PR: Greenwood Wins Men's First of Snowboard Season
(November 14, 1997)

TIGNES, France -- Former FIS world champion Jeff Greenwood (Granby, Conn.) sizzled through his second run Friday to win the opening men's giant slalom of the FIS Grundig World Cup schedule for the season in which snowboarding becomes an official Olympic sport. A day earlier, Rosey Fletcher (Girdwood, Alaska) led U.S. riders by finishing fifth in the women's opener.

Greenwood, who captured the GS gold medal at the inaugural FIS World Championships in 1996, was second in the first run behind Nicholas Conte of France. However, Greenwood overtook him on the second run to win with a combined time of 2:06.96. Conte, GS World Cup champion for the International Snowboard Federation, finished second with FIS world champion Thomas Prugger of Italy third.

Chris Klug (Aspen, Colo.) was third in the morning run but had problems on his second ride and dropped to seventh place with Jeff Archibald (Salt Lake City) 11th in the field of 121 riders. The GS was run in bright sunshine on machine-made snow below the Tignes Glacier; the men's halfpipe Saturday and the women's HP Sunday are set for the glacier.

"Jeff's first run was good, especially on the bottom pitch. And his second run was really clean, although he went down on his chest briefly at the top of the final pitch," U.S. Coach Peter Foley said. "He really rode the pitch fast both times. Conte rode the top well on his second run but he kinda backed off on the pitch."

Coach Rob Roy was pleased with Klug's run, noting, "This is his second season back after taking a year off [with an ankle injury in 1996]. He rode the flats really well -- he was one of the fastest -- but he was a little conservative on the pitch in his second ... Still, he knows he's close and in this kind of competitive field, it's an outstanding start for his season."

The men's GS followed the women's giant slalom Thursday, won by reigning World Cup champion Karine Ruby of France. The women's field attracted 87 riders, an indication of the huge fields expected for the first half of the season as riders from the ISF tour seek to do well in events organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS), which has the Olympic franchise for snowboarding.

Two American riders had top-10 results in the women's opener as Fletcher was fifth with Lisa Kosglow (Boise, Idaho) ninth. Leslee Olson (Bend, Ore.) was 11th.

Final Results :Giant Slalom Results