Gold surprise
February 25, 2010
Viktoria Rebensburg came out on top in the women's giant slalom on Thursday in Vancouver, seizing her first Olympic gold medal. The 20-year-old skier was not expected to win, as she has never won a World Cup race.
"It's unbelievable," Rebensburg told reporters. "I don't think I had as much pressure as the top three, but I know I can ski fast and win a race, so I made my own pressure."
The race spanned two days, since mountain fog delayed organizers from holding the second run.
Rebensburg was in sixth place after her first run but completed the second round in 1 minute and 11.64 seconds for a total of 2 minutes and 27.11 seconds.
Slovenia's Tina Maze took silver, making it her second at Vancouver. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl, who was leading the board overnight, finished third, taking home her second bronze.
"It was a good challenge to get back into race mood [after the delay]," said Goergl. "It was a good experience and good practice."
Rebensburg's Thursday victory makes her the first German to win the giant slalom since Ossi Reichert took gold in 1956.
Meanwhile, Germany’s ladies’ relay cross country team has won silver in the 4x5-kilometer event, finishing behind the team from Norway, and in front of Finland.
Katrin Zeller, Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, Miriam Gossner and Claudia Nystad completed the race in 55:44.1, just under 25 seconds behind the Norqegian team.
dfm/mk/dpa/Reuters/SID
Editor: Nancy Isenson