04/20/24
February 12, 2007
Home Snow Advantage: : with a victory in Sunday's World Championship downhill in Are, Sweden's Anja Paerson became the first person, man or woman, to win World Championship gold in all five alpine skiing events. Paerson, who has won all three events so far in this Worlds (combined, super G and downhill), had previously won the GS world title in 2005 in Santa Caterina and the slalom world title in 2001 in St. Anton.
posted by lil_brown_bat to other at 07:13 AM - 3 comments
with the slalom and GS -- historically Paerson's strongest events -- still to come And also, in my impression, the ones that are most predictable -- in other words, more difficult for the underdog to win.
posted by Amateur at 08:02 AM on February 12, 2007
I think very few people realize what an achievement this actually is. It's like the fabled Golden Slam (which Steffi won once, right?). All four Grand Slams and the Olympic Gold medal in the same year. Just remarkable. In a sport where thousandths of a second count, to be the best at every discipline at least once is astonishing.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 10:54 AM on February 12, 2007
And the really cool thing is, with the slalom and GS -- historically Paerson's strongest events -- still to come, she has a realistic chance to become a five-time winner in a single World Championships.