ALPINE:

Schild wins night slalom, Mielzynski, Routhier score points

Dec. 29, 2010 

SEMMERING, Austria — Marlies Schild of Austria won a women's World Cup night slalom Wednesday for her third victory of the season and 26th overall.

Schild had a blistering first run on the Panorama course in front of a 14,000-capacity home crowd but had to overcome a major mistake in the second when she almost came to a standstill.

She finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 42.06 seconds to beat Olympic and world slalom champion Maria Riesch by 0.32, while fellow German Christina Geiger was 0.52 back in third for her first career podium finish.

"I had a problem with my left ski, which slid away twice. But it doesn't matter — a victory is a victory," Schild said.

"It was not easy. I knew I had a huge lead over Maria but I wanted to attack," said the Austrian, who led Riesch by 2.40 seconds after her flawless opening run.

"I was going almost too fast at the bottom part and had to hold back a bit," said Schild, who has won three of four slalom races this season to lead the discipline standings. "I was a bit anxious before the race because everybody expects me to win."

Canada was led by Erin Mielzynski in 20th, with Eve Routhier scoring points in 23rd.

Riesch, who was only 17th after a disappointing opening run, extended her lead in the overall standings.

She now has 738 points, while Lindsey Vonn, who crashed in the first run, is second with 617.

The American defending overall champion lost balance in a sharp right turn early in her run and slid off course, hit a course worker and landed in the safety boarding. Vonn appeared unhurt, getting up immediately and skiing down to the finish area.

Riesch said: "It's very important to score points consistently in all disciplines if you go for the overall title."

The German narrowly avoided skiing out at the penultimate gate when she almost fell backward after hitting a bump and just managed to move the right way round the final gate.

"I was obviously very annoyed with that error," Riesch said. "I knew from the course inspection that it could get dangerous there."

Riesch posted the fastest second run and called it "a dream effort. I didn't expect that. I had to fight for the right line throughout, probably because I was going very fast. I am happy and proud to take second."

Former overall champion Nicole Hosp went out in the first run after straddling a gate in the steep middle part of the course.

Sarah Schleper, who started 32nd but was ranked ninth after the opening leg, led Riesch by 0.27 before straddling a gate.

Fellow American Julia Mancuso and Sweden's Anja Paerson failed to qualify for the second leg.

The women's World Cup continues with a new parallel slalom event in Munich on Jan. 2.  S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press contributed to this report

Semmering women's World Cup slalom results