Flawless Fenninger takes top spot
updated 11:26 AM EST, Fri December 28, 2012
Austria's Anna Fenninger won the women's World Cup giant slalom at Semmering, Austria.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Anna Fenninger wins World Cup giant slalom at Semmering, Austria
- The 23-year-old recorded fastest times on both legs of competition
- Championship leader Tina Maze finished second with France's Tessa Worley in third
- Maze leads overall standings by 417 points from Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany
(CNN) -- Anna Fenninger believes the best is yet to come after winning the World Cup giant slalom in front of her home fans at Semmering.
The Austria star produced the fastest time in both the first and second run to see off championship leader Tina Maza and France's Tess Worley.
Just over a year since Fenninger's maiden World Cup triumph at Lienz, the Super-Combined World champion recorded an aggregate time of 2:13.09 to top the charts.
Schild out of world championship title defense
And with another win under her belt, the 23-year-old is determined to build on her success.
Golden hero
Clean sweep
Dominant form
Retro fun
Apres ski
White out
Moody Movember
HIDE CAPTION
Svindal sets the Alpine speed standard
Lindsey Vonn vows to take on the men
Henri Oreiller was the first Olympic champion to come from Val d'Isere in the French Alps. A maverick risk taker, he won three golds at the 1948 Winter Games. He used to fly over bumps in the slopes, balancing himself mid air.
Jean Claude Killy emerged as a world famous skier in the late 1960s. He honed his skills in Val d'Isere and went on to claim three gold medals at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Legend has it he once won a trial race on one leg, having broken the other half way down the slopes.
Killy (left) won all three disciplines at the 1968 Winter Olympics (downhill, giant slalom, and slalom) but retired at the age of 24. Like Oreiller, Killy tried his hand at motor racing, competing in the Paris-Dakar rally.
Val d'Isere is a small village that became an internationally renowned ski resort. This picture, from 1896, shows its humble origins, as a handful of homes cluster round its 11th century church.
Skiing is synonymous with Val d'Isere -- it was principally enlisted to help the villagers get around. But as this snap from 1849 shows, it wasn't long before its snowy slopes were utilized for a ski school.
Val d'Isere was a treacherous place to get to in the winter months. The Iseran mountain pass, opened in 1937, encouraged more people to visit the village -- which was often was buried in snow eight months of the year -- as skiing became a popular leisure pursuit.
Val d'Isere hosted the alpine skiing at the 1992 Winter Olympics, and huge crowds flocked to the Alps.
The 2011 "Criterium de la Premiere Neige" race had to be canceled due to a lack of snow on Val d'Isere's slopes. Hours after the decision was taken to call it off, the village was covered by a downfall but it was too late.
Val d'Isere's altitude of 1,850 meters means it often enjoys snow most of the year round. It has hosted over 130 competitions, making it one of Europe's most popular resorts.
Val d'Isere remains one of the most prestigious meets on the skiing calendar, and is one every racer wants on their roll call of wins. All-conquering U.S. competitor, Lindsey Vonn, has enjoyed plenty of success there.
Trailblazer Oreiller
Alpine legend
Golden boy
Village people
Skiing heritage
One in, one out
Olympic fever
Oh snow!
Up in the Gods
Vonn-tastic
HIDE CAPTION
Val d'Isere's roll call of skiing champions
"My goal now is to keep skiing at that level until the Worlds' and we'll see what is going to happen there", she told reporters.
"When I won last year, I was really surprised. Winning today gives me the confidence that I can do it again and hopefully very soon.
"I felt good out there today and I was 100 percent sure of my skiing.
"Thats what you need to have to win such a race. On the upper part of the piste I got it right by just letting my skies do the work.
"The lead I had after the first run was very important."
U.S. teen Shiffrin slaloms to first World Cup victory
Meanwhile, World Cup leader Tina Maze expressed her delight after claiming her first ever podium at Semmering
"I'm very happy with the 2nd place, although my 1st run wasn't perfect," she told reporters.
"I lost a lot of time in the top part. I'm pretty constant and very pleased with the way I've been skiing. One can't win every time.
