Skiing Roundup : Spaniard Scores Her First Win

Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa, Spain’s one-woman team, shrugged off a knee injury to win her first World Cup victory by posting the fastest times on two near-perfect giant slalom runs Sunday on Vail Mountain in Colorado.

Fernandez-Ochoa, whose best previous finish in five seasons of World Cup racing was a third, was clocked in 1 minute 12.34 seconds on her first run, giving her a lead of .37 of a second over Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider, with Swiss racer Maria Walliser another .09 back.

In the second run, Fernandez-Ochoa again set the pace with a 1:14.54 clocking for a combined time of 2:26.88.

Walliser, second-fastest in the second run, claimed the silver medal at 2:27.49, while Schneider and teammate Zoe Haas shared the bronze with times of 2:28.12. West Germany’s Traudl Haecher was fifth in 2:28.57 and Austria’s Elisabeth Kirchler sixth in 2:28.72.

Fernandez-Ochoa, of Madrid, said she may have to undergo surgery on her left knee after the season. “The ligament isn’t right,” she said. “My knee doesn’t give me many problems, but once in a while it acts up.”

The top American finisher was Debbie Armstrong of Seattle. The 1984 Olympic giant slalom champion finished 13th in 2:29.39, while Cindy Nelson of Reno was 14th in 2:29.44.

Tamara McKinney of Squaw Valley, the top-ranking woman in the World Cup giant slalom standings, did not compete because of an ankle injury.

The women World Cuppers now head to Sunshine, Alberta, Canada, for two downhills and a super giant slalom beginning Friday. The men’s tour descends on Aspen, Colo., for a downhill and giant slalom beginning Saturday.

At Furano, Japan, Steven Lee of Australia and Daniel Mahrer of Switzerland raced to a first-place tie in a super-giant slalom ski race. Lee and Mahrer started late in the 66-skier field, after a snowfall had stopped, and both finished the course of sweeping curves and downhill plunges in 1:31.36.