BORMIO, Italy (AP) _ Reigning World Cup slalom champion Ivica Kostelic won his third consecutive race Sunday, further strengthening the defense of his crown. Kostelic, third after the opening leg, delivered a blistering second run down the Stelvio course to win with an aggregate time of 1 minute, 49.03 seconds, a strong .43 ahead of his nearest rival Bode Miller of the United States.

Janica and Ivica Kostelic after the final in Bormio

Miller came back from even further. Ninth after the opening leg with a whopping 1.05 to make up, Miller aggressively attacked the course his second trip down to cross in 1:49.43 and complete his first slalom of the season. Norway's Hans-Petter Buraas was third in 1:49.64. Kostelic made the headlines last Sunday in Kranjska Gora,
when he and sister Janica each clinched a slalom, becoming the first siblings in the history of the World Cup to win on the same day.

Ivica Kostelic

 Janica, the winner of the World Cup overall in 2001 and the first Alpine skier to capture four medals in a single Olympics, was able to celebrate her brother's victory with him this week, acting as a forerunner in the men's slalom Sunday. Ivica Kostelic now leads the slalom standings with 318 points after four races. The Croat's only blemish this season was a 15th place in Park City, Utah, at the season-opener.

Fastest in the opening leg, Kalle Palander saw his hopes of giving Finland its first ever World Cup victory go up in smoke when a sluggish second effort landed him in fifth in 1:49.76. Olympic champion Jean-Pierre Vidal, second heading into the final leg, had an even more disappointing run, crashing out in the final section. American Erik Schlopy was 11th in 1:50.51. The slalom took a back seat on the day after the Austrian team announced the imminent return of Hermann Maier, who will make his long-anticipated comeback in a giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland.

AP, 12.01.2003
 

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