Winter Sports
Notebook: Skier Kjus ends 9-year drought in giant slalom

By The Associated Press

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES Lasse Kjus of Norway won the men's World Cup giant-slalom event yesterday in Beaver Creek, Colo. Two of his 17 career wins in World Cup competition are in the giant slalom.

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BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Norwegian skier Lasse Kjus captured his first World Cup giant slalom since 1995 yesterday, winning in 2 minutes, 29.82 seconds to edge Hermann Maier of Austria by nearly a half-second.

Maier, the defending World Cup overall champion, was second in 2:30.27 with countryman Benjamin Raich finishing third in 2:30.46.

World Cup leader Bode Miller, looking to become the United States' first overall champion since Yakima's Phil Mahre in 1983, crashed in his first run. Miller, the reigning world and World Cup giant-slalom champion, had won four of the first five races, including a downhill Friday.

Kjus has 17 World Cup wins in his career, two in the giant slalom. He was the gold medalist in the giant slalom at the 1999 world championships in Colorado.

"I have lots of good memories of Beaver Creek and Vail," he said. "I skied my best giant-slalom run here, the first run in '99."

Erik Schlopy of Park City, Utah, finished sixth.

Germany's Gerg takes women's downhill

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Hilde Gerg of Germany captured a women's World Cup downhill in heavy snow and fog, winning in 1 minute, 36.01 seconds.

Renate Goetschl of Austria, last year's downhill champion, was second in 1:36.16 in the second downhill of the season for women.

Carole Montillet-Carles of France was third in 1:36.20.
 
Lindsey Kildow, who won Friday's race, was the top American. She finished in fifth place. Teammate Caroline Lalive was ninth.

Gerg, who finished second in last year's overall downhill standings, has finished among the top three five times at Lake Louise and twice been a winner.

A women's super-giant slalom is scheduled for today.

Ohno earns silver

SAGUENAY, Quebec — Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle finished second in the 500-meter final at a World Cup short-track speedskating competition.

Canada's Mathieu Turcotte won the gold in 42.021 seconds. Ohno's time was 42.427.

Ohno won the 1,500-meter final Friday.

Notes

• Norwegians Marit Bjorgen and Tor Arne Hetland won World Cup cross-country sprint races in Bern, Switzerland. Bjorgen took the women's 800-meter freestyle, and Hetland triumphed in the men's 1.35-kilometer freestyle.

• Janne Ahonen of Finland won his third straight World Cup ski-jumping competition, collecting 281.5 points on two jumps in Trondheim, Norway, for his 21st career win.

Also in Trondheim, Germany's Ronny Ackermann captured his second Nordic-combined event of the season, edging Finland's Hannu Manninen.

• Canada's Jeremy Wotherspoon and world-record holder Hiroyasu Shimizu of Japan tied for first place in a World Cup long-track speedskating race, finishing 500 meters in 35.20 seconds in Nagano, Japan.

• In Lake Placid, N.Y., Barbara Niedernhuber won her first luge event in six years and extended Germany's winning streak in women's World Cup competition to 51 events.

Niedernhuber, the runner-up at the world championships and a silver medalist at the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, turned in a second run of 44.773 seconds, the fastest of the competition.