"Others also have their perfect day. I will now stay focused on my goals of the season, which are the Worlds' and the overall."
Championship leader Maze's second place secured a ninth podium spot of the season, taking her overall points for the season to 999.
The Slovenian has a lead of 417 points over Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany
Part of complete coverage on
updated
"Jamaica, we have a bobsled team," cried the Hollywood film that immortalized an unlikely quartet of Winter Olympians who became a worldwide hit.
updated 1:25 PM EDT, Mon March 18, 2013
CNN's Christina Macfarlane speaks with World Cup skiing champion Marcel Hirscher about clinching his second successive overall title.
updated 1:00 PM EDT, Mon March 18, 2013
Alpine Edge's Christina Macfarlane reports on the U.S. ski team's remarkable success at the World Cup finals in Switzerland.
updated 2:35 PM EDT, Wed March 13, 2013
Injured U.S. star Lindsey Vonn claims a record sixth successive downhill title after the final race of the World Cup season is hit by fog.
updated 8:31 AM EST, Mon March 4, 2013
Whether it's breaking records on the piste, or making hit records in the studio, Tina Maze is determined to do things her way.
updated 9:20 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2013
He is one of the greatest skiers of all time, the winner of every major prize, but when Alberto Tomba looks back on his career he feels one regret.
updated 6:56 AM EST, Mon February 25, 2013
From over 50 years of 007, the most iconic James Bond scene of all time is arguably the opening skiing sequence in "The Spy Who Loved Me."
updated 12:55 PM EST, Fri February 15, 2013
Olympic and world champion Ted Ligety loosens up his body before throwing himself down the mountain.
updated 12:51 PM EST, Fri February 15, 2013
CNN's Christina MacFarlane visits Schladming ski resort where investment has bucked the trend of austerity.
updated 6:59 AM EST, Fri February 8, 2013
The snow-covered mountains tower above the sub-tropical beach, but what sets Sochi apart is its sheer scale of concrete and steel.
updated 12:50 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013
CNN's Christina Macfarlane meets Norway's World Cup skiing star Aksel Lund Svindal.
updated 5:57 AM EST, Fri January 25, 2013
Franz Klammer had few relationship issues with the fearsome mountain run that all skiers want to conquer.
updated 9:42 AM EST, Mon January 28, 2013
CNN's Christina Macfarlane tests the latest ski technology, including a leading brand's new GPS goggles.
updated 6:49 AM EST, Mon January 21, 2013
CNN's Christina MacFarlane visits the oldest ski factory in the world, Rossignol.
updated 6:53 AM EST, Mon January 21, 2013
Safety specialists at Wengen work on-piste can make the difference between life and death for ski racers.
updated 9:30 AM EST, Thu January 17, 2013
World Cup alpine skier Ivica Kostelic talks to CNN's Alpine Edge series about his sister Janica's influence on his career.
updated 11:42 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013
As the winter sports season reaches its peak in Europe and North America so the toll of deaths and injuries will surely mount.
updated 9:04 AM EST, Thu January 10, 2013
We love the glamor of alpine racing, but do we love it enough to keep watching when skiing's "dark side" is so much more on the edge?
updated 8:08 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012
"Mittens don't clap," is how California-based cowbell importer Elisabeth Halvorson explains it.
updated 11:26 AM EST, Thu December 20, 2012
CNN's Alpine Edge takes a pictorial look at the career of champion Norwegian skier Aksel Lund Svindal.
updated 8:00 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012
Buried deep in the French Alps, a tiny 11th-century village has produced some of the most successful -- and wild-spirited -- skiers in racing history.
updated 11:20 AM EST, Thu December 13, 2012
With the European leg of the Skiing World Cup in full swing, CNN's Alpine Edge takes you inside five of the continent's most high-profile locations.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Svindal celebrates his silver medal in the men's downhill in Vancouver. He also won bronze in the giant slalom to complete a full set of medals in one Games.
Svindal powers his way to victory in the men's World Cup super-G race at Val Gardena as he continued his dominant start to the 2012-13 season with his third win.
|