(ATR) Snow, fog and rain along the giant slalom course at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center couldn’t slow down Tina Maze of Slovenia, who won her second gold medal of the Sochi Olympics.
"As you see, the weather is playing games with us," said Maze. "I love it when it is working out fine."
This time, Maze didn’t have to share the gold like she did in the downhill, when she and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland finished in an unprecedented tie.
Maze is the first female alpine skier to accomplish the double since Marie-Theres Nadig of Switzerland in 1972 and only the second overall.
Maze, who won the silver in Vancouver in giant slalom, finished with a combined time after two runs of 2 minutes, 36.87 seconds. She was first after the first run, but had only the 11th-fastest second run.
"I know I have to risk everything in the first run and then I just fight and come back as fast as I could in the second run, so it was enough for me," Maze said.
Anna Fenninger of Austria, who skied with her super G gold medal in her pocket, was second in 2:36.94, while defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third in 2:37.14.
Because of the weather, the first giant slalom run started at 9:30 a.m. instead of 11 a.m., and the second run was pushed up to 1 p.m. from its original time of 2:30 p.m. Low visibility at the top delayed the start by 14 minutes.
Maze said she was inspired between runs by watching the men’s hockey team from Slovenia dominate Austria.
"The guys were playing so good, and they just gave me this will to show even more," she said. "It’s great energy in the team. I came here with five chances to win a medal and I missed combined and super G by four-hundredths. And I know it will turn in my way today or tomorrow or after tomorrow. Life is like that. I just wanted to ski good."
Mikaela Shiffrin, the 18-year-old phenom from the United States, was fifth, half a second behind Maze and 0.23 out of third place.
"It was a pretty spectacular day, actually," Shiffrin said. "I mean, it’s not sunny, but on the other hand, who gets to race their first Olympics in rain this bad when there’s still snow on the ground, right?"
Shiffrin is the favorite for Friday’s slalom. She leads the World Cup standings and won the World Championship last year in slalom as well as the World Cup crystal globe.
"Well, I wanted a gold," Shiffrin said of the giant slalom. "But I think this was meant to happen and it’s something I’m going to learn from.
"And the next Olympics I go to, I’m sure as heck not getting fifth."
A total of 90 racers from 48 NOCs competed.
"Everyone's pretty soaked through," said U.S. racer Megan McJames. "At the top it's snowing and the bottom is raining, so that makes it different snow conditions the whole way down. You try to go for it and be fearless as much as possible."
The assembled media were also soaked and nearly as fearless. They interviewed McJames in the mixed zone while being pelted with hail.
Written by Karen Rosen
Homepage photo: Getty Images
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