Germany�s Hilde Gerg started the New Year perfectly in Slovenia�s Maribor. The reigning slalom Olympic champion celebrated her 3rd season success in the Super-G only two weeks after her wins in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, where she clinched a downhill and a combined.

The 23-year-old Bavarian from Lenggries beat by 13/100 her teammate Martina Ertl while Austria�s Michaela Dorfmeister was 3rd at 29/100. Christiane Mitterwallner confirmed her surprising success from Mammoth Mountain with her strong 4th place ahead of Switzerland�s Corinne Rey-Bellet and Sweden�s Pernilla Wiberg.

Other favorites had a hard time dealing with the race conditions, flat terrain in the upper part, a bumpy course in the middle and fog near the start. Renate Goetschl from Austria, winner of two downhills in Canada in November, and Regina Haeusl, from Germany, skied out after clocking the fastest intermediate times. Alexandra Meissnizer had to be content with a far 9th place - her worst result so far this season.

America�s Kathleen Monahan who started in 30th position finished at a promising 12th place. Teammate Megan Gerety also scored some precious World Cup points in that race in finishing among the best 30. Gerg, who has not won a Super-G race in the last two years, was happy to make it safely across the finish line.

"It was quite tough in the final part where the visibility was really low," she said. "I skied well in the middle part but I was more cautious at the end and I didn�t expect to do so well after a rather slow season start in that event." It�s also her first success in that event after winning the Super-G World Cup title in 1997. Hilde has won races in all events so far except giant slalom.

Ertl on her side continues to collect top-3 places this season. The defending GS World Cup champion came close to success several times in the past weeks. She skied faster than Hilde Gerg in the upper part of the course, but lost a lot of time in the final foggy part. "I made too many mistakes in the last turns," she said. "I hope that the conditions will be better later on for the giant slalom."

There was great satisfaction for Michaela Dorfmeister who has struggled in the earlier part of the season. A silver medal winner in Super-G at the 1998 Olympics despite a broken hand, Michaela has only finished one other time among the top-3 in a World Cup Super-G. She badly needed this result to improve her confidence and her chances to qualify for the coming World Championships in Vail.

— Mountain Zone European Ski Correspondent