Tina Maze won gold in the giant slalom at the world championships on Thursday to give Slovenia their first major alpine skiing title since the country became independent in 1991. Ironically, a maiden victory for the former Yugoslav republic came from a skier who broke with her national federation to follow her own path.
The 27-year-old all-rounder, who had already won silver in the combined in the German resort, amply deserved the laurels. In a combined time of two minutes and 20.54 seconds, Maze was the only skier to fully master the tricky weather conditions and the treacherous course.
"I'm glad it worked out fine this time and I didn't finish second. It means a lot to me and my country. It's a dream that's come true," she said. Maze, who is trained by her Italian coach and boyfriend Andrea Massi, had collected four silver medals at either the Olympics or worlds championships in the past two years.
Fastest in the first leg held in intense fog which forced the start to be delayed by two hours, Maze held a meagre 0.09 of a second lead over up-and-coming Italian Federica Brignone. Both knew the course well since Maze won a World Cup giant on the same piste a year ago while Brignone, 20, became the combined junior world champion in Garmisch in 2009.
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