Anja Paerson celebrated her second World Championship gold medal within a week in dominating the womens giant slalom.
It's her second straight gold medal in that event, winning in St Moritz in February 2003. Since 2001 the skier from Tarnaby has already won a total of four gold medals in three different events. She was more than happy by her latest achievement since she has enjoyed a great world cup season in that speciality.
No surprise , next to Paerson on the podium, the Finn Tanja Poutiainen who is leading the giant slalom World Cup standings after the last race in Maribor, Slovenia, is celebrating her first World Championships medal. And an interesting 3rd place, a double bronze for America's Julia Mancuso, who never climbed on the podium before coming here. In the shadow of Lindsey Kildow who s favored here, Julia came like a flower with no pressure, just showing that her consistency this season on the World Cup in giant slalom didn't come by chance.

An incredible medal for Anja

“I can't believe I got the gold again, everything is going so well for me here” said Paerson.
“It's true that I came to those World Championships in saying that I wanted to win medals, but I didn't imagine that it would be gold I was talking about”
“It wasn't such an easy day because this morning I felt really sick and I didn't know how well I could ski. It happened this year already and I couldn't give my best in the race. When you have no energy or that the only thing you are thinking about is to stay in bed, maybe it's better that morning that you really don't wake you up.”

“Some of my competitors were sick too. Tina Maze was sick and had no energy, she skied out the race pretty quickly. Even Janica Kostelic decided to skip the race and stay at the hotel to recover. I don't think that I got the flu like 50% of the people here in Bormio, but I'm suffering from the cold air skiing downhill and SuperG. My throat is burning, and I have some trouble to breathe. I don't have fever yet,” explained the Swede.
“There is no way that I could take the decision not to run a race; I want to take part in all events.”

“I was a little nervous after the first run, but in analysing the race I had the feeling that it wasn't so bad. I gave all I had in the second leg, also because my dad set the course, and it's always something special.”
“I just tried to find the good rhythm, and when I saw the other girls coming down I knew that I could win. They couldn't catch me up with their times. I was relaxed even if I lost some time at the end.” She said.
“I was such on a good start with my gold and my silver medals that it couldn't stop now!”

A great surprise for the Finn

“It's my first medal in the World Championships, and the feeling I just have now is something unbelievable. It means so much. I couldn't have imagined this and it was really a great race for me. I felt completely comfortable on both runs but Anja was very strong today.” She said.
“The first run was set by my trainer, and it wasn't so bad. The second run was set with much more rhythm and you had the opportunity to get some speed at some points.”

“After Kalle Palander won the gold medal in slalom in the 99's World Championships in Vail, a lot of young started to ski in Finland. Now it's an important sport in my country, right after the ice hockey. I really hope that it will keep on increasing that way.”

“I'm really looking forward to skiing in the slalom on Friday; I know that I can be there too. But there are a lot of favourites, like ANja Paerson and Janica KOstelic, if she recovers from her bad cold.”

An interesting 3rd place for Jule's
“Today was really a usual day for me comparing to the others. I felt in the Super G that the things were getting together and that I was getting some luck with me.” Said Mancuso.
“During this race I was really able to ski the way I know, and I could show it. Of course, you don't ski perfect runs, and I made some mistakes in the first leg. I ended 7th,but it's true that I skied like crazy!”
“At this time, I knew that I was skiing a very good second run, and that with no mistake I would climb on the podium.”

“For sure the bronze medal in Super G helped and motivated me a lot. But the difference with today is that I skied on medal level. The other day, I succeed because the girls made a lot of mistakes and sometimes skied out.” She explained.

“It gave me an amazing confidence; I understand this day that everything was possible for me”.

Anja Paerson hopes to add another medal in her collection on Friday's slalom. But she knows that Janica Kostelic who rested for three days will try to defend her slalom title won in St Moritz two years ago, the day before her brother Ivica won his gold medal. Tanja Poutiainen will be there to remind everyone that she's definitely the best in slalom this season. Let's hope for Julia Mancuso that she will reach the goals she set in slalom which is not one of her strong disciplines this year. More exciting races to come In Santa Caterina.