VAL D’ISERE, France – Austria’s Michael Walchhofer won for the second time in two days, capturing a World Cup super-combined Sunday when Switzerland’s Didier Defago was disqualified for using improper skis.
Austria’s Rainer Schoenfelder was second while World Cup champion Bode Miller finished third to extend his lead in the overall standings. Ted Ligety, Miller’s U.S. teammate, was 10th.
The super-combined is split into a shortened downhill run of 1.83 miles, followed by a slalom.
Defago was fourth after the downhill behind winner Erik Guay of Canada.
Defago had looked set to become the first Swiss man to win a World Cup ski race since Didier Cuche at the downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on Jan. 30, 2004. His ski manufacturer accepted responsibility for the equipment violation.
“Didier is very upset, but he has taken the decision very sportingly,” said Michel Vion, Rossignol’s competition director.
“There is no rebellion from him.”
Vion said Rossignol and the Swiss ski federation most likely will not appeal.
Walchhofer, who won the downhill Saturday, sympathized with Defago.
“I’m sorry for what happened to Didier,” Walchhofer said. “He had a great race and I would have been happy to finish second behind him because it was one of my best slaloms in the last few years and it gives me momentum for the Olympics.”
Eight racers, including Hermann Maier of Austria, did not take part in the slalom.
Paerson edges Kostelic in season’s first slalom
ASPEN, Colo. – Two-time defending World Cup overall champion Anja Paerson of Sweden stormed back in the second run to edge Janica Kostelic by three-hundredths of a second Sunday to win the season’s first women’s slalom.
Paerson was in third place, more than a second behind the leader Kostelic, after the first run.
But she sailed down the Aspen Mountain course under a clear blue sky in 46.71 seconds in the second run to win with a combined time of 1 minute, 36.01 seconds.
Kostelic, winner of three gold medals for Croatia at the Salt Lake City Olympics, was second at 1:36.04. Kathrin Zettle of Austria, third in Saturday’s giant slalom, was third Sunday, too, in 1:36.44.
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