Kathrin Zettel

LEVI, Finland (Reuters) - Germany's Maria Riesch edged out arch-rival Lindsey Vonn to win the season's opening women's World Cup slalom in Levi on Saturday. World champion Riesch posted a combined time of one minute 48.71 seconds in her favorite discipline, 0.08 ahead of the American Vonn. Local favorite Tanja Poutiainen, winner of the opening giant slalom in Soelden last month, was third, 1.16 adrift, while Riesch's sister Susanne was fourth. "Whatever people might think, this is kind of a surprise for me because slalom is the discipline in which I felt the worst in training, said Riesch, who took her debut slalom win ... Read Full Story

Maria Riesch of Germany won the opening women's World Cup slalom Saturday, edging Lindsey Vonn of the United States by 0.08 seconds. Riesch, the defending world slalom champion, finished with a two-run time of 1 minute, 48.71 seconds on the Black Course at the World Cup circuit's northernmost venue above the Arctic Circle. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was 1.16 behind in third place and kept the overall World Cup lead. Poutiainen won the opening giant slalom race of the season last month in Austria. Vonn is coming off her second consecutive overall title last season, as well as winning the downhill and super-G titles. ... Read Full Story

Former slalom champion Marlies Schild will return to the World Cup circuit on Saturday, 13 months after breaking her left leg. The 28-year-old Schild will start in the first slalom race of the season in Levi, Finland, Austria women's head coach Herbert Mandl said Wednesday. However, world super-combi champion Kathrin Zettel had been ruled out because of illness, Mandl said. Schild broke her left lower leg in a crash prior to last year's season-opening races in Soelden. She was back on skis for the first time in July. Schild has won 20 World Cup races and took the 2007 and '08 slalom titles as ... Read Full Story

Lindsey Vonn hasn't missed a beat in her risky switch of ski manufacturers entering an Olympic year. Ted Ligety, meanwhile, has picked up right where he left off before injuring his right knee at the end of last season. Vonn finished a respectable ninth in her worst event — giant slalom — to open the World Cup season Saturday and Ligety placed second in the men's GS on Sunday behind Swiss veteran Didier Cuche. Vonn, the two-time defending overall World Cup champion, switched from Rossignol to Head in the offseason when the financially struggling French company asked its athletes to accept 50 percent cuts ... Read Full Story

SOELDEN, Austria (Reuters) - Finn Tanja Poutiainen beat local favorite Kathrin Zettel by the slimmest of margins to spoil the show for Austria in the opening giant slalom of the season on Saturday. Poutiainen won in a combined time of two minutes 24.96 seconds, leaving last year's winner Zettel just 0.01 adrift. Italy's Denise Karbon, fastest in the first run, faltered in the afternoon leg to finish third, 0.32 behind. To add to the Austrian team's woes, the first women's race of the season was marred by a nasty looking knee injury suffered by Nicole Hosp. The 2007 World Cup winner crashed in the ... Read Full Story