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Women's Giant Slalom
Switzerland's Sonia Nef won her first World Cup giant slalom victory in Tignes, France after a tough fight against grueling weather conditions and determined rivals.

	Sonia Nef, SUI

The 27-year-old Swiss athlete clocked the fastest times in both runs to completely crush her competition. She beat Sweden's Anna Ottosson by 1.61 seconds and Austria's Anita Wachter by over two seconds.

Strong gusts of wind and fog plagued the competition on the Grande Motte glacier at an elevation of 3400 meters (11,154 feet). The start of the race had to be postponed for one hour due to wind that slowed down the aerial tram which transported racers to the top of the slope.

"I was finally able to show my potential today and I'm pretty proud of myself. Now I can aim for much more — I'm really relieved. This success means so much to me..." — Sonia Nef, SUI

These difficult conditions did not stifle Sonja Nef's confidence or concentration. Until today, she did not have the reputation of a strong-minded champion. In fact, she had a negative record of missed opportunities in past years. More than once, she crashed in second runs after clocking some of the fastest times in first runs. One of her most difficult moments was in 1996 at the Ski World Championships at Sierra Nevada, Spain, when she fell in the second run after setting the best time in the first. Up to now, she had won only one slalom in Sestriere in 1996.

With the help of a mental trainer she hired during spring, Nef learned this past summer to master her focus and concentration in a more efficient way. Nobody was as aggressive as Nef today.

	Nef on the podium

"I have a nice collection of top-5 places in giant slalom, but I want to reach more this winter," said Nef after the race. "I was finally able to show my potential today and I'm pretty proud of myself. Now I can aim for much more — I'm really relieved. This success means so much to me."

Nef almost quit ski racing in the early 1990s because of a bad knee ligament injury which required six operations from 1989 to 1996. She also struggled to convince Swiss team trainers to allow her train on her own, with the support of a private coach, which she paid for herself.

"It was a real hard time but it was the only way to get back in shape with all the problems I had with my right knee," she explained. "I can't train too intensively, so it was necessary to build my own group."

Now Nef can hope to fight for the giant slalom trophy, the Crystal Globe, during the coming months.

"She deserves her success since she is one of the greatest talents among us," said Wachter after the race. The small-framed Austrian was pleased by her third place finish, which reinforces her confidence for the coming season.

"I also feel able to fight for the GS title," Wachter said. "Today the conditions were not too good for me because I have problems to race when the visibility is low. In these conditions, this third place in fine, especially since it's my 8th consecutive top-3 finish since last December."

	Austria's Wachter

Wachter and her Austrian teammate Alexandra Meissnitzer, who skied off course in the first run, are two of the best giant slalom skier on the tour. Meissnitzer, the reigning World Champion, did not have a good day. She skied out while taking, as usual, a maximum of risks.

In last year's opening giant slalom at Soelden, Meissnitzer finished second behind the winner, Andrine Flemmen of Norway. But Meissnitzer did not seem concerned with the unnecessary mistake which prevented her from finishing this first giant slalom of the season.

"This failure takes some pressure off my shoulders," Meissnitzer said. "I skied very aggressively in the first part of the first run and I made this 'inside ski' mistake. This can happen, but it's okay because I was very fast at that point. It's good for my morale as I was not skiing so well in GS in the past weeks. This DNF will give me great momentum for the next American races. I like to ski in the US and I should be more focused in Park City where I will have the pleasure to meet my friend Picabo Street who moved in there last summer."

Norway's Flemmen, the winner of the opening giant slalom at Soelden a year ago, came in 4th in front of Canada's Allison Forsyth, who reached an unexpected 5th place after starting in 39th position in the first run. No US skiers were able to qualify for the second run.

Other favorites, Martina Ertl and Pernilla Wiberg, finished way behind the leaders in 15th and 17th place. As many other racers, they competed in bad weather conditions during the second run after setting fast times in the morning run.

Tomorrow, the men will also kick-off their season with a giant slalom on La Grande Motte. Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen, the winner in 1997, is one of the top favorites next to Hermann Maier, who finished third here two years ago, and Lasse Kjus, the reigning world champion. Others to watch will be young star Benjamin Raich and Kjetil Aamodt, last year's runner up in the Overall World Cup standings.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent