It’s a Real Family Affair for the Kostelic Siblings

Ivica and Janica Kostelic became the first brother and sister to win World Cup Alpine races on the same day.

Janica won a slalom Sunday on her 21st birthday in Bormio, Italy, then watched on TV with her father as her brother won a slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, less than an hour later.

“It’s a great day for our family,” Janica said. “It’s a strange record indeed, but I’m pleased with it.

“What Ivica has done means a lot because we’ve spoken for years about winning a race on the same day. And it’s great it happened on my birthday.

“He couldn’t have given me a better present.”

Last year, the Kostelics won on the same weekend at the World Cup Alpine finals in Flachau, Austria.

Fifteen sets of siblings have won races since the start of the World Cup almost 40 years ago, but none on the same day.

Ivica had a time of 1 minute 44.71 seconds as he increased his lead in the slalom standings over Rainer Schoenfelder of Austria, 218 points to 180.

Schoenfelder was second in 1:44.98 and Olympic slalom champion Jean-Pierre Vidal of France was third in 1:45.03.

Tom Rothrock was the fastest U.S. skier, finishing 12th. Americans Bode Miller and Erik Schlopy did not finish the opening leg.

Janica finished 2.08 seconds ahead of Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl for her fifth victory this season.

It was the biggest margin of victory in a women’s slalom since 1973, when France’s Danielle Debernard won by 2.12 seconds in Japan.

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The United States lost to Finland, 3-2, in the bronze medal game at the World Junior hockey championship at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

King draft pick Henrik Juntenen, Dallas selection Jussi Jokinen and defenseman Joni Pitkanen, the fourth choice in last year’s draft by Philadelphia, scored for Finland.

Ryan Suter, nephew of former NHL player Gary Suter, and forward Dustin Brown scored for the U.S.

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France’s Mathieu Bozzetto won the parallel slalom at Bad Gastein, Austria, for his fifth World Cup snowboarding title of the season.

Olympic champion Isabelle Blanc of France beat Sara Fischer to win the women’s title.

College Football

Miami running back Willis McGahee had surgery on two torn ligaments in his left knee as a result of a crushing hit in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 31-24 loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

The All-American sophomore was operated on for more than four hours at HealthSouth Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables, Fla., next to the campus, school spokesman Doug Walker said.

Dr. John Uribe, who performed the surgery, declined to set a timetable for McGahee’s return.

“Willis tolerated the procedure very well,” Uribe said. “If nature does its job and his rehabilitation goes well, he should be able to make a full recovery.”

Doctors found torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments but there was no tear to the posterior collateral ligament, as was first suspected.

Tennis

Second-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand defeated Karol Kucera of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-1, to win the Tata Open at Madras, India.