Denise Karbon of Italy had the fastest second run Saturday and won a World Cup giant slalom by.03 over Austrian Nicole Hosp with a time of 2:14.69. Kristina Koznick (Eagan, MN), racing in her second GS of the season following a hip injury, had the top U.S. result in 15th place.

Kristina Koznick and serviceman John Mulligan mug for cameras in finish at Alta Badia (Juliann Fritz).

In collecting her first World Cup victory, Karbon came from fifth place - more than a half-second behind leader Elisabeth Goergl of Austria - after the first run. Hosp had been.03 back after the first run and wound up three-hundredths out despite the change in leaders when Goergl struggled on her final run.

Koznick finished in 2:17.18. Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) was sixth in the morning run with Koznick, who injured a hip before the season opener in Soelden, Austria, seven weeks ago, in ninth place. But Schleper sputtered on her second run and dropped to 18th place (2:17.40) while Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME) was 27th.

"I was really excited in the first run to be ninth; it was more than I expected," Koznick said. "[Friday] night I cut my goals back because of my hip. I know my GS isn't where it was going into Soelden, so my goal was to be top 30 today.

"Fifteenth is great. It's not the skiing I'm capable of," she said, "and I know that now."

Her hip bothers her in GS, she said, "but not at all" when she races slalom, Koznick said. It won't get better until she stops racing in the spring and can rest it, she said, "so I said, 'Okay, it's here to stay and let's make it work' - and I think I can do that."

"For Kristina, who didn't have a lot of GS training because of her hip was so sore, it was a great result," GS/SL Head Coach Wolfi Erharter said. "She had an incredible first run and then the second course was just against her. The first one was very open and you could set-up for your turn but the second one had two more gates, which meant there wasn't as much distance and so you had to turn quicker, and without a lot of GS training, it was harder for her.

"And Sarah was like a different person on her second run. First run she skied so well, even hooking a gate with her arm, but on the second run she was like somebody else up there," Erharter said.

The race was a makeup date from Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic, which had to give up its GS and a slalom because of poor snow. The women race again with slaloms Tuesday and Wednesday in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy - one from Sinderluv Mlyn and the other from Vratna, Slovakia, which also is battling the snow drought.

WOMEN'S ALPINE WORLD CUP
Women's GS

1. Denise Karbon, Italy, 2:14.69
2. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 2:14.72
3. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 2:15.06
4. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 2:15.07
5. Nicole Gius, Italy, 2:15.54

U.S. skiers

15. Kristina Koznick, Eagan, Minn., 2:17.18
18. Sarah Schleper, Vail, Colo., 2:17.40
27. Kirsten Clark, Raymond, Maine, 2:19.07

Did not qualify for 2nd run: Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, Calif.; Jessica Kelley, Starksboro, Vt.; Libby Ludlow, Bellevue, Wash.; Kaylin Richardson, Edina, Minn. DNF-1: Caroline Lalive, Steamboat Springs, Colo.

WORLD CUP STANDINGS (7 races)

1. Paerson, 300
2. Carole Montillet, France, 266
3. Martina Ertl, Germany, 211
4. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 206
5. Michaela Dorfmeister, Austria, 177

U.S. skiers

11. Clark, 142
18T. Schleper, 78
35T. Lalive, 45
38. Koznick, 42
43. Jonna Mendes, Heavenly, Calif., 37
57T. Lindsey Kildow, Burnsville, Minn., 20
60T. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, Calif., 18
72. Bryna McCarty, Concord, Vt., 10
86. Alison Powers, Winter Park, Colo., 2

— Courtesy of US Ski Team