World Alpine Ski Championships : Schneider Wins Slalom in Combined Competition

Vreni Schneider, Switzerland’s seemingly invincible acrobat on skis, charged from more than a second off the pace, overtaking American Tamara McKinney and winning the women’s combined slalom Sunday at the World Alpine Ski Championships.

Results of the race--opening event in these championships-- will be paired with a downhill on Thursday to determine the combined medalists.

Because the mathematical formula that determines the combined title is weighted toward the downhill, Schneider, a competent downhiller, is a heavy favorite for the gold medal.

Schneider has had numerous top-15 finishes in World Cup downhill races, including a fifth and a 10th at nearby Vail, both in 1987.

By contrast, her closest challengers, McKinney and Yugoslavia’s Mateja Svet, have never scored World Cup points in downhill.

Schneider, 24, who has won all 10 slalom and giant slalom races on the World Cup circuit this season, stood fourth after the first run of the combined slalom, 1.17 seconds behind leader McKinney.

“I had problems gripping one of my poles twice on the first run,” Schneider said. “And I skied too wide around some gates, losing speed. It was not a good run.

“On the second run, I decided to take some chances, even at the risk of dropping out. I said, ‘Let’s have a second run like in World Cup.’ ”

Schneider has come from behind to win on the second run in five races this season.

Paul-Henri Francey, the Swiss technical coach, said Schneider was “sleeping on the first run. She has never skied so badly. She wasn’t concentrating. I told her to be aggressive on the second run, that she had nothing to lose.”

Attacking as usual, Schneider showed dazzling footwork carving her way around the 45 gates of the second course. She recovered nicely from a slight slip halfway down and finished the second run in 40.10 seconds for an aggregate time of 1 minute 18.58 seconds.

McKinney, skiing almost effortlessly, posted a 41.39 on her second run--the second-fastest clocking in the heat--and is 12/100ths of a second behind Schneider at 1:18.70.

McKinney, 26, of Olympic Valley, Calif., is the United States’ best hope for a World Championship medal. Although she is not an accomplished downhiller, she took the bronze medal in the combined at the last World Championships in 1987.

Third in the slalom was Svet in 1:19.54, followed by Sweden’s Kristina Andersson at 1:20.66 and a pair of Austrians, Petra Kronberger in 1:20.94 and Anita Wachter in 1:21.93. Kronberger and Wachter both are solid in downhill.

“We’re within a few hundredths,” McKinney said of her standing behind Schneider. “Vreni is always good in the second run, so that was no surprise. Second place isn’t first, but it’s better than anything else. And when you’re second, you’re not sitting in the hot seat.

“Vreni and I are not downhill specialists. But she is a great skier and can pop in there for a good downhill result. Sometimes I can, too.”