Winter Sports Roundup : Bittner Upsets Tomba; Girardelli Is New Leader

West Germany’s Armin Bittner won Sunday’s World Cup slalom ski race at Kitzbuehel, Austria, while Luxembourg’s Marc Girardelli vaulted into the season’s overall lead with a big weekend.

Bittner upset double Olympic gold medalist Alberto Tomba of Italy with two consistent runs. His total time was 1 minute 45.09 seconds, edging Tomba by .22 of a second.

Girardelli was fourth Sunday in 1:46.31, completing a weekend in which he collected 82 points in four events and overtook two-time defending World Cup champion Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland for the overall lead.

The Austrian-born Girardelli won Friday’s downhill, was second in Saturday’s downhill and took the combined event, a paper race based on results of two races.

He has 194 points, 22 more than Zurbiggen.

Girardelli entered the weekend trailing Zurbriggen by 48 points, 160-112.

Zurbriggen was blanked Sunday after making a major mistake on the first run and failing to qualify for the regular slalom race. Then, trying for combined points, he caught a pole in the second run and lost a ski.

Canadian Brian Stemmle, injured in a fall Saturday, was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, following surgery for a fractured pelvis and internal injuries.

At Grindelwald, Switzerland, World Cup leader Vreni Schneider of Switzerland won her fifth consecutive slalom race and posted her 10th victory of the season.

Schneider, eighth after the 47-gate first heat, raced through the second run in the fastest time. She gained more than a second and finished with a total time of 1 minute 22.87 seconds.

Tamara McKinney of Squaw Valley, Calif., in her best showing of the season, gained two places in the second heat and finished second, .88 of a second back.

In the slalom standings, Schneider has a perfect 125 points, Monika Maierhofer of Austria is next with 58 and McKinney third with 50.

Meanwhile, World Cup organizers announced the postponement of a women’s giant slalom scheduled Jan. 22 at Oberstaufen, West Germany, because of lack of snow. The race will be run in Japan after the Jan. 29-Feb. 12 Alpine Ski World Championships at Vail, Colo.

At Davos, Switzerland, Gerard Kemkers of the Netherlands won a 3,000-meter World Cup speed skating race, while South Korea’s Ki Tae Bae took the 1,000-meter event.

Kemkers finished in 4:06.32, beating Tomas Gustafson.

Ki won the 1,000 in 1:14.40, finishing ahead of U.S. skaters Eric Flaim (1:14.62) and Nick Thometz (1:15.11).