ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP 1997/98
Bormio (ITA) Women's 4th Giant Slalom. 06.Jan.1998
First Home Win for Deborah Compagnoni

Bormio, Italy, January 6--Deborah Compagnoni celebrated one of the most emotional successes in her career: a victory in the first giant slalom of the new year in Bormio, only twenty minutes away from her home in Santa Caterina Valfurva. It was her 9th consecutive victory in this event.
The triple World Champion, unbeaten in this specialty for a year now, clocked the best time in both runs to beat by 64/100 Germany's Martina Ertl and Alexandra Meissnitzer from Austria.
The leader in the Overall World Cup, Katja Seizinger, who skied out in the last two giant slaloms, finished 4th which reinforced her position in the standings in front of her teammate Hilde Gerg, who finished only 15th in the race.
None of the US skiers qualified for the second run: Alexandra Shaffer came in 43rd and Carrie Sheinberg was only 45th in the standings. Kirsten Clark didn't finish the race.
After a disappointing performance in the slalom, won again by Sweden's Ylva Nowen, Deborah Compagnoni was looking for sweet revenge to satisfy her numerous fans waiting in the finish area.
A forerunner in Bormio and Santa Caterina during the 1985 World Championships, the Italian did not excel on those slopes during the next World Cup competitions, including the finals in 1995. This time she was finally ready to show her potential on the challenging final part of the "Stelvio" downhill course.
Skiing with her usual calm and precision on the icy snow which covered the piste, Compagnoni set the best time in the first run with 27/100 on Ertl, the best GS World Cup specialist in 1996, and 47/100 on Austria's veteran Anita Wachter, the 1988 combined Olympic Champion and Overall World Cup winner in 1993.
The last skier to start in the afternoon, Compagnoni charged again with great determination to stay out of reach of Ertl who had her best race since the season's start in Tignes in late October. This time the Italian was faster by 37/100 than the German and almost two seconds ahead of Wachter who moved back to 5th place. Yet her final position, Wachter's best so far this winter, should open the doors of the qualification for her fourth Olympic Games.
Compagnoni was relieved about her win which means a lot to her. "It's always something special to ski in front of your home crowd," she said. "I wanted to share a victory with my friends here. I felt confident and I didn't want to make a mistake and fail again. The conditions were demanding because the terrain is difficult. I made some mistakes but fortunately not too many. My previous wins gave me great momentum but I don't think so much about my winning streak. I'm not afraid to lose once. I just hope it will not happen in February in Japan."
Martina Ertl fought hard to get back among the top-3 after bad races in Val d'Isere where she skied out of the course twice in the second run after having clocked the 2nd best time in the first race behind Seizinger but ahead of Compagnoni. "My form is improving and this is the most important," said the skier from Lenggries, Bavaria who has overcome a bad knee injury during the past year. "It was important to be again fighting for first place after my problems at Val d'Isere."
Meissnitzer, second in the GS World Cup standings, was also pleased to be on the podium for the third time in a row. The skier from Abtenau, south of Salzburg, didn't expect earlier this season to be so consistent in this event. "I was pointing more on the speed events, but I don't mind to be so strong in giant slalom," she said. "It's nice to start the new year with such a result. I wish now to improve my results in downhill and Super-G. Katja Seizinger is very strong there, but I hope to get very close to her soon."
Fairly consistent so far this winter is Sonja Nef who came in 6th at 2,57 seconds. The charming Swiss, who has survived so many tough injuries in her career, trained mostly by herself on the European glacier last Summer to regain her form and rhythm. A winner in a World Cup slalom during the 1995/96 season, she set the best time in the first run at the World Championships at Sierra Nevada. But her golden dream vanished in the second leg when she crashed a few gates from the start. Last year she only managed to take one top-3 place in giant slalom.
Also improving is Slovenia's Spela Pretnar, the last winner on this course in 1995. Three days earlier, the skier from Bled achieved her best result in giant slalom since her 12th place finish in the finals at Vail in March 1997. Her teammate Urska Hrovat, who crashed in slalom with the best intermediate time, was 7th this time.
The skiers will not have to travel for their next competitions. They will stay in Bormio, as the races planned in Maribor, Slovenia have been canceled due to lack of snow. Two other technical events are planned for the coming weekend.
Women's 4th Giant Slalom, January 06,1998
Rank Name Nat. Total
 1 COMPAGNONI Deborah  ITA   2:20.38
 2 ERTL Martina  GER   2:21.02
 3 MEISSNITZER Alexandra  AUT   2:21.96
 4 SEIZINGER Katja  GER   2:22.57
 5 WACHTER Anita  AUT   2:22.63
 6 NEF Sonja  SUI   2:22.95
 7 HROVAT Urska  SLO   2:22.96
 8 FLEMMEN Andrine  NOR   2:23.01
 9 PICCARD Leila  FRA   2:23.49
 10 LEFRANC-DUVILLARD Sophie  FRA   2:23.55
 11 PANZANINI Sabina  ITA   2:23.82
 12 ROTEN MEIER Karin  SUI   2:23.90
 13 PRETNAR Spela  SLO   2:23.99
 14 PUTZER Karen  ITA   2:24.17
 15 GERG Hilde  GER   2:24.22
 16 ZURBRIGGEN Heidi  SUI   2:24.36
 17 BORGHI Catherine  SUI   2:24.61
 18 POUTIAINEN Tanja  FIN   2:24.76
 19 MITTERWALLNER Christiane  AUT   2:24.78
 20 KOSTNER Isolde  ITA   2:25.01
 21 REY BELLET Corinne  SUI   2:25.12
 22 IBARRA ASTELARRA Ainhoa  SPA   2:25.15
 23 KOELLERER Karin  AUT   2:25.38
 23 GALINDO SANTOLARIA Ana  SPA   2:25.38
 25 OTTOSSON Anna  SWE   2:25.58
 26 HAELLDAHL Sandra  SWE   2:25.72
 27 HANSSON Erika  SWE   2:26.36
 28 NEUENSCHWANDER Katrin  SUI   2:26.44

