Kostelic Impressive

[TomB]

ASPEN, Colo. (AP-CP) - Figuring she had no chance of catching the leader, Finland's Tanja Poutiainen charged down the hill without fear.

Poutiainen made up more than a half-second on her second run for a World Cup victory Friday, edging Sweden's Anja Paerson by .09 seconds in a giant slalom. It was her second World Cup victory.



''At the start of the second run, I really didn't think I'd win today,'' Poutiainen said. ''Full attack was the only way for me to go today.''





Trailing Croatia's Janica Kostelic by .6 seconds after her first run, Poutiainen didn't hold back on her second run at Aspen Mountain. She finished with a two-run total of two minutes, 12.49 seconds at the World Cup's only U.S. stop for women, adding the giant slalom title to her win in a slalom last February in Finland.



''I feel very happy about it,'' said Poutiainen, who finished second to Paerson in the World Cup season opener in Austria on Oct. 23. ''It's a big step for me.''



Allison Forsyth of Nanaimo, B.C., was fifth after the opening run, but dropped to 11th after the second time down the course, finishing with a time of 2:14.99.



Kostelic, a two-time World Cup overall champion who won three gold medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, appeared to be headed toward her first victory in nearly two years with a stellar first run.



Fighting through driving snow and choppy conditions, Kostelic finished the first run in 1:05.92 in just her second race in 19 months after having her thyroid gland removed and several knee surgeries.



But with visibility much better and the course running smoother, Kostelic couldn't keep up on the second run with Poutiainen and Paerson. Skiing last on the second run, Kostelic went wide on one of the final turns to finish third overall.



''I'm not in any hurry,'' Kostelic said. ''I just came back and there's a lot of time left.''



Paerson appears to have picked up where she left off last year, when she won the giant slalom and slalom season titles. She won the giant slalom in the season opener in Austria last month by .32 seconds and is tied with Poutiainen for the early season overall points lead with 180.



''I really thought I had it, but she (Poutiainen) was skiing great,'' Paerson said.

[Sasha]

Janica, the Snow Queen! Bravo!

[Sasha]

Croatia's Janica Kostelic won her first World Cup race in nearly two years, charging through steady snow and choppy conditions in Aspen, Colo., to beat Anja Paerson by more than a second yesterday in this season's first World Cup slalom.

Kostelic was the world's best female skier before being beset by injuries the last two years. A two-time World Cup overall champion and the only Alpine skier to win four medals in one Olympic Games - three golds and one silver at Salt Lake City in 2002 - Kostelic had four knee surgeries in five months in 2003 and had to have her thyroid gland removed, causing her to miss all of last season.

Kostelic returned after a 19-month layoff to finish eighth in the World Cup opener in Austria on Oct. 23 and was third in the giant slalom Friday in Aspen.