HAFJELL, Norway -- Maria Jose Rienda Contreras of Spain won
a World Cup giant slalom Sunday with an impressive second run,
preventing Anja Paerson of Sweden from clinching the season title
in the event.
Racing in excellent conditions under sunny skies, Rienda
Contreras finished the two runs in 2 minutes, 22.64 seconds on the
Olympic hill.
"It was a very important victory,'' Rienda Contreras said.
"Now the giant slalom cup will be decided in the very last race
and I have the chance to win it.''
Nicole Hosp of Austria, winner of one giant slalom this season,
finished second, 0.25 behind. Olympic silver medalist Tanja
Poutiainen of Finland, who led by nearly half a second after the
first run, dropped to third, 0.52 behind.
Julia Mancuso, the Olympic GS champion from the United States,
was 22nd of 29 finishers.
Paerson, skiing with sore knees, placed fifth, 0.79 back, on the
same hill where she clinched her first World Cup GS title three
years ago. She would have needed to finish ahead of Rienda
Contreras on Sunday to do it again.
With one race left in the World Cup Finals at Are, Sweden, in
two weeks, Contreras trails Paerson by 45 points in the GS
standings.
This was Rienda Contrera's fourth giant slalom victory of the
season. She finished 13th in the event at last month's Turin Games.
"I was very disappointed after the Olympics,'' Rienda Contreras
said. "But this win gave me a lot of confidence and I'm looking
forward to the battle against Anja in Sweden. It was great to prove
today that I still belong among the best in the giant slalom.''
Michaela Dorfmeister, the two-time Olympic champion from
Austria, was 0.65 back in fourth place -- her best GS finish of the
season. Dorfmeister, who won the Olympic downhill and super-G gold
medals, is retiring at the end of the season.
Janica Kostelic of Croatia placed sixth to retain her lead over
two-time defending champion Paerson in the overall standings.
Two slaloms are scheduled next weekend at Levi, Finland, before
the season-ending races in Sweden.