Sonja Nef of was one of young stars of the powerful Swiss women's squad in the early 1990s. Now Nef is one of the wily veterans on the World Cup circuit and still knocking them dead. The 1999-2000 season, Sonja's 8th tour, she was as tough and talented as ever in yet another emotional comeback. Four long winters before, Nef took the night slalom in Sestriere, Italy. However, she was forced to overcome some very difficult times, due to injuries and equipment problems, before celebrating another victory.

Sonja was best-of-the best in giant slalom three times: at Tignes, France; Are, Sweden; and, Sestriere, Italy. She ended up a close 2nd in the final GS World Cup standings behind Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister, a four-time winner of that event during the season.

To see Sonja Nef now, nothing alludes to her years of travail. Despite an angelic smile, she fights like the devil to reach her goals. Nef knows pain and how to overcome it. Plagued by a series of injuries at the start of her career, she underwent surgery several times between 1989 and 1996 for torn ligaments in her right knee. In fact, it's amazing she's able to ski at all, but her career was finally saved by a Swiss specialist who used innovative ways, including regular injections of shark oil to moisturize them, to treat her damaged ligaments.

Nef again faced a tough challenge in February 1996 when she crashed in the second leg of the giant slalom during the World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, after leading the first run. Italy's Deborah Compagnoni eventually won that race, which for a long time haunted Nef. And 1997 was another disappointing season, after which Nef was forced to hire a private coach, Sepp Brunner. Sonja felt the need to set her own pace during snow training, to avoid overworking her injured knee. Brunner helped her get back in shape and worked with the other Swiss coaches during the winter.

Nef got off to a very good start by winning the first giant slalom in Tignes, France. Then disaster hit again as the entire Swiss squad contracted pneumonia during the US races in Colorado. She fought back and returned to the podium in January in Maribor, Slovenia. After mediocre results, Sonja bounced back in Are and dominated the field, beating Austria's two-time winner Anita Wachter by close to second. In the slalom, she looked headed for another podium finish when she straddled one of the final gates of the second run, severely injuring her right ankle, and was out of action for several weeks. She was able to return to snow for the next-to-last GS race at Sestriere and won it after an amazing second run, thus keeping her in the running for the Crystal globe.

Another strong race in the final slalom at Bormio allowed her to regain her spot in the first seed in that speciality. If she remains healthy, Sonja Nef could be favored for medals at the St. Anton World Championships and 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.