Kaelin ends his seven-year wait

Skiing

Skiing

Kaelin ends his seven-year wait

Switzerland's Urs Kaelin held off a determined comeback by Alberto Tomba of Italy to claim his first victory in seven years when he won a World Cup giant slalom in Flachau, Austria, yesterday. Olympic silver medallist Kaelin, who held a comfortable 0.85- second lead over the rest of the field after the first leg, finished with a two-run combined time of two minutes 18.68 seconds. Tomba, only sixth after the first leg, turned in a fearless second run down the tricky Griessenkar course and vaulted into second place, his best giant slalom result of the season. Norway's Lasse Kjus safeguarded his overall World Cup lead by finishing fifth in 2:19.67.

The Olympic downhill champion, Katja Seizinger of Germany, ended a run of wins by her team-mate Martina Ertl when she swept to victory in the women's World Cup giant slalom race in Maribor, Slovenia, yesterday. Seizinger negotiated the icy Pohorje piste in a two-leg combined time of two minutes 14.30 seconds, ahead of second-placed Sonja Nef of Switzerland, who clocked 2:14.98. Ertl was pushed into third place, despite two almost perfect runs in a time of 2:15.01. Deborah Compagnoni, who returned to the slopes on Friday after months out of action with a knee injury, was second after the first leg, but slipped to fourth with a time of 2:15.15.

German veteran Jens Weissflog had two perfect jumps yesterday in Bischofshofen, Austria, to win the World Cup ski jumping event and also clinch the Four Hills tournament for a record fourth time. The 31-year-old, who is to retire in the spring, had two jumps of 126.5m and 122.5m to finish ahead of Norway's Espen Bredesen and third-placed Ari-Pekka Nikola of Finland.