PARK CITY, Utah, 30 November 2003 — World champion Anja Paerson stormed to an emphatic victory in a World Cup giant slalom race on Friday.

The Swede clocked a combined time of two minutes 27.14 seconds to leave her rivals in the shade. Austria’s Nicole Hosp was a distant second, 1.42 seconds back, with Denise Karbon of Italy taking third.

Paerson, the strong favorite to take the overall World Cup title this year with fierce rival Janica Kostelic sidelined by ill health, was never threatened.

She carved out a 0.28-second advantage after the first leg and underlined her dominance with a powerful second run before launching herself across the snow in a trademark celebration.

After her second place in the opening race of the season in Soelden last month the 22-year-old, who hails from the same town as the great Swedish slalomist Ingemar Stenmark, has already taken a grip on the standings.

With World Cup champion Kostelic unlikely to compete in the near future because of a thyroid problem, Paerson appears to have no equal in the technical disciplines.

Germany’s Martina Ertl, who beat Paerson in Soelden, was eighth after a disappointing second run, although she holds second place in the standings, just ahead of Spain’s Maria Jose Rienda Contreras who maintained her fine start with seventh spot.

Hosp, the 20-year-old regarded as the next force in Austrian women’s skiing, showed that she had recovered her form after failing to score any points in Soelden.

She will have another crack at Paerson in slalom, an event in which she won a bronze medal in at St. Moritz.

Ackermann Rules in Combined, Smigun in Double Pursuit

In Kuusamo, Finland, defending champion Ronny Ackermann of Germany opened the Nordic combined skiing World Cup season in winning fashion yesterday while Christina Smigun climbed to the top of the cross-country standings with a double pursuit victory.

Smigun, 26, clocked 43 minutes 18.1 seconds for the race with 7.5 kilometers sections in both classic and freestyle. It was the Estonian’s second World Cup victory of the season and her 11th overall.