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Hosp wins World Cup slalom

Eric Willemsen
The Associated Press
Aspen, CO Colorado

MARIBOR, Slovenia ” Soft snow, heavy rain, poor visibility and a bruised left foot couldn’t stop Austrian skier Nicole Hosp from winning her 11th career World Cup race Sunday.

Hosp, who led after the first slalom leg, finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 40.55 seconds on the Radvanje course. She now leads in the slalom standings and the overall rankings

Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia took second, 0.46 behind Hosp, to match her career best result. Marlies Schild of Austria posted the fastest time in the second leg and finished third.



American Lindsey Vonn was 17th and teammate Julia Mancuso was 24th.

“It was really tough today. The snow was not good but organizers did their best. I am happy with both my runs,” said Hosp, who claimed her second slalom title of the season after winning in December in Aspen, Colo.




Hosp opted for a tactical race in the second leg, in which she had the fifth-fastest time.

“I avoided any risks in the upper part and went full speed in the lower part,” said Hosp, who has received daily treatment on a bruised left foot since Thursday.

Hosp, the defending overall World Cup champion, refused to speculate about winning the crystal globe again this season. Hosp leads the overall standings with 699 points. Schild and Maria Riesch share second with 574 points, while Lindsey Vonn is fourth with 538.

“It’s much too early for that. We still have two months of races ahead of us, so it would be premature to say anything about it,” Hosp said.

Zuzulova said she was surprised by her second-place finish.

“I was very keen at the start of both my runs, but was a bit loose in the lower part,” Zuzulova said. “It is a great result for me. Two second places in one week hopefully means that my first victory is not far away any more.”

Schild had a flawless second run after a poor opening leg.

“After such a first run, I can only be happy with the final result,” Schild said. “I skied as fast as I possibly could in the second.”

Anja Paerson of Sweden made no big mistakes in both runs but finished only 15th, 2.19 seconds behind Hosp.

“The weather made it really difficult. It was even hard to see the course properly,” Paerson said.

The snow on the course was soft because of rain and high temperatures. FIS officials had the course partly fortified before the start of the slalom race.