Skiing

Julie Parisien gave the American ski program a boost by winning a World Cup giant slalom at Waterville Valley, N.H. The victory was hardly expected from any American skier, much less the 19-year-old from Auburn, Me., who a month ago was competing in development-level races.

Parisien led Austria’s Ulrike Maier by 0.08 of a second after the first run but increased her lead to 0.84 over the world champion after her second run. Parisien completed two nearly faultless trips down Mount Tecumseh’s Sels Choice course in 1 minute 58.47 seconds.

Maier, who in January won her second World Alpine gold medal in super-giant slalom, finished second in 1:59.31, followed by Julie Lunde Hansen of Norway, 0.99 behind Parisien.

Eva Twardokens of Santa Cruz was sixth in 2:00.02, finishing fourth in the final World Cup giant slalom standings.