WORLD CUP SKIING : Furuseth Weaves Way to World Cup Ski Title

Ole Christian Furuseth of Norway said he knew he had a flawless first run at Thursday’s World Cup men’s giant slalom. But the second?

Then he saw his time.

“My first run was perfect,” Furuseth said after his first giant slalom victory of the season. “I was able to keep the fastest line through the steep part at the top of the course and could keep up the speed to the end.

“I wasn’t so sure about my second run,” said Furuseth, who raised his fists in the air in a victory celebration as Norwegian spectators burst into song when his time for the second run was posted. “I tried to let the skis go at the top, but I thought they were going a little slow.”

Furuseth may have thought he was going too slow on his second run, but his time was the fastest of the day.

Furuseth finished the 48-gate course on Willy’s Run in 1:07.30 in the first run and improved to 1:07.26 on the second. His combined time of 2:14.56 was more than a second better than the 2:16.03 clocking of Switzerland’s Pirmin Zubriggen, who finished in 1:08.32 on his first run and in 1:07.71 on the second.

Zurbriggen had watched four racers before him fall on the man-made snow surface, and he skied cautiously on his final run.

“I didn’t take chances on my second run because I knew about all the problems some racers were having,” Zurbriggen said. “I was trying to find a good rhythm. I’m pleased with my results.”

Lars Boerje Eriksson of Sweden was among those who fell on the second run. He was third after the first run, but his fall helped Italian Ivano Camozzi finish third for the day.

Camozzi finished in 1:09.08 on his first run, good for eighth place. But his second-run time of 1:07.49 gave him a two-run total of 2:16.57. Armin Bittner of West Germany finished fourth in 2:16.63 and Hubert Strolz of Austria was fifth at 2:16.98.

No American finished the race. Felix McGrath and Kyle Rasmussen failed to make the cut of 30 skiers to qualify for the second run. Tiger Shaw, Christopher Berra and Matthew Reid Grosjean failed to finish the first run.

The men’s giant slalom was the first race in the four-day event, which features about 130 racers from 18 nations.

The women were scheduled to run their giant slalom today and the slalom on Saturday. The men will compete in the slalom on Sunday.

Furuseth, who finished fourth in last year’s World Cup standings, entered this weekend with the lead in the overall standings following the tour’s opening races.

He was second to Eriksson in the season’s first giant slalom, run in Australia.