Skiing Roundup : Zurbriggen Wins Fourth Title and Ties Killy

Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland equaled the record of legendary Jean-Claude Killy by winning the World Cup giant slalom championship Sunday at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, giving him titles in four disciplines of skiing in one season.

Zurbriggen finished sixth in Sunday’s race and wound up tied with teammate Joel Gaspoz at 102 points in the giant slalom standings. Zurbriggen was awarded the title because he had three giant slalom victories this season, compared with two for Gaspoz.

Zurbriggen also won this season’s downhill, the super G and the overall titles, matching the record of French ace Killy in 1967.

Zurbriggen, 24, finished with 339 points in the overall standings, outdistancing Luxembourg’s Marc Girardelli, the runner-up with 190 points.

Girardelli won Sunday’s race, the season finale on the men’s World Cup circuit, in 2 minutes 59.47 seconds, edging Gaspoz, who was timed in 2:59.53. Rudy Nierlich of Austria was third in 3:00.26.

In the final women’s World Cup race of the season, Swiss teammates Maria Walliser and Vreni Schneider finished in a first-place tie and also shared first place in the giant slalom standings.

Walliser, trailing Schneider after the first heat by 34/100ths of a second, skied the fastest second heat to even the race. Both had total times of 2 minutes 19.27 seconds and wound up with 120 giant slalom points--unprecedented in a World Cup discipline.

Their performance capped an exceptional season for the Swiss women, who won 22 of 33 races and all of the World Cup trophies.

Michaela Figini of Switzerland was third Sunday in 2:20.08.

Felix McGrath of Norwich, Vt., was 37th and didn’t qualify for the second heat in the men’s race, and Tamara McKinney of Olympic Valley, Calif., fell on the first run of the women’s race.

World champion Andreas Felder of Austria won the 90-meter ski jumping competition in the final event of the two-day Holmenkollen Ski Festival at Oslo, Norway.

Felder, the leader after the first round, jumped 105 and 104 meters for 229.1 points.

The victory advanced the Austrian into third place in the season’s World Cup competition behind the overall winner, Vegard Opaas of Norway, and runner-up Ernst Vettori of Austria. Opaas placed only 10th here with 211.1 points on jumps of 102 and 103 meters, while Vettori was 16th with 203.8 points on leaps of 98 and 96.5 meters.

Ari Pekka Nikkola of Finland, the 17-year-old junior world champion, was runner-up with 226.2 points on jumps of 104.5 and 106 meters. He was fourth after the first run but his second jump was the longest of the day.

Mirian Tepes of Yugoslavia placed third with 224.1 points. He jumped 103.5 and 103 meters.

Matti Nykaenen of Finland was in second place after the first round with 105.5 meters, the longest of the round, but he went only 99 meters on his second jump and placed seventh with 216.8 points.

Rick Newborn of the United States placed 30th with 181.1 points on jumps of 96.5 and 90 meters.

Peter Dodge of South Burlington, Vt., defeated Reidar Wahl of Norway in the slalom, the final event of the U.S. Men’s Pro Tour Championships at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

Dodge’s victory was worth $5,000 from the $50,000 in prize money for the weekend. The win put Dodge, 15th in the standings, in the running for the world championship next month in Aspen, Colo.