WHISTLER, B.C. - In sugary, spring snow conditions and another thick layer of fog, 20-year-old world juniors champion Viktoria Rebensburg was the woman who put the fastest line down in the two-day Olympic giant slalom race at Whistler.
Rebensburg, who said an Olympic gold far and away outdoes the glory that came with winning the world juniors GS and super G titles last season, was in sixth place 0.35 seconds out of the lead when the race was postponed until Thursday morning. She won with a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 27.11 seconds.
Tina Maze, becoming the greatest Olympic alpine racer to ever come out of Slovenia with two silver medals, was just 0.04 seconds behind and Olympic downhill bronze medalist Elisabeth Goergl, who wasn't even certain she'd be granted the chance to race in the GS, walked away with another bronze, 0.14 seconds back.
"It was tough to wait," Rebensburg said about the split-day race format. "Yesterday evening, I was lying in bed thinking tomorrow is the second run. 'Keep cool. Keep calm. Ski good.' In the end, I think it was good for me."
Maze, who said her small village of Crna (population roughy 2,000) was exploding with glee at her success.
"For sure in my village - with the most success for Slovenia, it was crazy today," Maze said. "I heard the crowd from this small bar where we spend a lot of time. It was great to hear from them. It's a big success for me and my coutnry. I did a good result in super G which I didn't expect so much. I was looking for a medal in GS, so I was happy I could ski so good and win a medal in my strong discipline."
Maze she said she came into the Games bracing herself for the ever-transfomring Whistler weather. For many racers, the changing conditions have held them back from their usual podium success.
"The snow was totally different from yesterday until now," said Anja Paerson, who ended up 22nd, saying any advantage she had from her father, Anders Paerson setting the course in the second run was overpowered by unpredictable snow. "This Olympics has been really tough on the athletes. We really have to fight hard to get the feeling right in every run. Everything is just really different every time we come out onto the snow. With our material, our line ... it's really hard to know exactly what to do."
Indeed, several of the World Cup's top guns in giant slalom - world champion Kathrin Hoelzl, Kathrin Zettel, Tanja Poutiainen - couldn't put it together in the Olympic race, though it was Italian GS aficionado Denise Karbon, starting first Thursday after her 30th place finish Wednesday, who put down the fastest second run (1:11.15).
Maria Riesch was in striking distance, in sixth place and just under a half a second out before coming into Thursday's second run. She ended up 10th, saying the snow was unlike anything she's ever seen on any race hill on the World Cup.
"The snow is crazy soft," she said. "You can't really compare it to normal winter snow. I had a lot of trouble with it."
Paerson, who will be defending her gold from Torino in Friday's slalom race, anticipates more challenging conditions for the final women's race. Still feeling numbness in her body and pain from her enormous crash in the Olympic downhill, Paerson said she will do her best to go for another medal following up on her comeback bronze performance in the super-combined last week.
"It's going to be hard for slalom - salted snow probably, that snow we just do in the spring and summer. It's going to be hard to know the timing with the skis," she said. "You really need an early start number for the first run for it to hold up. I just have to try to charge and be tough and not let the course stop me. Maybe I can get a medal."
- by Shauna Farnell
