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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 10:54 a.m., Saturday, November 29, 2008

Skiing: France's Tessa Worley wins giant slalom

Associated Press

ASPEN, Colo. — France's Tessa Worley overcame driving snow and poor visibility today to win a giant slalom at the Aspen Winternational for her first World Cup victory.

Worley, whose previous best was fifth place, was followed by Tanja Poutiainen of Finland and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria.

Lindsey Vonn of the United States was fourth, turning in a strong effort after her slalom victory in Finland despite banging her knee in training two weeks ago.

Worley completed the second run over the 45-gate course in 1:08:99, finishing with a combined time of 2:12.86. Poutiainen was next in 2:13.14, with Goergl at 2:13.57 and Vonn at 2:13.73.

Denise Karbon of Italy had the lead after the first run but fell during the next run. She was able to get up and finish, but she came in 15th.

The conditions took a toll all day. Seventeen of the 61 competitors did not finish the initial run, including Maria Jose Rienda of Spain and Chiara Costazza of Italy. They were taken off the course on a toboggan for medical evaluation, and there was no official word on their injuries.

Rienda went down about halfway through the course when her left knee appeared to buckle. Costazza took a spill when she caught a ski on one of the early gates.

Anne-Sophie Barthet of France did not start.

The Aspen Winternational concludes Sunday with a slalom.