Men's Giant Slalom
It is with total Austrian triumph that this World Cup season is ending in Bormio, Italy — the same way it started five months ago, when Hermann Maier and Hannes Trinkl won the first six races on the World Cup calendar.

	Raich

Benjamin Raich celebrated a personal triumph today and also marked the 25th Austrian success of the winter — meaning only 14 contests were won by other teams: Norway (4), Italy (3), Slovenia (2), Switzerland (2), USA (2) and France (1).

Raich beat Christian Mayer, the winner of the past two GS races, by 17/100 of a second. This helped Maier, since Mayer was the only skier who posed a threat to The Herminator in the GS World Cup standings.

Those 17/100 of a second cost Mayer 20 points and the GS title. Despite the fact that Maier skied out in the middle of the course after setting the fastest intermediate time, Maier went on to win his fourth World Cup title of the season, the eight in his career, by only three points!

"Next year I want to win one race at St. Anton during the World Championships and then the Olympic Downhill in 2002 at Lake Placid. It's the last major title that I'm missing..." — Hermann Maier (AUT)

Another Austrian, Heinz Schilchegger came in 3rd, ahead of Slovenia's Mitja Kunc, while Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen was 6th thanks to a great second run.

The US's Daron Rahlves didn't finish his first run, nor did France's Joel Chenal. Norway's Kjetil Aamodt couldn't race today after pulling a muscle in his lower back while warming up in the morning (he may have to skip the slalom on Sunday, too).

While Mayer had a hard time understanding what was happening, Maier was smiling despite his misfortune while congratulating Benjamin Raich, who won his second race of the season. In February "Benny" won in Korea but suffered a slight concussion last week after crashing at Kranjska Gora. He didn't race the next slalom at Schladming.

	Four Cups for Maier

"I knew that Benjamin was leading when I started so I tried hard to win that last race," Maier said. "But the course was quite rough and I was not as concentrated as in the morning. I made this mistake and went out. But it's not a big deal, I'm quite glad to finish the season on this mark of 2000 points. Is it a perfect mark for the year, no. I could not have done it better.

"I am very happy with four World Cup titles," Maier continued, "it's exceptionnal and more than I was aiming for. That gives me strong motivation, too, for the future. I have reached so much in the past three years that I can be more relaxed now and focus on some special goals.

"Next year I want to win one race at St. Anton during the World Championships and then the Olympic Downhill in 2002 at Lake Placid. It's the last major title that I'm missing."

Raich will for sure be the skier to beat in giant slalom in the coming years. The 22-year-old Tyrolian will be mentally tougher in the future thanks to his experiences in this difficult season. It took a long time for him to win his first race and it was also not easy for him to overcome his accident in Slovenia.

"It's good to finish on a positive note, I will remember my lessons from this season," Raich said. "I know that I can aim for more next winter, including the giant slalom World Cup to start. I also hope to become a contender for the overall World Cup. I still have time."

"I have to work out harder next summer to be more consistent. I want to win a medal in front of my fans at St. Anton, too."

The men's slalom on Sunday should be dramatic, too. The Austrians will be fighting for a seventh consecutive win in recent weeks with the spectacular Mario Matt, the winner at Kitzbuhel and Schladming.

His teammate Thomas Stangassinger, who was already skiing here in 1985 at the World Championships, also wishes to end the season with a first victory. Norway's Finn Christian Jagge will have an emotional race: it will be his last one. The 1992 Olympic champion has announced it at the bib draw.

"I raced here in 1985 and it's time for me to say goodbye," said the 33-year-old skier. Jagge won a slalom last December at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com European Correspondent