Skiing: Wachter claims giant slalom title

Anita Wachter, of Austria, clinched the women's giant slalom World Cup title when her only rival, Italy's Deborah Compagnoni, fell during the first leg of yesterday's race at the World Cup Finals, writes Bill Scott from Vail, Colorado. Vreni Schneider, the Swiss treble Olympic gold medalist, had already secured the overall World Cup title when Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg withdrew on the eve of the race. She took second place in the race behind Germany's Martina Ertl in 2min 18.54sec. In the men's giant, Italy's Alberto Tomba withdrew after finishing 16th on the first leg, all of 1.8sec behind the leader Fredrik Nyberg of Sweden. Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt came through to win the race, but Austria's Christian Mayer took the giant slalom title.