COURCHEVEL: Marlies Schild of Austria produced a storming second leg run to win the women’s World Cup slalom race here on Tuesday. In second place after the first run, 00.11 seconds behind Tanja Poutiainen, Schild went for broke and her gamble paid off as she finished 00.78 seconds overall ahead of the veteran Finn. It was the 29-year-old’s second World Cup win of the season following her slalom victory at Levy, Finland in November.
It was also the 25th World Cup win of her career, 23 of these coming in slaloms. “It all fell into place when I saw my sister ski,” explained Schild, whose younger sister Bernadette, 20, finished seventh. “When I saw her compete I was really pleased and I told myself I wanted to do as well as her and achieve the best I could.”
Poutiainen had her third slalom podium finish of the year and she is level with Schild atop the overall slalom standings. Third place in the race went to Slovenia’s Tina Naze who moved up from fourth place after the first run ahead of France’s Nastasia Noens. Poutiainen, 30, achieved her fourth podium of the season, as she shares the World Cup lead in the discipline with Schild.
