SAN SICARIO, Italy, 27 February 2005 — World Cup leader Anja Paerson of Sweden won her first downhill race yesterday her advantage at the top of the overall standings over Croatia’s Janica Kostelic.
Paerson’s triumph came a day after she won her first World Cup super-G race and completes her transformation into a genuine all rounder little over one year after she began competing in the speed events.
The Swede has now achieved the rare feat of a victory in all four disciplines this season with her two speed event triumphs having the added bonus of coming at the venue for next year’s Winter Olympic Games.
Paerson powered down the ‘Fraiteve Olympique’ course in a time of one minute 52.86 seconds to force triple Olympic and world champion Kostelic into second place.
Kostelic was 0.24 seconds slower than the overall World Cup champion while Germany’s Hilde Gerg finished in third place.
Last season’s overall title was based on a series of victories in slalom and giant slalom but Paerson said she had long planned to be in the hunt in all events in time for the 2006 Winter Games after rejecting early efforts to get her to compete across the disciplines.
Paerson’s previous best finish in downhill was a fifth place at Cortina in January and the Swede now has a lead of 83 points over Kostelic with just today’s combined and the March’s finals remaining in the campaign.
Gerg’s third place finish moved her just 32 points from downhill World Cup leader Austrian Renate Goetschl who finished eighth.
Raich Rumbles Miller’s Bid With GS Win
In Kransjka Gora, Slovenia, Austria’s recently crowned double world champion Benjamin Raich closed the gap further on his World Cup rival Bode Miller after winning his first giant slalom of the season here yesterday.
Raich, who will celebrate his 27th birthday tomorrow, kept his cool on a rapidly deteriorating piste to hold off compatriot Hermann Maier and fellow slalom specialist Kalle Palander of Finland. The victory means Raich, who won the combined and slalom titles at the world championships in Italy, reduced his deficit on World Cup leader Miller to just 91 points ahead of today’s slalom. The Austrian also took the lead of the giant slalom standings ahead of Canadian Thomas Grandi with only one race remaining.
Grandi will have it all to do at Lenzerheide, Switzerland on March 12 if he wants to overcome Raich in the giant slalom race, and Miller also has a job on his hands in the overall.