Did not start 1st run:
GRAU Vicky (AND), STEGGALL Zali (AUS)

Did not finish 1st run:
SCHNEIDER Tanja (AUT), OBERMOSER Brigitte (AUT), ROZSA Edith (CAN), OLAMO Petra (FIN), GERG Annemarie (GER), MERLIN Barbara (ITA), HEEB Birgit (LIE), NOWEN Ylva (SWE), YDESKOG Linda (SWE), KUMMER Lilian (SUI), CLARK Kirsten L (USA), DOVZAN Alenka (SLO)

Did not finish 2nd run:
SEKINO Fujiko (FRA), FORTKORD Martina (SWE)

Disqualified 1st run:
SCHUSTER Stefanie (AUT), RIENDA CONTRERAS Maria Jose (SPA)

Did not qualify 2nd run:
KURFUERSTOVA Eva (CZE), DUVILLARD Kristina (FRA), CAVAGNOUD Regine (FRA), JACQUEMOD Ingrid (FRA), WOLF Stefanie (GER), DE MARTIN TROPANIN Tiziana (ITA), MARQUIS Antonella (ITA), GIUS Nicole (ITA), KARBON Denise (ITA), VIERIN Sonia (ITA), IKEDA Kazuko (JPN), KASHIWAGI Kumiko (JPN), YAMAKAWA Junko (JPN), FJELDAVLIE Merete (NOR), ANDERSSON Kristina (SWE), OESTER Marlies (SUI), BERTHOD Sylviane (SUI), SHEINBERG Carrie (USA), SHAFFER Alexandra (USA), BOKAL Natasa (SLO), BRACUN Spela (SLO), KVOPKOVA Maria (SVK)