Giant Slalom, Women1

The women’s giant slalom was postponed one day because of a snowstorm that interrupted the competition. The heavy favorite was France’s Karine Ruby, who had won all but one World Cup event in 1997-98, and had won the 1996 FIS World Championships. On the first run, she overwhelmed the field, leading by 1.95 second over her teammate, Isabelle Blanc. On the second run Ruby boarded carefully to protect her lead but still won the gold medal by almost two seconds over Germany’s Heidi Renoth. Blanc had the silver medal in her grasp when she missed the final gate on her second run, and fell, sliding across the finish line. Ruby would compete again at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal in 2002 in parallel giant slalom, and switching to boardercross for the 2006 Winter Olympics. She then began training to become a mountain guide and was killed in late May 2009 when she fell into a crevasse on Mont Blanc. Isabelle Blanc returned in 2002 to win the gold medal in the parallel giant slalom.