SEMMERING, Austria -- Austria's Marlies Schild won her second World Cup event in as many days Wednesday, finishing first in the slalom.
Schild won in a combined time of 1 minute, 35.49 seconds, delighting the crowd of about 15,000 Austrians that came to cheer her on at the Hirschenkogel course.
She won the giant slalom on the same course Tuesday.
Schild beat Croatia's Janica Kostelic by 1.04 seconds. Overall World Cup leader Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was third.
"I cannot believe it. It's amazing," Schild said. "When I
passed the intermediate, I could hear the crowd scream, so I knew,
I was fast."
She set best times in both runs, outpacing Poutiainen in the first by 0.92 seconds and Kostelic in the final run by 0.06 seconds to secure her second victory within 24 hours.
"I was beaming with self-confidence after yesterday's win. Thanks to this boost in confidence I am much cooler now," Schild
said.
She is now fifth in the slalom standings and third overall.
Former overall World Cup winner Petra Kronberger was the last
Austrian to win a giant slalom and a slalom in 24 hours, when she
triumphed in Val Zoldana, Italy, in December 1990.
Schild had a bad start to the season, failing to finish either
of the opening slaloms in Aspen.
"I knew I skied too aggressively. I have managed to calm
down," Schild said.