Lienz, Austria, Dec. 29, 2001--Anja Paerson of Sweden, the resigning world slalom champion, and Kristina Koznick (Burnsville, MN) started 1-2 Saturday and finished that way in the final World Cup race of the women's Cafe de Colombia World Cup. Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) had the fourth-fastest second run and moved up to sixth place.
Outdoor Life Network will carry coverage of the race Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. EST.
Paerson led Koznick by .22 in the first run and overcame a couple of small mistakes on her final run to finish with a total time of 1:24.74. Koznick was tied by Germany's Monika Bergman at 1:24.79. Schleper, who tied for ninth in the first run, finished at 1:24.98 for her best result of the winter.
Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO) was 25th in the first run but skied out on the top portion of her second run.
"It was good. I'm really happy," Koznick said."It was a little rough in some places, but I knew I'd been training really fast and then to be sixth and eighth was really frustrating. I know I have so much more to give, so this is good. I mean, five-hundredths...I'll take it and be very happy." She had stayed in Europe during Christmas and trained in Hintereit, Austria.
"The first run held up really well because we raced where the GS was Friday, but the second run was off to the side and hadn't been skied on as much," Koznick said, "so there definitely were some soft gates. But you look around and there's no snow anywhere, so they did it all with manmade snow and I know we're all just glad to be racing.
"They did a really good job with what they had."
Coach Thomas Stauffer said, "Schlep, I tell you, she had a great second run ... really good at the bottom. She's just skiing now, and when she does that, she can go so fast. And it was important for her to have a good result," he said.
The next women's races will come Jan. 4-6 with a giant slalom and two slaloms in Maribor, Slovenia.
CAFE DE COLOMBIA WORLD CUP
Lienz, AUT - Dec.29
Women's SL
1. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 1:24.74
2. (tie) Kristina Koznick, Burnsville, Minn., and Monika Bergmann, Germany, 1:24.79 each
4. Ylva Nowen, Sweden, 1:24.82
5. Trine Bakke, Norway, 1:24.95
6. Sarah Schleper, Vail, Colo., 1:24.98
