IN BRIEF : Swiss and Austrian Win Ski Races

Peter Mueller of Switzerland won the men’s downhill race today and Austria’s Anita Wachter captured the women’s race in the Japan Alpine Ski Championships.

Mueller, the gold medalist in the 1987 World Downhill Championships in Switzerland and sixth in the current International Ski Federation rankings, flashed down the 8,356-foot course at Shiga Kogen in north-central Japan in 1 minute, 40.93 seconds, beating Austria’s Willibald Zechner by nearly one second. Zechner was timed at 1:41.89. Andreas Evers of Austria was third in 1:42.00.

In the women’s race, Wachter, gold medalist in the 1988 Calgary Olympics’ combined event, finished in 1:51.94. Yuki Kato of Japan was second in 1:52.77. Wachter was the only non-Japanese skier in the race.