Alpine skiing roundup 12/8-9

Italian giant slalom specialist Massimiliano Blardone
won the fourth World Cup race of his career after  narrowly beating
compatriot Manfred Moelgg.

Blardone, whose 13 World Cup podiums have all come in giant
slalom, set a combined time of 2:10.75, edging out Moelgg by 0.09
seconds.

American Ted Ligety climbed from sixth place in the
first run to finish third, 0.17 seconds behind Blardone, and maintain
his position at the top of the giant slalom standings.

Austria's Benjamin Raich
stormed to the top of the Alpine skiing World Cup rankings with an
emphatic victory in Sunday's men's slalom.

The 2006 overall champion made light of a tough course to
finish with a combined time of 1:34.46 -- an impressive 0.66 seconds
ahead of second-placed Swede Jens Byggmark.

The Italian ski team completed their strong showing this weekend by taking the next three places.

Manfred Moelgg, second behind compatriot Massimiliano Blardone
in Saturday's giant slalom, was third on Sunday -- 0.72 seconds behind
Raich - with team-mates Patrick Thaler and Cristian Deville finishing
fourth and fifth.

Canada's Britt Janyk claimed her first World Cup victory with a downhill win in poor conditions in Aspen.

Four Austrian skiers chose not to race after their team mate
Alexandra Meissnitzer suffered a heavy crash, injuring her left knee.

In soft snow and bad visibility, Janyk powered down Ruthie's Run in one minute 14.17 seconds, according to provisional results.

Austria's overall World Cup leader Marlies Schild was second 0.42 seconds behind while her compatriot Renate Goetschl was third.

ASPEN, Colorado (AP) -- Austria's Nicole Hosp won her first women's World Cup slalom this season in Aspen on Sunday.

She made two trips down Ruthie's Run in a combined time of 1 minute,
34.60 seconds. First leg leader Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was second
at 1:35.79 and Kathrin Zettel of Austria was third in 1:35.94.