The consensus among racers was that the night slalom in Flachau, Austria was a big hit. The course was fun, fast and in perfect condition as far as snow consistency, but perhaps nobody enjoyed it so much as local favorite Marlies Schild.

Proving once again that her broken leg and five operations that followed are all past now, Schild landed her second home-turf victory of the season on Tuesday (she also won last month in Lienz and was second in Aspen) and the 22nd win of her World Cup career, earning the new title of "Snow Space Princess" 2010. The victory came with the deafening clamor of some 10,000 spectators in a coronation ceremony that ended in a massive display of fireworks.

"I didn't believe I could do it after the first run," said Schild, who was fifth - more than a second back - after the first run. "But I tried to ski fast and I had a good run. I tried to do my best in the second and it worked out really well."

The noise was that much louder when another local favorite, Kathrin Zettel, landed her seventh podium of the season, in third place.

Making another kind of fire was the German team led by Maria Riesch, who reclaimed the lead in Cup slalom standings (373 over Schild's 320 ... previous leader Sandrine Aubert missed a gate in the first run Tuesday and is now third in the standings with 316 pointes) with her second place finish, .34 seconds behind Schild.

Six Germans finished among the top 25 on Tuesday, although after the first run, it looked as if the winner of the race would come down to a battle between sisters. Maria Riesch was the first racer down the course and none of the next eight could touch her time. Then younger sister Susanne flew down and beat her by .12 seconds.

In the second run, Susanne was blazing with her lead in tow, nearing the finish when she missed a gate, costing her what would have been her first World Cup victory. Maria had an impressive recovery at the top of her second run after a bobble that nevertheless cost her time on the clock.

"We had a big advantage, my sister and I, but unfortunately my sister went out and I had some trouble in the second run," Maria Riesch said.

German Katharina Duerr scored the first top five result of her Cup career in fifth and Fanny Chmelar was sixth, surprised by the speed she found in her second run.

"The first run was really tough because it was really fast, like gate after gate ... so fast you really couldn't think," Chmelar said. "The second run, as I got closer to the finish I was always trying to push and keep on working and moving."

The floodlights on the course provided better light than that of a grey afternoon and the turnout of the big crowd flattering ... especially on a weeknight.

"It was a really great event," Chmelar said. "It's so cool that even on a Tuesday so many poeple are here."

Among the crowd was Austria's Nicole Hosp, wearing a brace on her right leg following a crash in the season opener giant slalom race in Soelden, in which she tore ligaments and sidelined herself for the rest of the race season. Hosp was in the finish area handling skis and talking to her teammates, coaches and trainers. Though she said it was a bit sad to miss such a big race at home, she said her recovery is going quickly and she was proud to see Schild and Zettel do so well.

"My [recovery] is going on. I can start training again," Hosp said. "It's not easy to stay in the finish and just look at the race, but it's great to have such successful teammates."

Eighteen racers failed to finish the first run, most straddling gates. World Cup overall leader Lindsey Vonn hooked a tip and crashed, but wasn't injured while Anja Paerson straddled and nearly crashed. Paerson skied to the side of the course and sat down for several minutes holding her leg with an apparent injury.

The FIS Audi women's World Cup continues Saturday and Sunday with giant slalom and slalom in Maribor, Slovenia.

by Shauna Farnell / SkiRacing.com
FISalpine.com
Wednesday 13 January 2010