Another win for Maria-Jose Rienda-Contreras

Parpan/Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 13th - 2005. A few weeks after celebrating her very first World Cup victory in Are, Sweden, Maria Jose Rienda Contreras won again a race during the Lenzerheide Finals where she beat Finland's Tanja Poutiainen, the new giant slalom World Cup Champion. It is a meaningful success for the 30-year-old skier from Granada who was already leading the standings in the first run.

“This victory is very important and quite incredible too,” she said. “It means a lot for me, first of all because it confirms my first victory from Are. It really shows it wasn't just a lucky day and that I've my place among the world elite. It's too bad that the season is now over - I would be ready for more!”

“It also nice to keep my 3rd place in the giant slalom standings, just behind Tanja Poutianen and Anja Paerson who have dominated the season.”

“I'm also proud about the way I handled my second run and how I managed to successfully defend my lead. For sure my runs weren't perfect, I even made a big mistake during the second run but I kept on fighting and I skied the last section pretty well. I absolutely wanted to finish in the lead and grab this 3rd place in the GS standings.”

Fighting for victory

“I have been racing for a long time now, but, I can't understand why my career took such an exciting direction this year. I was only fighting for victory this season. It's true that the winter started well with my 3rd place in Soelden and St Moritz even if I skied out in Aspen in the meantime. After that, I managed to go on ok, I was 6th in Semmering, I skied out in Santa Caterina and I only finished 11th in Maribor. Fortunately, I was able to find my rhythm back last month after the disappointing Worlds in Italy!”

“I think ski racing is a strange sport sometimes - one day you're at the top, and the day after you're nowhere, but the worst is that you don't know why!”

“I'm quite lucky because my team takes great care of me and does its possible to have me feeling happy and in great shape. Sometimes, I'm down and they are always here to support me and help me to move forward. But a day like today, when I'm on the podium I'm not alone - I've won for them too, it's a gift for them.”

“With experience I gained this year, I can have higher goals for next season. But I'll keep my own way as this year, be cool and have fun. I'll try to do what I know the best. When your life is going well, things are coming by themselves. Now I hope the best is still to come.”

Patrick Lang