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"I was anxiously awaiting this race and it turned out to be great for me." — Alexandra Meissnitzer

Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer is the great dominator of this season's opening races. After winning the last giant slalom in Park City and finishing twice on the podium in Sölden, the 25-year-old skier from south of Salzburg celebrated her second success in ten days in the first super-G of the winter.

Meissnitzer, winner of two super-G races back in December 1995, beat 2nd place Pernilla Wiberg (SWE) by almost half a second. Germany's Hilde Gerg, the 1998 Olympic slalom champion, placed 3rd. Three of Gerg's teammates also skied among the top 10 in 4th,5th and 6th places, confirming once more the strength of the German women's ski team that has won four out of six races so far this winter.

Italy's Isolde Kostner, the reigning super-G World Champion, only placed 11th, and Croatia's Janica Kostelic was a far 21st. The course conditions were demanding due to colder temperatures and many skiers had trouble mastering their skis during technical parts of the run. In fact, two favorites, Germany's Martina Ertl and speed queen Renate Goetschl, who won both downhills during the past two days, didn't make it to the finish line.

Their failure helps Meissnitzer to reinforce her position as the current the overall World Cup leader. She was thrilled by her newest success— in the last two seasons she has appeared only once on the podium: last February at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano where she clinched a bronze medal.

"I was anxiously awaiting this race and it turned out to be great for me," said Meissnizter at the finish line. "I have made strong progress in giant slalom in recent years but I was also aiming to get back on the top in the speed events which are quite exciting too. My 3rd place the other day gave me great momentum and also it confirmed the quality of my equipment. When you change skis during the off-season, you may need some time to get adjusted to the new brand, but here everything was perfect from the beginning. It's the best move I have made in my career."

Meissnitzer races now on Völkl skis which brought so much success to the German team in past years when used by Katja Seizinger, the triple winner here in Lake Louise last year; Martina Ertl, the defending giant slalom World Cup champion; and Hilde Gerg.

As she did before, Meissnitzer speaks reluctantly about her chances to become the fourth Austrian skier after the late Gertrud Gabl (1969), Annemarie Moser-Proell (1971,72,73,74,75,79) and Petra Kronberger (1990,91,92) to win the Overall World Cup title.

"The season is just beginning and a lot of things can still happen," she said. "I don't plan to compete in slalom , so skiers such as Ertl, or Pernilla Wiberg who is coming back strong now, have more opportunities to score points than me. My goal is to be consistent and in good health before the World Championships at Vail."

Pernilla Wiberg, who won this race in 1996, had a big smile on her face. This is her first top-3 finish on the World Cup tour since her successful finals in Vail in 1997 when she clinched her first Overall World Cup title.

Wiberg has been plagued by several injuries and only clocked one good result in Nagano where she was 2nd in the downhill.

"It's a great comeback, especially after my poor downhill result here," Wiberg said. "I know that I must be patient because I only started to ski at the end of last summer after I finally recovered from all my problems. I haven't seriously trained in the speed events so I will need some time to find back all my feelings. It's very encouraging to see how much I can improve my level since the season-start. I hope to be back where I want at the end of the year."

WIberg has won medals in all events since 1991 except in super-G —it will be one of her main goal at Vail in February.

The next women's races will take place this week at California's Mammoth Mountain where a super-G and a slalom are scheduled.