January 23, 2001

Madonna di Campiglio (Italy). The sun had always tried to beat light snow fall all day when the women competed for World Championship medals in Giant Slalom in Madonna di Campiglio today. Karine Ruby from France took the gold.

Similar to the mens� race yesterday the conditions have been excellent for the womens� Giant Slalom, especially during the first run and it didn�t even hurt the riders too much when fog came up in the upper part of the course for the second run.

Karine Ruby and Isabelle Blanc got the French team a double with Ruby claiming the title and Blanc finishing second place. Ruby has been in the lead after the first run ahead of US riders Sondra van Ert and Rosey Fletcher. With the top 15 finishers from the first run starting in reverse order in the second run Ruby was the last out of the start gate who could get it and she finally did. At the first intermediate time she was already 45 hundrets of a second ahead of Blanc, sitting in the hot seat at that time, and even opened the gap to 51 hundrets at the second split. Crossing the finish line with a total time of 2:33.13 she got was only 24 hundrets ahead of Blanc finally.

"It has been quite a time that I couldn�t win an alpine title at World Championships," Ruby said, "so I�m really happy. All the hard work paid off today. I was not too confident for today since it didn�t work that well in GS after Christmas � we had quite a few Snowboard Cross races but just one Giant Slalom so I was missing a bit of training. I did some practise again last weekend and felt pretty good on Sunday so I was more confident when I got here yesterday. The course was very nice and variable but it was a bit more difficult for me in the second run since it was set pretty straight and I don�t like that a lot usually so I was afraid to crash. At the start for the second run I was a bit nervous since I new that I could easily lose a second easily if I don�t manage to keep the speed but in the end it worked fine so it feels great to be on top again."

Isabelle Blanc showed her pure sportsmen attitude again although it was very tight in the end: "I feel great with second place," she said, "I really liked the fact that I had a good result in two runs which didn�t happen that often so far this season. Karine had an amazing season and just a great first run so it�s fair that she won today although it was really close. I�m really happy about my second run because I didn�t feel a lot of pressure which I usually do at big event and it�s also pretty good for the rest of the week. This was the first podium in GS this season at that gives me a lot of confidence."

Italian Dagmar Mair unter der Eggen surprisingly finished third and could not event remember when it has been the last time for her to make the podium. "For the last two years I didn�t feel as good as I�m doing now," she said, "I don�t think I ever had such a good run like today in the second. The slope was just perfect for a GS � it was not too steep but you could go fast however. I�m so glad about the result since I also know how it feels to be in the thirties..."

Parallel Giant Slalom is scheduled for tomorrow with both men and women competing for the titles then.

FIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Madonna Jan. 23, 2001
Giant Final Ranking Women
Organizer Comitato Snowboard 2001
1 RUBY Karine FRA 01:16.3 01:16.8 02:33.1
2 BLANC Isabelle FRA 01:18.3 01:15.1 02:33.4
3 MAIR EGGEN Dagmar ITA 01:18.9 01:15.3 02:34.3
4 VAN ERT Sondra USA 01:17.7 01:16.8 02:34.6
5 RANIGLER Carmen ITA 01:18.0 01:16.9 02:34.9
6 FLETCHER Rosey USA 01:17.9 01:17.5 02:35.4
7 RIEGLER Manuela AUT 01:19.0 01:16.7 02:35.7
8 BARCLAY Melissa CAN 01:19.7 01:16.7 02:36.4
9 RENOTH Heidi GER 01:20.0 01:17.0 02:37.0
10 TRETTEL Lidia ITA 01:20.7 01:16.4 02:37.1
11 CLOUTIER Helene CAN 01:20.2 01:17.8 02:38.0
12 HOOKOM Stacia USA 01:19.6 01:18.5 02:38.1
13 MARCZULAJTIS Jagna POL 01:21.2 01:17.7 02:38.9
14 HERBERT Birgit AUT 01:20.4 01:18.9 02:39.2
15 ZEDLACHER Isabel AUT 01:20.2 01:19.1 02:39.3
16 FISCHER Sara SWE 01:20.5 01:18.8 02:39.3
17 POSCH Marion ITA 01:23.1 01:16.3 02:39.4
18 RIEGLER Claudia AUT 01:21.7 01:17.7 02:39.4
19 TIKHVINSKAJA Maria RUS 01:20.5 01:19.2 02:39.7
19 POMAGALSKI Julie FRA 01:18.9 01:20.8 02:39.7
21 WINDAHL Aasa SWE 01:20.8 01:19.0 02:39.8
22 SAUERBREIJ Nicolien NED 01:21.4 01:19.6 02:41.0
23 FARMAND Sandra GER 01:20.7 01:20.5 02:41.2
24 KALTIAINEN Anna FIN 01:20.3 01:21.7 02:42.0
25 LIVERS Nadia SUI 01:23.4 01:18.7 02:42.0
26 LOO Alexa CAN 01:23.2 01:19.6 02:42.7
27 REINAUER Katja GER 01:20.5 01:25.2 02:45.7
28 VOJTECHOVA Zuzana CZE 01:24.4 01:21.5 02:45.9
29 TAKEUCHI Tomoka JPN 01:23.9 01:22.7 02:46.6
30 ELSTEROVA Petra CZE 01:25.1 01:22.5 02:47.6
31 IIDA Ran JPN 01:24.7 01:23.1 02:47.8
32 KUKUCZ Malgorzata POL 01:25.8 01:22.2 02:48.0
33 HASEGAWA Miho JPN 01:25.0 01:23.1 02:48.1
34 RUOTSALAINEN Ilona FIN 01:26.3 01:22.2 02:48.4
35 BOERMA Marcella NED 01:24.6 01:24.3 02:48.9
36 YANETANI Eri JPN 01:24.7 01:25.6 02:50.3
37 KACAFURA Damjana SLO 01:26.4 01:24.0 02:50.4
38 CLARK RIBEIRO Isabel BRA 01:28.2 01:24.8
39 CHARLES Michelle CAN 01:24.6 01:28.5 02:53.2
40 DEMETER Silvia RUM 01:25.3 01:31.9 02:57.3
41 LOVASZ Laura HUN 01:26.6 01:31.2 02:57.8
42 TSUKAMOTO Meiko JPN 01:30.4 01:28.5 02:58.9
43 VAVRUSKOVA Nikola CZE 01:26.3 01:36.4 03:02.7
44 SHAW Johanna AUS 01:29.9 01:33.3 03:03.2
45 FORMO Birgitte NOR 01:36.4 01:34.2 03:10.6
46 ZAIMI Evin JUG 01:35.2 01:36.5 03:11.7
47 DIMOVA Maria Guergu. BUL 01:29.0 01:46.4
48 VOINESCU Diana RUM 01:48.6 01:38.3 03:27.0
49 SERINA Eden PHI 01:53.0 01:58.1 03:51.2
50 TEODORESCU Andreea RUM 01:56.8 01:58.4 03:55.2
51 SARIAS Niina FIN 01:27.6 DNF
52 KUVAJA Mari FIN 01:31.0 DNF
53 MIHNEVICI Alina RUM 01:31.6 DNF NID
1244704 Nathalie FRA DNF ROS
1149256 Margherita ITA DNF