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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Gerg comes from behind for Olympic women's slalom gold
 Germany's Hilde Gerg |
9:30- Start
Germany's Hilde Gerg came from behind to edge first-round leader Deborah Compagnoni of Italy on Thursday for the gold medal in the Nagano Olympic women's slalom event.
Gerg, who was 0.60 second behind Compagnoni after the first run, clocked 46.51 in the second round on the Mt. Yakebitai course to finish with a combined time of 1 minute, 32.40 second -- a mere 0.06 second faster than the Italian two-time Olympic champion.
''I am very happy,'' said the 22-year-old German, who claimed her second medal in Nagano after winning the bronze in the Alpine combined event held earlier this week in Hakuba.
''I had a few problems in both runs of the race. And after such a good season of results, I felt a lot of pressure to do well at the Olympics,'' said Gerg, who has won four World Cup events this winter.
Compagnoni, winner of the giant slalom at the 1994 Lillehammer Games and the super G event at Albertville in 1992, settled for the silver medal with a total time of 1:32.46 after an accident-filled second run in which seven of the first 10 skiers tumbled out of competition.
The bronze medal went to Zali Steggall with 1:32.67, the first Australian ever to win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing.
The Sydney native also became the first Australian to win a World Cup Alpine skiing event last November when she claimed victory in the slalom race held in the United States.
Nagano Olympics Alpine combined silver medalist Martina Ertl of Germany finished without a medal in fourth, followed by Sabine Egger of Austria.
Japan's Kazuko Ikeda took 17th place while compatriots Junko Yamakawa ended in 20th and Kumiko Kashiwagi another four places behind.
Prerace favorite Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden, the silver medal winner in the women's downhill, made an early exit as she lost balance about halfway through the course in her first run. (Kyodo News)
Final results of Alpine skiing women's combined slalom Thursday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Mt. Yakebitai, Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture:
1. Hilde Gerg, Germany 1 minute, 32.40 seconds (first run 45.89, second run 46.51)
2. Deborah Compagnoni, Italy 1:32.46 (45.29, 47.17)
3. Zali Steggall, Australia 1:32.67 (45.96, 46.71)
4. Martina Ertl, Germany 1:32.91 (46.22, 46.69)
5. Sabine Egger, Austria 1:33.22 (45.97, 47.25)
6. Ingrid Salvenmoser, Austria 1:33.39 (46.84, 46.55)
7. Martina Accola, Switzerland 1:34.12 (46.37, 47.75)
8. Morena Gallizio, Italy 1:34.87 (46.93, 47.94)
9. Monika Bergmann, Germany 1:34.99 (47.78, 47.21)
10. Anna Ottosson, Sweden 1:35.24 (47.31, 47.93)
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17. Kazuko Ikeda, Japan 1:37.29 (47.88, 49.41)
20. Junko Yamakawa, Japan 1:38.10 (48.76, 49.34)
24. Kumiko Kashiwagi, Japan 1:40.46 (49.63, 50.83)
Noriyo Hiroi, Japan Disqualified
Sofia Akhmeteli, Georgia Disqualified
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun