Walliser Wins Women’s New Super-G and Gives the Swiss Team Five Titles

Maria Walliser combined power and speed to become the first double-gold medal winner of the World Ski Championships, taking the women’s Super-G today and giving the Swiss team a record-equaling five titles.

Walliser, who won the women’s downhill on Saturday, covered the Chetzeron course in 1 minute 19.17 seconds in the inaugural event, a combination of the downhill and giant slalom, to beat teammate Michela Figini by 1.01 seconds.

Figini also finished second to Walliser in the downhill.

The bronze medal went to Mateja Svet of Yugoslavia in 1:20.23, edging another Swiss skier, Vreni Schneider, by .02 seconds.

Marina Kiehl of West Germany, the defending World Cup Super-G champion, skied off the course midway down as she tried to make up lost time.

Walliser’s gold medal gave Switzerland five championships in the first six races, tying the record set by Austria in 1962 at Chamonix, France, when just six titles were at stake. Only the men’s combined victory of Luxembourg’s Marc Girardelli has broken the home-team grip here, and--with four races remaining--the Swiss appear to be a good bet to break the 25-year-old record.