SOLDEN, Austria (AFP) Sat Oct 23,11:33 AM ET - Sweden's World Cup holder Anja Paerson opened the women's 2004/2005 season with a clear statement of intent by winning the giant slalom. The 23-year-old Paerson clocked 2min 25.21sec for the two legs, to finish 0.32sec ahead of Finland's Tanja Poutiainen and 1.57sec in front of Spain's Maria Jose Rienda-Contreras.

Tanja Poutiainen, Anja Paerson and Maria Jose Rienda-Contreras

It was her 23rd World Cup victory, 10th in giant slalom, and her first on the demanding, 3000m-high Rettenbach piste.

She said afterwards: "The first run was easy but for the second, I knew Tanja (Poutiainen) had managed a great time and I had to give my all."

And she said she would be competing in all events this year. "This season, I will be competing in all the disciplines," Paerson added. "At the world championships in Bormio, I will enter all five events with a view to my preparations for the 2006 Olympics."

Paerson became the top women skier last year when, apart from the overall World Cup victory, she also won the World Cups for the slalom and the giant slalom.

Poutiainen said she was also happy with the way the season had started for her.

"I hope that my win in the Levi slalom at the end of last year is going to give me a big boost and really get my career going again," she said.

And there was good news also for triple Olympic champion Jelena Kostelic of Croatia who missed all of last season with knee injuries and thyroid problems.

The 22-year-old who dominated women's skiing prior to Paerson's ascendency placed eighth and there were words of encouragement from the Swede.

"Our rivalry will be good for our sport and make it more exciting to watch," she said.

The men open their season with a giant slalom here on Sunday but then the World Cup circuit goes into cold storage for a month before reappearing at Lake Louise, Canada at the end of November.

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Paerson Wins World Cup Opener

Sat Oct 23, 3:22 PM ET   Sports - Reuters
By Patrick Lang

SOELDEN, Austria (Reuters) - Sweden's Anja Paerson picked up where she left off last season with a victory in the giant slalom which opened the new Alpine ski World Cup campaign Saturday.

Paerson, the defending overall, giant slalom and slalom champion, held on to her first-leg lead to win in a time of two minutes 25.21 seconds on the Rettenbach glacier.

Finland's Tanja Poutiainen was second, 0.32 seconds behind, with Spaniard Maria Jose Rienda Contreras third in 2:26.78.

Jose Rienda Contreras

Former World Cup champion Janica Kostelic of Croatia, making her comeback after missing last season with knee and thyroid problems, dropped back from fourth place after the first leg to finish eighth.

Kostelic, who had her thyroid gland removed in January and has put on weight, was just happy to be racing again for the first time since March 2003.

"I missed competing so much," said Kostelic, whose weight has gone up to 81 kg from a racing average of 66 kg two seasons ago when she won her second overall World Cup.

Janica Kostelic

"This is my best result ever here so I am more than happy."

The 23-year-old Paerson, who won the last four giant slaloms of the season which ended in March, has been on the podium in Soelden for three years running, finishing second last year and third in 2002.

Paerson, who will defend her giant slalom world championship title in Bormio, Italy, in February, was pleased to welcome back Kostelic and Italy's Karen Putzer, the 2003 overall runner-up, who finished 10th in her first race since a hip injury early last season.

"It's much better for me when I feel that I have to push myself harder and take more risks," said Paerson, who won 11 events last season. "With Kostelic and Putzer back on the circuit I know I have to fight more than last year to keep on winning lots of races."

Poutiainen's second place was her best result in giant slalom and came after a change of equipment in the off-season.

"The skis are running fine," said Poutiainen, who had her maiden World Cup win in the Levi slalom in February. "To be on the podium here is very important."

Rienda Contreras shrugged off the after-effects of a bout of food poisoning to finish third in the season's traditional opener for the second successive year.

"I really felt ill and a little weak so to be on the podium is rather unexpected," said the 29-year-old Spaniard.

Fourth place vindicated Kristina Koznick's decision to break away from the official United States squad for the second time in her career and travel with her own support team.

As an independent racer, Koznick won six slaloms but when she joined the U.S. fold last season she failed to get on a single podium.

"It didn't work," said Koznick, who finished 1.74 seconds behind Paerson. "We had some fights. It costs me maybe $250,000 to do it by myself but I know I have the potential to do well."

Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer, the 1999 overall champion, failed to finish the first leg while Slovenia's Tina Maze, who won here two years ago, also went out after clipping a gate pole.

The second leg claimed several other high-profile victims including downhill and super-G World Cup winner Renate Goetschl of Austria and Olympic downhill champion Carole Montillet-Carles of France, who both fell.

The men's World Cup opens with a giant slalom here on Sunday, then the skiers have a month's break before races in the U.S. and Canada