Austria's Kathrin Zettel captured the season-opening World Cup giant slalom Saturday in Soelden, Austria.
Zettel posted the fastest time in the second of the two runs to win with a combined time of two minutes, 22.99 seconds.
The victory was Zettel's fourth on the World Cup circuit, and it marked the first time since 2002 that an Austrian racer won the traditional opening race on the Rettenbach glacier.
First-run leader Tanja Poutiainen of Finland finished second, a substantial 0.98 seconds behind Zettel.
Austria's Andrea Fischbacher was third, 1.48 seconds behind, and defending World Cup giant slalom champion Denise Karbon of Italy was fourth, trailing Zettel by 1.51.
Defending World Cup overall champ Lindsey Vonn of the United States finished ninth.
Marie-Pier Prefontaine of St-Sauveur, Que., Emilie Desforges of Montreal and Genevieve Simard of Val Morin, Que., all failed to advance past the first run.
The season-opening men's giant slalom is set for Sunday at the same venue.
With files from the Associated PressCalgary runner dies in Kananaskis relay race
A Calgary runner collapsed and died after running his portion of a relay race in Kananaskis Saturday.
Canada needs wins as World Cup qualifying resumes
Canada's national soccer team has its work cut out for itself if it is to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, starting with Saturday's crucial road game against Honduras (9:30 p.m. ET).
Magic manage to hold off Raptors in Game 2
Dwight Howard had 29 points and 20 rebounds as the Orlando Magic held on to beat the Toronto Raptors 104-103 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final on Tuesday night.
Contact Us About Us HomeThursday, January 8th, 2009