KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia, 29 February 2004 — Bode Miller staked his claim to become the first American in more than two decades to don the overall World Cup crown with victory in a giant slalom yesterday.
Miller’s third giant slalom win of the season not only gave him an eight-point lead in the standings over Austrian multiple champion Hermann Maier, but also allowed him to top the giant slalom rankings with just one race left.
The 26-year-old all rounder from New Hampshire, leading after the first leg at this Slovenian resort, held his nerve down the challenging Podkoren course for a combined time of two minutes 13.01 seconds.
Italian Alberto Schieppati swooped into second, 0.25 seconds off the pace, for his first podium finish to date while teammate Alexander Ploner also reached the top three for the first time, sharing third place with Swedish veteran Fredrik Nyberg.
In a race packed full of surprises and some high-profile casualties, Frenchman Freddy Rech charged into fifth place, just 0.74 seconds behind Miller to seize his maiden World Cup points.
Poutiainen Caps Historic Day for Finland
In Levi, Finland, Tanja Poutiainen marked an historic day for Finnish Alpine skiing with victory in a World Cup slalom race in Lapland yesterday. The first World Cup race to be held in Finland attracted thousands of fans to the picture postcard venue deep inside the Arctic Circle.
They were rewarded for braving temperatures which dropped to minus 28 degrees Celsius as local favorite Poutiainen won in one minute 49.12 seconds for the first World Cup victory of her career.
Overall World Cup leader Anja Paerson, winner of six of the previous seven slaloms this season, had a rare day off as she finished fourth.
Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was second with 1:49.30 and Germany’s rising star Maria Riesch was third in 1:49.45.
Paerson, untouchable at the top of the slalom standings, was not too worried about missing the podium.
“I can’t ski my best every day,” said the Swede who still stretched her overall lead to 173 points over Renate Goetschl who failed to qualify for the second run.
