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French Skier Breaks Swiss Hold on Cup Competition

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From Associated Press

Carole Merle of France, a one-woman barrier to total Swiss dominance of World Cup skiing, won her third super-giant slalom of the season in Tignes, France, today to clinch the season championship in that Alpine discipline.

After the third of four scheduled super-giants this season, Merle has a perfect 75 points to 46 for Austria’s Sigrid Wolf, Olympic champion in the event. The final super-giant is scheduled next month at Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Merle, whose three wins represent the only non-Swiss victories after 19 events on the women’s tour, was timed in 1 minute, 17.34 seconds. Anita Wachter of Austria was second in 1:17.60, .07 seconds ahead of Wolf.

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This race was the last European stop of the season for the women, who depart for Vail, Colo., and the World Alpine Championships beginning Jan. 29. After that two-week event, the season ends with races in Colorado, Canada and Japan.

Record Time

In men’s racing today in Wengen, Switzerland, World Cup leader Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg mastered the icy Lauberhorn course in record time to strengthen his bid for a third overall title.

The Austrian-born Girardelli, who won the overall title in 1985 and 1986, completed the longest race on the men’s tour--4,185 meters, about 2.6 miles--in 2 minutes, 26.54 seconds. He broke the track record of 2:27.91 set by Switzerland’s Toni Buergler in 1981.

Markus Wasmeier of West Germany, who also broke the track mark, was second in 2:27.05. Daniel Mahrer of Switzerland, a winner in one of the two races at Kitzbuhel, Austria, last weekend, was third, .84 seconds behind.

Girardelli, who won the first downhill of his 10-year career last weekend over the hazardous Hahnenkamm course, thus completed a seven-day sweep of the two most difficult races on the circuit.

He increased his World Cup point total to 244, a spectacular gain of 132 points out of a possible 150 in six events over the last week.

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