Parisien Misses Gate Early to Open Way for Wiberg : Skiing: Swede wins slalom in women’s World Cup race after American’s first-run mistake.

The crowning of American Julie Parisien as skiing’s next queen will have to wait.

Sunday, on two continents, the World Cup slalom belonged to Sweden. Taking her cue from countryman Tomas Fogdoe, who won the men’s event in Val D’Isere, France, Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg overtook New Zealand’s Annelise Coberger in the second run to win the Ski Town USA Classic at Steamboat Springs.

Austria’s Petra Kronberger finished third, making it clear that the World Cup’s 1991 overall champion has emerged from an early season slumber.

Wiberg earned $15,000 for the victory and took the lead in the overall World Cup standings.

Parisien, the world’s top-ranked women’s slalom skier entering Sunday’s race, was disqualified on her first run after missing a gate near the finish.

After getting through a difficult first course in which 33 of 68 starters did not finish, Wiberg capped an exciting second run with a time of 48.65 seconds for an overall 1 minute 35.82 seconds to take the lead and put the pressure on Coberger.

Coberger was the first-run leader and next up on the hill when Wiberg posted her blistering time. Coberger’s time of 49.53 was not near enough to recapture the lead. She finished 0.65 seconds behind.

“I saw Pernilla’s (second) run, and I saw that it was very good,” Coberger said. “I had never started a second run in first position. It’s easier to come from behind, I think.”

Anita Wachter, who won Saturday’s giant slalom, finished fourth.

Wiberg’s victory helped avenge last week’s near miss at Park City, when Parisien defeated her in the slalom by 0.03 of a second.

Wiberg was eliminated from Saturday’s giant slalom when she fell on her second run. Her second run in Sunday’s slalom was about as good as it gets.

“I think it’s hard to get a perfect run. . . “ she said. “You can always ski better.”

It was a tough weekend for the Americans, particularly Parisien, who was eliminated from both weekend events.

Parisien was philosophical about the setback.

“That’s part of the game,” she said. “It’s good to go down like this. All winning does is make you feel good. It doesn’t really teach you anything. It doesn’t teach you how to deal with pressure.”

Unfortunately, Parisien won’t get another chance at the slalom until January, at a World Cup stop in Maribor, Slovenia.

“Who knows what can happen in a month?” she said. “It’s easy in ski racing to lose your feeling--quickly. It’s tough when you don’t have any races. You can train all you want, but if you don’t race, you can lose it.”

Until then, Parisien will concentrate on two disciplines new to her, the downhill and super-G.

Parisien wasn’t the only American to stumble.

Diann Roffe-Steinrotter, who was 15th after the first run, fell early on her second run. Americans Eva Twardokens, Heidi Voelker and Kristinia Koznick did not finish their first runs.

The top American finisher was Kristi Terzian, who placed 15th after starting from the 50th spot in the first run. Monique Pelletier finished 16th, and Picabo Street was 22nd.

For Austria’s Petra Kronberger, Sunday’s third-place finish quelled concerns about her motivation. The three-time defending World Cup overall champion had a forgettable opener last week and did not even qualify for a second run in Saturday’s giant slalom.

Kronberger admitted that enormous expectations affected her.

“I wanted to ski well for the people, not only for me,” she said. “Now I know that’s not right. I am human. I am not a machine. I have to accept it if I do not do well. I try not to hear so much what other people say.”

Fogdoe came from far behind to win a men’s World Cup slalom race at Val D’Isere, taking advantage of a fall by local favorite Patrice Bianchi of France and a cameraman who bothered Alberto Tomba.

Fogdoe, 12th after the morning run, had the best time in the afternoon by more than half a second, 45.72 seconds. He had a total time of 1:34.76 for the two runs. Tomba was timed in 1:35.70 for seventh, complaining that someone skiing nearby with a camera made him nervous.