World Cup Skiing : Stenmark Loses Protest; Gaspoz Is Champion

Joel Gaspoz of Switzerland won his third giant slalom of the ski season Wednesday at Lake Placid, N.Y., to claim the World Cup season championship in the event.

Gaspoz was timed in 2 minutes 34.27 seconds for the two runs, edging Robert Erlacher of Italy. Erlacher had a time of 2:34.84 for the 55-gate heats on the Whiteface Mountain course.

Results were delayed until a race jury disallowed a Swedish protest on behalf of Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden’s 30-year-old superstar.

Stenmark was fourth after the first run with a clocking of 1:21.76. The controversy arose when Stenmark’s second run was computer-timed in 1:03.44, almost 10 seconds faster than anyone else’s.

After checking an alternate timing system, officials credited Stenmark with a 1:14.24 run and a fourth-place combined time of 2:36.00.

The result gave Gaspoz a 97-96 victory over Stenmark in season-long point totals and his first World Cup.

Austrian Hubert Strolz finished third in 2:35.01 and third in overall points behind Gaspoz and Stenmark.

Maria Walliser of Switzerland clinched the women’s World Cup overall title today when race officials canceled a giant slalom ski race at Waterville Valley, N.H., because of heavy rain.

James Berwick of Canada, the International Ski Federation’s technical delegate in charge of the race, said the tight scheduling in this last week of the season prevented a postponement of the event.

Walliser, who has battled teammate Erika Hess for the lead in the overall standings since early January, opened the day with 275 points to 238 for Hess, a two-time champion.

With three giant slaloms left, Hess stood a chance of scoring as many as 289 points--if she won all three. With Wednesday’s cancellation, Hess’ maximum was reduced to 275, the same as Walliser’s current total, but she would have lost the crown under World Cup rules governing tiebreakers.