Giant Slalom, Women

Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni was the defending champion, had won the 1996 and 1997 World Championships, and was leading the 1998 World Cup race coming into Nagano, although only narrowly over German Martina Ertl. This was the final Alpine event in Nagano, and it was conducted in poor conditions, with rain and light snow worsening the course as the competition progressed, favoring the early skiiers. But conditions did not affect Compagnoni, who won both runs of the giant slalom, as she had done in 1994, to defend her title in this event. After her 1992 Super G gold medal, this made Compagnoni the first Alpine skier to win gold medals at three Winter Olympic Games. Ertl would eventually finish fourth, trailing the silver medalist, Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer, and the bronze medalist, Germany’s redoubtable Katja Seizinger. Meissnitzer had also won bronze in the Super G, while for Seizinger, this was her fifth Olympic medal – three gold and two bronze. Seizinger retired after the 1998 season, having won 36 World Cup races, and 11 season World Cup titles, two overall, four in Super G, and five in GS. Compagnoni’s career, by comparison, was much different. She won only one World Cup title, and 17 races, but she came thru in the big events, winning three gold medals at the Winter Olympics and three at the World Championships.