GAP 2011. GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – Tina Maze finally found the hundredths of a second she needed to go from silver medalist to world champion. The Slovenian veteran lived up to her No. 1 bib in the 2011 world championship giant slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Thursday, and after her run of silver medals in the world championships and the Winter Olympics over the last two years, landed her first gold.

“It’s greeeeaaat!” said Maze after doing some gymnastics in the finish area. “I’m so happy. I was fighting for it a long time and the hundredths weren’t on my side but this time it worked out.”

After leading the first run, delayed for two hours due to fog on the Kandahar course, Maze held on to just enough speed for the gold medal, finishing with a total time of 2 minutes, 20.54 seconds, just 0.09 hundredths of a second ahead of Italian silver medalist Federica Brignone and 0.48 ahead of French bronze medalist Tessa Worley.

“The second run was really difficult, especially on top where there were a lot of turns, but down here it wasn’t so difficult,” Maze said, although she, like so many racers before her, dropped a lot of their speed on the bottom half of the second run. “There were some bumps, but I just let go of the skis to work on their own. It’s pretty special for me, this gold medal. It was a hard time for me before the world championships, but we somehow put things in the right spot. It’s a big gift to have this title for all the work I put into skiing and all the time on the slope. I have to thank my team because they’re doing a really good job.”

Maze landed her first ever podium in super-combined and with it the silver medal in the world champs a few days ago. It was the fourth silver medal of her career, following those won in the Olympic GS and super G and the silver from the 2009 world champs GS. Before her silver in the world champs super-combi, the 27-year-old had three podiums on the World Cup this season, first in the St. Moritz GS, then in the Courchevel slalom and then at the Munich city parallel race. She struggled for several races after that, however, when her service man left and she had to replace him and then, right before the world championships, after the Zwiesel slalom, she had to go home to Slovenia for treatment for severe muscle pain in her right leg, which she said is happily now gone.

The silver and bronze were the first medals of both Brignone’s and Worley’s young careers. Brignone continued the role she started two weeks ago in the Zwiesel GS, where she landed second place – her best result on the World Cup and just her second podium.

“There are many emotions right now,” said the 20-year-old Italian, who kept her second-place speed after trailing Maze by 0.34 seconds after the first run on Thursday. “When I was at the podium, I didn’t know what to think because it’s too good. It’s amazing.”

Worley on the other hand, really had to charge the second run. She was 19th with more than two seconds to make up after carving too much on the spring-like snow in the first run. She made it happen, though, posting the fastest time (1:11.85) in the second run.

“I was so unhappy after my first run. I wanted to ski very, very fast, and I was just thinking about that,” said the 21-year-old, who is leading the World Cup GS standings and has won three races this season. “I did it. I was aggressive. I was not on my edges. That was what I did in the first run. Yeah, I managed to do … much better.”

Also capitalizing on the second run course set by her coach, Italian veteran Denise Karbon had her best race in quite some time, finishing fourth, 0.74 seconds out, having only competed in two World Cup races before the world championships after an operation on her right knee in November. Local favorite and Olympic GS champion Viktoria Rebensburg ended up fifth, 0.88 seconds back and Italian Manuela Moelgg sixth, 0.89 seconds back. Wearing bib No. 26, Sweden’s Jessica Lindell-Vikarby skied to seventh place, 1.01 seconds back and World Cup slalom leader Marlies Schild notched her best GS race in almost three years (following a year off with injury two seasons ago), finishing eighth, 1.20 seconds back. Anja Paerson, who put her forehead on her poles looking disappointed in what was her last chance to win a medal at these championships, ended up ninth, 1.21 seconds back. France’s Taina Barioz, who also had a very speedy second run, and world downhill and super G champion Elisabeth Goergl, tied for 10th, 1.25 seconds back.

Goergl was in third place after the first run and led for the top half of the second, but was one of many racers who couldn’t hold her speed on what she said was soft snow at the bottom of the course.

Once again racing in front of a very loud, supportive hometown crowd, Maria Riesch, in fourth place after the first run, was a full second ahead at one point in the second run, but slid onto her hip and out of the race just after the halfway point.

“I was on full-attack but then it was over,” Riesch said. “There’s not much to analyze. I must just concentrate on the slalom now.”

The 2011 world championships continue on Friday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with men’s giant slalom followed by ladies slalom on Saturday and wrap up with men’s slalom on Sunday.

by Shauna Farnell
Thursday 17 February 2011