runs.

Schild started the second run in second place behind Finland's Tanja Poutiainen, but a faultless run at breathtaking speed — and with a painful shoulder — saw her finish in 1 minute, 34.95 seconds, putting her .78 ahead of Poutiainen.

It was the two-time Olympic slalom medallist's 25th World Cup win. Schild won the slalom at Levi, Finland, last month.

"It was a really good performance," Schild said. "I was skiing really hard on the limit on the flat part. I always try to make (gain) speed, get faster."

Slovenia's Tine Maze was third, but was a huge 1.98 behind Schild.

"You can see she is really a perfect slalom skier," Maze said. "If she (does) a good run, it's hard to beat her."

The highly technical Stade Emile Allais course accounted for more than 20 skiers failing to finish the first run, but Schild made it look very easy despite stiff competition and a sore left shoulder.

"At the moment it hurts. It was a little mistake in the morning. I crashed in the warmup," Schild said. "I will look after it tomorrow, but I don't think anything is broken."

No Canadians qualified for the second run although Erin Mielzynski of Guelph, Ont., came close. She finished 32nd after the first run, 0.16 away from qualifying for the second run.

Anna Goodman of Pointe-Claire, Que., Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., Eve Routhier of Sherbrooke Que., and Brittany Phelan of Mont-Tremblant, Que., did not finish the first run.

On a good day for the Schilds, younger sister Bernadette had the second-fastest second run to finish seventh.

"She did really well. I thought 'If she can ski on the limit in this run, so can I,"' Marlies said. "She's nine years younger than me ... I have to keep in shape to be faster than her in the next races."

After the first run Maze was fourth, but took the race lead with an excellent second run. Schild then watched as French slalom champion Nastasia Noens dropped out of contention before setting off at breakneck pace.

With her knees locked together and her chest perfectly upright, Schild chopped 1.26 seconds off Maze on the first time split and a massive 2.10 on the next.

That put all the pressure on Poutiainen who, seemingly unwilling to take risks in an improbable bid to beat Schild's time, did what she had to do to ensure second place.

By the afternoon, racers seemed to have got the hang of the course after 23 of 69 failed to finish first time around.

Vonn, who won the downhill and super-combined last weekend in imperious style at Val d'Isere, hooked the tip of her ski round a gate having safely negotiated the trickier top section.

"It's a very tricky course. I mean, honestly, it's a course that is (meant) to take people out," the American star said. "It's unfortunate because I don't think it looks very good on TV, and for the athletes it's not as fun."

Poutiainen had no such trouble in the morning and looked on course for her third straight slalom podium this season after third places at Aspen and on her home snow at Levi, clocking 48.27 seconds. Schild was .11 behind, while Noens started the second run .37 back in third.

"It's a challenging course and as athletes you have to try to do the best you can," Vonn said. "Unfortunately I hooked a tip but that happens very often in slalom. I think I got lucky because Maria went out as well today."

The setbacks did not damage America's Vonn and Germany's Riesch in the overall standings, such is their dominance so far.

Vonn leads with 581 points as she chases her fourth straight overall title, three points ahead of Riesch. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl stays third on 366.

Courchevel had not hosted a race since 1979, and fans packing the side and the bottom of the course made their presence felt, reserving a huge roar for Noens and then for Schild.

"I love it here, the town is great, the people are awesome. There are a ton of people here cheering loud for every racer," Vonn said. "I actually love the hill, it's a perfect hill."

However, fans saw almost as many crashes as impressive performances, with former Olympic slalom champion Anja Paerson also failing to finish as competitors set off under cloudy skies, in only sporadic sunshine.

The continual changes of rhythm required to master the course proved too much even for reigning Olympic slalom champion Riesch, whose fortunes dipped again after her miserable weekend at Val d'Isere, where she was 24th in downhill.

Riesch was .13 ahead at the first time split on Tuesday, but then her skies went sideways and she missed a gate halfway down, falling face-first into the snow.

Vonn's right ski came off after she tried cutting inside a gate at a tight angle.

Vonn and Riesch can put their crashes behind them by celebrating Christmas together.

"I'm going to Maria's house, I've been doing it for six years now," Vonn said.

Despite challenging for supremacy on the piste, the two are great friends.

"We lead very similar lives and I think that's why we can relate so well to each other," Vonn said. "I support her no matter what, and if someone beats me it might as well be my best friend."  S-Magazine

Courchevel women's World Cup slalom results