Two-time Olympian Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME), skiing relaxed with a new set of skis despite a lingering cold, laid down a sizzling first run Saturday and earned her first World Cup podium in giant slalom, finishing third behind two Austrians as the season resumed. Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) had the fastest second run, vaulting 11 places into her third top-10 of the winter in eighth place with Kristina Koznick (Eagan, MN) 18th.

Nicole Hosp won in 2:06.24 with Renate Goetschl second in 2:06.89. Clark - the Carrabassett Valley Academy grad whose best previous GS was ninth in Copper Mountain, Colo., early in the 2002 season - was second in the first run and had a two-run time of 2:07.17. Hosp took over the World Cup GS points lead with the win and gained on World Cup leader Anja Paerson of Sweden, who was disqualified in the first run.

"In the first run, I was just relaxed. Fischer's just come out with new GS skis and I definitely think a lot of it was that - they're softer torsionally and that really helped in initiating the turns," Clark said. "I liked how I felt on 'em. I only skied on 'em two days, and I figured I had nothing to lose."

Podium provides confidence boost
Clark's won in downhill and been top-3 in super G, so this podium gives her a huge confidence boost, she said. In her eighth season on the U.S. Ski Team, she originally made the Ski Team as a GS skier and she worked hard during the summer to reclaim some of those technical skills.

"It shows me, for sure, I can be in there with the best of them in GS, too, and I think it shows the rest of the world I'm not only a downhiller," she said. "I'm also a technical skier. That's where I started."

She was sick after the pre-Christmas downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and spent several days in bed, trying to regain her health. Her husband, former U.S. Coach Andreas Rickenbach - they were married Sept. 6 in Maine, arrived a short time after the race and Clark said she planned to take a few days to relax before a super G Jan. 4 in Megeve, France.

"I wasn't feeling good but I worked hard to get healthy and when I came out here, I was relaxed and just sort of went into the race," she said. "Two years ago in Lienz [in another GS], I had a decent race - I was 17th, and I had splits of third and fourth, so I knew I could perform well here. That helped me stay calm, too."

Coaches liked Schleper's attacking second run
U.S. Women's Head Coach Patrick Riml said Clark's performance and Schleper's second run "were awesome. Clarky put in a lot of work on her GS during the summer and this was a big payoff; she's skied so well all season, but this was hugeÉand Schleper with that fastest second run was great. It was an amazing day."

"It was amazing. Clarky surprised a lot of people, but she definitely can do it, as she showed," women's SL/GS Head Coach Wolfi Erharter said. "It was a technical course at the bottom and she skied so well.

"She got new skis from the Fischer factory and after she skied, she wasn't sure, so I said 'Why not use the new ones? They looked smoother and less aggressive and could let you almost free-ski.' She did a great job," Erharter said.

"And Sarah fell asleep in her first run, halfway down the hill, as she can do, but like she says, she 'let the tiger out' on her second run. She can do it and, really, Koz skied well - she can be top 10 in GS. Her hip injury [before the season opener in Soelden in late October] set her back, but she can be there, and 'Liner' [Caroline Lalive - Steamboat Springs, CO - who fell on the lower half of the first run] was ripping, too, before she went down."

The U.S. Ski Team had three qualify for a second run but it nearly was five. Juniors Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) and Lindsey Kildow (Burnsville, MN) tied for 32nd in the first run - just. 03 away from the top-30 cutoff.

The women race slalom Sunday and then move on to Megeve, France, for a super G and slalom Jan. 4-5. U.S. starters Sunday will be Schleper, Koznick, Mancuso, Kildow and Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY); Clark doesn't usually ski slalom.

WOMEN'S ALPINE WORLD CUP
Women's Giant Slalom

1. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 2:06.24
2. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 2:06.89
3. Kirsten Clark, Raymond, Maine, 2:07.17
4. Martina Ertl, Germany, 2:07.46
5. Tanja Poutiainen, Finland, 2:07.48

8. Sarah Schleper, Vail, Colo., 2:07.72
18. Kristina Koznick, Eagan, Minn., 2:08.83

Did not qualify for 2nd run: Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, Calif.; Lindsey Kildow, Burnsville, Minn.; Libby Ludlow, Bellevue, Wash.
DNF-1: Caroline Lalive, Steamboat Springs, Colo.

WORLD CUP STANDINGS
Overall (11 races)

1. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 510 points
2. Hosp, 420
3. Goetschl, 386

4T. Ertl and Carole Montillet, France, 322 each

10. Clark, 217
15. Schleper, 163
21. Koznick, 116
28T. Jonna Mendes, Heavenly, Calif., 82
48. Lalive, 45
71T. Resi Stiegler, Jackson Hole, Wyo., 26
75T. Kildow, 20
77. Mancuso, 18
81T. Bryna McCarty, Concord, Vt., 10
91. Alison Powers, Winter Park, Colo., 2

Giant Slalom (4 races)

1. Hosp, 260
2. Paerson, 230
3. Denise Karbon, Italy, 184
4. Ertl, 182
5. Poutiainen, 139

9. Schleper, 110
15. Clark, 74
27T. Koznick, 29
42T. Mancuso and Lalive, 3 each

— Courtesy of US Ski Team