Poutiainen narrowly wins opening ski race

Finland's Tanja Poutiainen, center, winner of an alpine ski, women's World Cup giant slalom race, celebrates on the podium with second placed Austria's Kathrin Zettel, left, and third placed Italy's Denise Karbon, in Soelden, Austria on October 24. (AP Photo)

SOELDEN, October 24 (AP): Tanja Poutiainen of Finland won the opening race of the ski season by the smallest of margins Saturday, edging Kathrin Zettel of Austria by just one one-hundreth of a second in the giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier.  Poutiainen was trailing Zettel at the final checkpoint but used her experience to make up time on the flatter bottom section, clocking a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 24.96 seconds for her ninth career victory.  "I know what racing is about and that helps in the first race," said the Finn, who is beginning her 12th season. "It's a good way to start and know that everything is working and you've done the right training."
Opening-run leader Denise Karbon finished third, 0.32 back, and fellow Italian Manuela Moelgg, who stood second after the morning leg, fell in her second trip down.  "I'm not satisfied with my second run," Karbon said. "I didn't ski so smooth. I'm not really ready for these conditions but it's an OK start."
Two-time defending overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn placed ninth. American teammate Julia Mancuso, the Olympic giant slalom champion, fell shortly into her second run after placing 21st in the opening leg.  Giant slalom is the only discipline Vonn has not won in, and this marked her first race since switching ski brands from Rossignol to Head in the offseason. The Minnesota native was skiing well on the top section but then lost more than half a second when she emerged from shadows covering the course's midsection in her second descent.  "I don't think any of the top girls skied their best," Poutiainen said. "It was very tough with the shadows. You couldn't really see the bumps."
Poutiainen won her second World Cup giant slalom title last season and had finished second twice in Soelden - including last year - to go with two other top-five results.  "Soelden has always been a really good race for me. I've led a few times before but was never able to pull it all the way down to the finish," the Finn said. "I'm a racer who likes icy conditions and steep hills, so this is everything I like."  Poutiainen took silver behind Mancuso in giant slalom at the 2006 Turin Games and has won two silvers and two bronzes at world championships.  "I like the sport and I like to train and I also have some things I still want to win, like a gold medal," Poutiainen said, looking ahead to the Vancouver Olympics in February.
Tina of Slovenia placed fourth and two Swedes - Maria Pietilae-Holmner and two-time overall champion Anja Paerson - were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Another former overall winner, Nicole Hosp, fell in the opening leg and injured her right knee. She was airlifted to a local hospital in Innsbruck where she had ligament surgery. The Austrian team said she would miss the rest of the season.
The Rettenbach is one of the steepest courses on the women's circuit. It begins with a sharp pitch, then flattens out down the glacier to the finish arena - better known as the Gletscher Stadion (glacier stadium) - where 11,000 fans awaited the skiers.  The start of each run was pushed back 30 minutes so organizers could clear 10 centimeters (four inches) of freshly fallen snow off the course in the morning.  Underneath the fresh snow conditions were challenging.  "I think everyone had a difficult go at it this morning," Vonn said. "It was pretty rough conditions. It was going from grippy ice to sheer ice to big ice chunks. It was hard to get the feeling for the snow and the terrain."
Vonn's best finish in giant slalom was fourth in Aspen, Colorado, last season.  A men's giant slalom is scheduled for Sunday on the Rettenbach, then the circuit resumes on Poutiainen's home course in Levi, Finland, with men's and women's slalom races Nov. 14-15.  "We've only been training giant slalom the last couple weeks, so now I have to find my slalom skis," Poutiainen said.