Skier Bouvier Ruled Winner of World Cup

Nathalie Bouvier of France captured today’s women’s World Cup giant slalom after a jury overruled a protest on her first run.

Bouvier, who was not declared the leader until well after the opening run because there was a question about whether she had missed a gate, did not appear upset for the second run.

Following the opening run, a jury talked with the gatekeeper and reviewed the videotape, then declared her the leader over Diann Roffe of the United States with a time of 1:08.37.

Bouvier turned in an even better time of 1:07.60 on her second run for a two-run unofficial total of 2:15.97.

Roffe, a giant slalom specialist who won the world championship in 1985, finished the first run on the artificial surface in 1:09.06 as light snow fell. Her 1:08.14 on the second run gave her a two-run total of 2:17.20 and placed her ahead of Austria’s Anita Wachter, who finished 1.54 seconds off Bouvier’s pace at 2:17.51.

Katjusa Pusnik of Yugoslavia finished fourth at 2:17.65 and Zoe Haas of Switzerland was fifth at 2:17.86. West Germans Michaela Gerg and Christine Meier were next at 2:17.93 and 2:18.26.

Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider, coming off the best season in the history of the sport, fell on her first run, but she said she’ll be ready to go for Saturday’s slalom run.

“Tomorrow is another day, and I hope to do better,” she said, following her first run of the new season. “It is just one race. The snow was no problem. I had trouble with my inside ski.”