WINTER SPORT ROUNDUP : Tomba Wins Slalom for His 34th World Cup Triumph

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Alberto Tomba of Italy began what he says will be his last season of competitive skiing with a World Cup slalom victory Sunday in Tignes, France.

Tomba, who won two golds in the 1988 Olympic Games and another in the 1992 Games, was timed in 1 minute, 41.84 seconds for the two runs. He beat Michael Tritscher of Austria by 1.2 seconds. Third was Thomas Fogdoe of Sweden in 1:43.03.

It was the 34th World Cup victory for Tomba, 27, and his 23rd in the slalom.

Tomba is fourth in overall World Cup career victories. He can catch Pirmin Zurbriggen (40) and Marc Girardelli (43) if he has an exceptional year.

The career leader is Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, who won 86 races.

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Swiss veteran Heidi Zeller-Baehler rallied from third place after the first run to win a women’s World Cup giant slalom in Vail, Colo., in a combined time of 2:14.86.

Zeller-Baehler, 27, who earned her first World Cup victory in a giant slalom last week at Park City, Utah, solidified her hold on first place in this season’s overall standings.

Teammate Vreni Schneider had a ragged start on her second run and had to settle for second place at 2:15.08. Marianne Kjoerstad of Norway was third in 2:15.44.

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Gunda Niemann of Germany won the women’s 5,000-meter World Cup speedskating race in Heerenveen, Netherlands, her third victory in as many tries over the weekend. Niemann, who won the 500- and 3,000-meter races Saturday, was timed Sunday in 7:19.27. Carla Zijlstra of the Netherlands was second, clocking 7:26.69.

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Markus Prock of Austria kept his record perfect for the season, winning his third consecutive World Cup luge race in Winterberg, Germany, by beating Italy’s Armin Zoeggeler and Duncan Kennedy of the United States.

Prock, the Olympic silver medalist, was timed in 1:44.682. Zoeggeler’s time was 1:44.771, and Kennedy came in at 1:44.806.