ASPEN, Colo., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Anja Paerson claimed her first World Cup victory of the season Saturday by grabbing first place in a slalom event.
The Swedish world champion produced a blazing second run to beat early race leader and Olympic champion Janica Kostelic, who had to settle for second place. It was the sixth World Cup slalom victory of Paerson's young career.
Paerson, 21, entered the second leg in second position, 0.17 seconds behind her Croatian rival. But an aggressive and technically perfect second run gave the Swede more than a half a second advantage and her overall time of one minute 38.65 seconds proved too steep a challenge for Kostelic.
Winner of the season's opening slalom race in Park City last weekend, Kostelic's second run lacked her normal spark. The triple Olympic champion's overall time of 1:39.06 was still good enough for second place and increased her lead in the overall World Cup standings.
Finishing third was Austrian newcomer Marlies Schild with a combined time of 1:39.18. Fellow young talent Nicole Hosp, another one of Austria's new generation of skiers, took fourth.
