Women's Giant Slalom
Austria's Michaela Dorfmeister won her fourth World Cup GS this season after a tough fight against Italy's Karen Putzer, winner in the super G in St. Moritz last month.

	Dorfmeister

Putzer enjoyed the flat yet icy slope at Berchtesgaden and led the first run by an nice advantage of 35/100 of a second over Dorfmeister, last week's winner in Maribor, Slovenia. But the tall and powerful Austrian gained such great confidence after her excellent season start, she went for it in the second run, winning the sixth World Cup race of her career by 2/100.

Germany's Martina Ertl, a former GS World Cup Champion, achieved her best result of the season, coming in 3rd at 26/100 and beating two other Austrians and Switzerland's Sonja Nef. Several top favorites had major problems on this easy German slope. Austria's Anita Wachter didn't even qualify for the second run and both Renate Goetschl or Isolde Kostner skied out of the first run, giving Dorfmeister a superb opportunity to increase her lead in the Overall World Cup standings.

"I'm better on steeper slopes but I enjoy competing on this icy course, which helped me to attack with my usual momentum..." — Michaela Dorfmeister (AUT)

Three US skiers scored points today. The impressive Sarah Schleper took 11th, only 5/100 behind her second consecutive top-10 finish. Kristina Koznick, who took 15th at Maribor, finished 18th, right before teammate Caroline Lalive, 19th.

Now the dominating GS skier of the season, Dorfmeister expressed her surprise and happiness with a somersault in the finish area after Putzer's second run. "I'm better on steeper slopes but I enjoy competing on this icy course, which helped me to attack with my usual momentum," she said after the race. "I felt so sure of my chances before the second run that I had no problem to take a maximum of risks in the afternoon. It was really exciting. Now I'm looking ahead to get back my best rhythm also in the speed events. I aim for a podium in the coming weekends. So far I don't care too much about my chances in the various World Cup standings. There are still so many races in front of us."

	Putzer

Karen Putzer didn't make any major mistakes in the second run and was in the lead at mid-course, but she lost it all on the last flat section where she didn't glide as fast as her rival, who has a 15kg advantage. "A top-3 finish in any event is always fine, but it's tough to loose my first GS by such a small margin," said Putzer. "I will work on my gliding."

Sarah Schleper, who started in 45th position in the first run, was again one of the fastest in the afternoon after a solid first run. Her 7th place in Maribor has obviously boosted her morale and she is now fighting for regular top-10 finishes in both technical specialties. Also progressing in GS is Kristina Koznick, who needs these kinds of results to remain focused and motivated in slalom. She will try to get back among the top-10 in tomorrow's race.

The favorites for Sunday's slalom are the same top five skiers from Maribor. On this icy slope, Norway's Trine Bakke, who won at Maribor, should be difficult to beat. Also fighting for a place on the podium are Spela Pretnar from Slovenia, Christel Saioni from France, Austria's Sabine Egger and Sweden's Anja Paerson.

— Manučle Joyce, MountainZone.com Correspondent