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Women's giant slalom: Giant victory
By Ray Grass
Deseret News Olympic specialist
PARK CITY — Janica Kostelic came to these Olympics expecting to win, oh, maybe one medal. She won four — three gold and one silver. No one in the history of the Games has won so many medals in alpine skiing in a single Olympics.
The 20-year-old Croatian won her fourth medal Friday in the women's giant slalom, a race she wasn't expected to win. Before this race, her best finish, ever, in the GS was five years ago, at the age of 15, when she finished fourth in Park City's America's Opening.
Since then she's suffered injuries — three surgeries to her knee in the past year and severe back pains — and inconsistency.
Two months after her last surgery, she recalled with a noticeable softness in her voice, she had one good race, "but then I fell and after that it was bad. I couldn't ski good GS."
She left the World Cup circuit in December to rest and prepare for the Olympics. An Olympic medal, she said, was something she wanted.
Despite her casual attitude toward her success — "I have one medal, I don't need another," she said after winning her first medal — she didn't hold back in her run for No. 4.
"Somewhere on the steep (on the 2nd run), she was overdoing it," said Miho Glavic, president of the Croatian Ski Instructors Association, one of a dozen countrymen still celebrating exhaustively near the finish area 30 minutes after her run. "If I could have, I would have told her to slow it down, you're risking too much."
She didn't slow it down. She beat Anja Paerson of Sweden, the second-place finisher, by nearly a second and a half, which in ski racing is a rout. Sonja Nef of Switzerland, was only three-tenths of a second out of second place. Paerson also won a bronze two days earlier in the slalom.
Kostelic's time for two GS runs was two minutes, 30.01 seconds. Paerson turned in a time of 2:31.33 and Nef a 2:31.67.
The best American was Kristina Koznick in 17th.
"She did a smart choice," said Paerson of Kostelic's success. "She stopped World Cup to train a little bit and get through her injuries. I could see her today; she's a much happier skier than two months ago. She proved that mentally she's the strongest. She's incredible . . . I'm so happy for her because she's had such a rough season."
Kostelic attributed her success to, first, not skiing in the downhill, the only event she didn't medal in, and second, to winning her silver in her first race, the combined, which followed the downhill. She later won golds in the super-G, slalom and GS.
"I had the combined in front of me, and I was going for a medal. If I do downhill and in case something happened, it would be stupid," she explained. After winning the combined, the pressure was off. In the rest of the events, she continued, "I could relax and have fun." And, with each medal it seemed to get easier and easier.
Her historic accomplishments in these Games are all the more impressive considering her skiing background. Kostelic and her brother, Ivica, began skiing with their father, Ante, at a small ski area in their hometown of Zagreb, Croatia. There were no gates, no start wand and no racing skis. She said they simply "went skiing, 20 or 30 runs."
When the two younger Kostelic's began racing, money was short so when they traveled they all slept in a car and ate salami and pickle sandwiches. She said it wasn't so bad, "It was like camping." The ski resort in Zagreb has one triple chair, about a third of the vertical drop as most Utah resorts, "and in good years we can stay open 60 to 90 days," said Glavic.
For now, she said, she's tired and wants to rest, to go home, enjoy the celebration and be with friends, "Then I'll decide what I'll do next."
E-MAIL: grass@desnews.com
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February 23, 2002
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