Where to Ski And Snowboard - Giant slalom gold for Germany

Giant slalom gold for Germany

25th February 2010, by Chris Gill

Rebensburg skis to gold [(c) Vancouver2010]

Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg has stormed to victory in the women’s giant slalom, moving up from sixth place at the end of her first run.

Fog was still affecting the upper part of the course on Thursday, but visibility was sufficient enough for the rescheduled race to continue. Rebensburg started 25th and put in a fine performance to take a 0.04 lead ahead of Slovenia’s Tina Maze, who had finished fifth on Wednesday. The 20-year old German took gold with a combined time of 27.11 seconds.

Maze eventually took the silver medal – her second of the Games – with Elisabeth Goergl in bronze position. Goergl takes away her second bronze medal, adding giant slalom to her success in the downhill. Austria’s Kathrin Zettel, lying in third place on Wednesday, finished fifth overall.

There had been better hopes for Julia Mancuso, following her disappointment in Wednesday’s first run. Could she move up from her 18th place? She led the pack for a while, and finished 8th overall. Britain’s Chemmy Alcott finished a disappointing 27th overall, dropping two places on her first run time. She completed her giant slalom 2.83 seconds behind the leaders.

Meanwhile, the news from Lyndsey Vonn’s crash on Wednesday is that she has broken a bone in her little finger. The American hit her hand hard against a flag in the crash, before falling into the course netting.

The last of the Alpine events of the 2010 Winter Olympics will be the men and women’s slalom events. The women’s slalom is scheduled for Friday, with the men’s races on Saturday.