MARIBOR, Slovenia — Tina Maze of Slovenia won a World Cup giant slalom for the third time this season yesterday while Lindsey Kildow of Vail, Colo., enjoyed her best result in the event by finishing ninth.

Kildow, a speed specialist, had failed to complete any of her three previous giant slaloms this season. She has won a downhill in Lake Louise, Alberta.

"It was a big step forward — obviously one of the biggest days of my career as far as my technical skills," Kildow said. "Maybe it will give me a push."

Before fans that waved banners with her picture, Maze finished her two runs in 2 minutes, 16.36 seconds for her fourth career title. She was 0.22 seconds ahead of Italy's Karen Putzer on a cold and sunny day. Germany's Martina Ertl was third in 2:17.29.

Julia Mancuso of the Olympic Valley, Calif., shared fifth place with Nicole Hosp of Austria.

Kildow's ninth-place finish qualified her for the worlds in the giant slalom, but she probably won't enter that event.

"I doubt it, but you never know," Kildow said. "Obviously I won't win it."

The world championships start Friday in Santa Caterina Valfurva, Italy.

Finland's Tanja Poutiainen, the giant slalom and overall leader, was seventh.

Poutiainen has 842 points in the overall standings. Austria's Renate Goetschl is second at 804 and Croatia's Janica Kostelic is third at 799. Kildow climbed to sixth at 667.

Maze could hear the crowd even before she started her run down the Goldenfox slope.

"I almost froze up," she said. "Then I said, 'Let's go, Tina. Let's show them a good race.' I've been training here since I was a young child. This is very special."

Maze failed to finish races earlier in her career but is gaining confidence for the worlds.

"If I can overcome all the pressures and fears till now, then I can do well in the future," she said.

Men's downhill in Austria postponed

KITZBUEHEL, Austria — Bode Miller's chance for a sweep of five events in a season ended yesterday when a World Cup men's downhill was postponed because of wet snow, forcing the cancellation of the combined.

The downhill will be rescheduled in Kvitfjell, Norway, the International Ski Federation said. The combined adds times from downhill and slalom races.

There are two combined events on the World Cup schedule this season. The other, a new version of the competition, was held last weekend in Wengen, Switzerland.

In December, Miller won a slalom for a victory in all four disciplines — slalom, giant slalom, super-giant slalom and downhill. The Franconia, N.H., skier did so in a span of 16 days.

Miller leads the overall World Cup standings with 1,048 points, with Austria's Benjamin Raich next at 850.

Miller has completed one slalom in five attempts this season, the race he won in Sestriere, Italy.

"Based on Bode's performance in the slalom and the terrible snow conditions here, I can't say it's a big loss," U.S. men's coach Phil McNichol said of the postponement.

Snow, fog and rain wiped out Friday's Super-G. The Super-G tentatively has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

Notes

• Jennifer Rodriguez of Miami set personal bests in the 500 and 1,000 meters and led the overall standings after the first day of the long-track World Sprint Speedskating Championships in Kearns, Utah. Rodriguez's times were 37.96 seconds for the 500 and 1:14.05 for the 1,000.

Sprint scoring is based on points, which are a combination of the time for the 500 and 1,000 time divided by two. Skaters race both distances again today to determine the world sprint titles.

Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon, a four-time world sprint champion, led the men.

• Skiers Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic and Kristin Steira of Norway recorded their first World Cup victories of the season, capturing double pursuit cross-country events in Pragelato, Italy, at a venue that will be used for the 2006 Olympics.

• Finnish ski-jumper Janne Ahonen soared to a record 12th victory of the World Cup season by winning in Titisee-Neustadt, Germany. It was the 16th event of the season. Ahonen missed the previous two because of illness.

• Kati Wilhelm of Germany won the women's 7.5-kilometer sprint at a World Cup biathlon meet in Anterselva, Italy. Wilhelm, who was faultless in shooting, completed the race in 22 minutes, 7.6 seconds.

• Andy Finch of Fresno, Calif., and Kelly Clark of Mount Snow, Vt., won halfpipe titles for the United States at snowboarding's European Open in Laax, Switzerland.

• The Swiss team of Martin Annen and Beat Hefti took a men's World Cup two-man bobsled race in Cesana Pariol, Italy.

• Italy's Christian Oberstolz and Patric Gruber captured a luge doubles race in Winterberg, Germany, for their first victory this season, giving them the overall World Cup lead with one event remaining.

In women's singles, Sylke Otto of Germany captured a record 34th career World Cup victory.