IN BRIEF : Walliser Wins Downhill in Snowfall

Switzerland’s Maria Walliser blitzed her way through a snowfall today to win the second women’s downhill ski race of the World Cup season.

The downhill and a slalom race on Friday will be used to establish results in a combined event, essentially a paper competition.

Walliser’s time was 1 minute, 35.23 seconds down the 1,900-meter course.

Veronika Wallinger of Austria was second in 1:35.33 with Switzerland’s Michela Figini, the defending World Cup champion, third in 1:35.55.

After a women’s World Cup downhill race scheduled for Wednesday was canceled because of strong winds and fog, organizers decided to let today’s race go on as scheduled despite persistent snowfall that limited visibility on the upper part of the course.