Women's Giant Slalom
Sonja Nef calls herself a night bird — the soon-to-be 28-year-old Swiss slalom dancer likes to party when the day is over, but she also likes to compete under the lights. In February 1996, Nef celebrated her first World Cup victory in Italy's Sestriere, in the first women's night slalom.

	Nef

She always skied well in Are, the largest Scandinavian ski resort, situated in the middle of Sweden. (It's a one-hour drive west of Oestersund but only the way the Swedes drive here in winter on the icy roads.) So she was happy that Are started organizing night GS races in 1998.

After accumulating a series of outstanding results here since 1997 — she placed 4th, 3rd and 2nd — Nef finally added a 1st place to her impressive collection today, beating another top-specialist, Austria's veteran Anita Wachter, by over a second. Watcher, a two-time winner in Are, returned to the podium almost two months after her last victory in Lienz.

Another Austrian, Brigitte Obermoser, reached her first World Cup podium tonight, coming in 3rd ahead of two favorites: Birgit Heeb from Liechtenstein and Anna Ottosson from Sweden, the winner from Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Obermoser's teammate, Michaela Dorfmeister, didn't enjoy tonight's race, the second night race of the season. Dorfmeister, who has won four giant slaloms this winter, skied out in the middle of the first run while attacking the course with her usual determination. It was a bad move, since her teammate and good friend Renate Goetschl finished 6th and took the lead in the Overall standings by six points. Yet, the battle is far from being over, with four more weeks or racing. The other contenders for the Overall title were not successful, either. Italy's Isolde Kostner didn't qualify for the second run and France's Regine Cavagnoud finished 24th.

In the giant slalom World Cup standings, Sonja Nef reduced the gap from 178 to 78 points, but her chances of clinching the Crystal Globe depend mostly on whether the FIS (International Ski Federation) will reschedule the technical events cancelled last month at Zwiesel. If only one giant slalom is to be raced at Bormio, a 12th place could be enough for Dorfmeister to stay out of reach.

"I scored one of my first top-10 results here in 1995 and since then I feel confident when I stand at the start...." — Sonja Nef (SUI)

Some competitors, like the former leader in the slalom standings Trine Bakke (NOR), or America's Kristina Koznick, desperately hope for a positive decision in this matter, but their chances are slim. There is no serious candidate for these two races at the moment and the World Cup program is pretty tight now, with several more speed events in the coming weeks in Innsbruck, Austria, and Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

With three skiers classified among the top-20, the US Ski Team has achieved a solid team performance. Koznick equaled her best result in that event, placing 13th — right where she ended up in Serre Chevalier in December. But this is not enough to qualify her for the finals at Bormio in that event — she is 27th in the standings right now. Sarah Schlepper also missed the cut, finishing only 17th tonight. She needed twenty more points to make it to the finals. Caroline Lalive, 15th tonight, is 40th in the GS standings.

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Sonja Nef has an angelic smile, but she fights like a devil to reach her goals. Life has not been easy for the Swiss skier, plagued by a series of injuries at the start of her career. She underwent surgery several times from 1989 to 1996 after tearing ligaments in her right knee. It's almost a wonder that she's able to ski, but she was finally saved by a Swiss specialist who found unusual ways to treat her damaged ligaments — including regular injections of shark oil to moisturize them.

Nef faced another tough moment in February 1996, when she crashed in the second leg of the giant slalom during the World Championships in Sierra Nevada, after leading the first run. Italy's Deborah Compagnoni eventually won that race, which haunted Nef for a long time.

After a disappointing 1997 season, Nef hired a private trainer. She felt the need to set her own pace during snow training, to avoid overworking her injured knee. At first, she paid herself for the extra cost, before finding an arrangement with her ski Federation. This technical adviser still helps her, but works closer now with the other Swiss trainers. Another expert, her fiance, also provides excellent technical support before and during the season — he is a trainer on the Austrian men's team.

Last October, Nef finally won her first giant slalom at Tignes and definitely closed a disappointing chapter in her career. She caught pneumonia during the US races in Colorado and that kept her down for a while, but she returned to the podium in January in Maribor. But she didn't perform so well in the following races and skied out in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

	Watcher

Today, she felt ready for another strong comeback at this Swedish resort, where she has always had good luck.

"I scored one of my first top-10 results here in 1995 and since then I feel confident when I stand at the start," she said after the race. "Normally, I don't enjoy this kind of flat slope, but here I have no problem. I feel comfortable, too, with the snow, which is often pretty slick. You have to ski with great precision to do well. I had a controlled run in the shaky upper part of the course in the second run, but I fully attacked at the bottom of the slope. It's great to win again and now I hope that the FIS will replace the race from Zwiesel."

Kristina Koznick, who regained part of her momentum last week after placing 4th in Santa Caterina, agrees.

"It's just too bad that the season is almost over," she said. "I finally got my act together. I enjoy competing in GS too — it's fun and makes sense at the same time. It's good for my basic technique and it also helps me to stay in a good rhythm. Racing only slalom was not enough — and I feel able to progress in GS too."

The next women's race, a two-run-downhill, is planned for Saturday. The last training run will take place on Friday morning.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent