Women's Slalom
Five days before celebrating her 25th birthday, Trine Bakke (NOR) has already received the best gift she could ask for: her first World Cup victory of the season. Despite jeering from the chauvinistic local crowd, the Norwegian from Trondheim beat Slovene Spela Pretnar by 87/100 of a second. Austria's Sabine Egger, winner last week in Lienz, came in 3rd at 1.09 second behind.

	Trine Bakke

Two other top slalom skiers, Anja Paerson from Sweden and Christel Saioni from France, followed this trio of established champions. Both are also fighting for the slalom World Cup win this winter. Also among the elite this time is America's Sarah Schleper, who clocked the second fastest time in the second run, reaching an unexpected 7th place — almost a second ahead of Kristina Koznick, who finished 15th. American Caroline Lalive also scored some World Cup points after finishing 22nd.

The Pohorje slope in Maribor is not very steep, yet the conditions are often very demanding. In fact, the winner's list bears the names of only the greatest skiers since the "Classical" Golden Fox competition joined the women's World Cup tour in 1970 and today's competition was no different. Organizers watered the slope last night and the snow was really hard, even icy, during the first run. Most of the skiers had problems and only the top two finishers seemed to enjoy the race.

Bakke, wearing bib #1, skied the course perfectly, as did Spela Pretnar, always motivated racing in front of her fans. They were the only racers who finished ahead — within a second. All the other racers, including top slalom racers Egger, Paerson and Saioni, the slalom winner in Copper Mountain, all finished at least a second later than Bakke in the first run. Some top skiers finished even two or three seconds behind. Ana Ottosson (SWE) placed 10th, but was 2.05 seconds behind in that opening run — an incredible margin for slalom. Kristina Koznick, 15th, was 2.26 seconds behind and Sarah Schleper, 7th, was 1.96 second behind the leader.

"I felt that it could be my race today when I saw the hard snow. I had been close to this victory earlier this winter and I wanted it to happen soon...." — Trine Bakke (NOR)

In the second run Bakke again had near perfect control of her skis and achieved another almost faultless run. She even increased her lead over Pretnar, despite the whistles of the public.

"I felt that it could be my race today when I saw the hard snow," Bakke said. "I had been close to this victory earlier this winter and I wanted it to happen soon. In Copper, I was too nervous after winning the first run, but I was pleased with my 3rd place there," said Bakke. "Then I was 2nd in Serre Chevalier and 4th in Sestriere. Here I really had two great runs. You had to be quick on your feet on the icy course today and I had no problem."

Bakke, the bronze medal winner in slalom at Vail, is aiming for more wins this winter and is fighting for the Crystal Globe.

"I have trained hard since last spring to get used to the short slalom skis and I have made great progress in my technique. I feel quite confident about the coming races," she added. Bakke became the first Norwegian to win a World Cup slalom last year in St. Anton, on one of the steepest slopes on the women's tour.

The conditions were slightly less treacherous in the second leg of today's race, but still very difficult for some competitors, such as Koznick, whose second run knocked her down to 15th place. Others took advantage of the better slope to dramatically improve their standings, such as Switzerland's Sonja Nef, 23rd in the morning and 10th after setting the fastest time in the second run, and Anna Ottosson, 6th at the end.

Very aggressive also was Sarah Schleper who achieved her best World Cup time today after collecting some top-20 finishes earlier this season. She started in 34th position in the first run but can now hope for a better starting position before the next slalom this weekend in Berchtesgaden, Germany. The skier from Vail, who turns 21 in six weeks, beat Bakke by 9/100 in that final run in which she clocked the second-best time.

The young American was excited after the race. In an interview with a German TV station she said, "This is a wonderful day for me. I was finally able to have two good runs in a row.

"I gave all that I could in that second run. I knew that I was able to ski among the best 10, it was just a matter of being patient and consistent. This result is a great boost for my morale before the next races."

	Pretnar

The same is true for Pretnar, who almost gave up ski racing last spring to study economy in California. The 26-year-old skier from Bled, 2nd here in a giant slalom in January 1995, felt like a winner in the slalom stadium after her second run. "This is a great feeling," she said. "I tried very hard in the second run, but Trine was the best today. I have been very consistent this season in slalom and I would enjoy fighting for more wins."

Pretnar aims for another top-three finish this weekend in a night slalom run on the flat course in Berchtesgaden, where she placed 4th last year. In giant slalom, the favorites are the Austrian team with Michaela Dorfmeister and Anita Wachter, and Switzerland's Sonja Nef.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent