Rebounding from close loss, Maze wins Maribor slalom by large margin for 7th victory of season | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Rebounding from close loss, Maze wins Maribor slalom by large margin for 7th victory of season

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, speeds down the course during the first run of an alpine ski, women's world Cup slalom, in Maribor, Slovenia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

MARIBOR, Slovenia - Overall World Cup leader Tina Maze rebounded from a close loss by posting an emphatic slalom victory before her home fans Sunday, giving the Slovenian victories in four different disciplines this season.

Maze, who lost Saturday's giant slalom by 0.08 seconds to Lindsey Vonn, led after the opening run and clocked a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 33.68 seconds down the Radvanje course.

Frida Hansdotter of Sweden finished second, a distant 0.86 seconds behind, and Kathrin Zettel of Austria was third, 1.13 back.

American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin moved up from 13th after a wild opening run to finish sixth and maintained a 13-point lead ahead of Maze in the slalom standings.

In the overall standings, Maze has more than twice as many points as her nearest challenger, Maria Hoefl-Riesch, the Olympic slalom champion who went out in the first run.

Vonn finished 36th in the first run and failed to qualify for the second leg.

Maze leads Hoefl-Riesch 1,654-806 and Vonn is third with 740 points.

Marie-Michele Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was the top Canadian, finishing in 20th place.

While Vonn won two slaloms four seasons ago, it has become her weakest discipline. She hadn't even entered a slalom since last season's World Cup finals.

Maze celebrated with a cartwheel with her ski boots on.

"It's so amazing to win here," Maze said. "Everybody is cheering for me."

Both runs were held in clear conditions, with the temperature below freezing.

It was Maze's seventh win of the season and first in slalom. She now needs only a downhill win to hold victories in all five disciplines this season.

Only two women have won in all five disciplines in a single season. Austrian great Petra Kronberger did it in 1990-91 and Croatian standout Janica Kostelic accomplished the feat in 2005-06. The only man to do it was Marc Girardelli in 1988-89.

Maze's super-G win in St. Anton two weeks ago already gave her wins in each discipline over her career.

"Tina is sensational this season," Zettel said. "She has shown her class here once again."

It was the sixth runner-up finish for Hansdotter, matching Italy's Manuela Moelgg for the most career second places without a win.

The 17-year-old Shiffrin had won the past two slaloms and has three wins overall this season. In the opening run, she was fastest in the top section and second fastest in the last section, "but she had three really big mistakes in the middle," said U.S. head coach Alex Hoedlmoser.

"The snow was pretty tricky, there were a couple of gates where it was slick and then the rest was grippy," Hoedlmoser added. "I think it was a lot more grippy than what she expected. In the second run, she just wasn't pushing as hard as she normally does, but it was still a good result."

A special city event is scheduled for Moscow on Tuesday, the last race before the Feb. 5-17 world championships in Schladming, Austria.

Only two more traditional slaloms remain this season, although the parallel city event — a mix between slalom and giant slalom — also counts toward the slalom standings.

News from © The Associated Press, 2013
The Associated Press

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