This Hat Trick Is One for the Book

SHIGA KOGEN, Japan —  In a race against history and constantly changing Japanese weather patterns, Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni sloshed her away through the rain--yes, the rain--into the Olympic record book Friday when she won the women’s giant slalom on Mt. Yigashidate.

Compagnoni’s victory with a two-run time of 2 minutes 50.59 made her the first Alpine skier to win gold medals in three consecutive Olympics.

Compagnoni, 27, won the gold in super-giant slalom at the 1992 Albertville Olympics and gold in giant slalom at Lillehammer four years ago.

Of her third gold medal, Compagnoni said, “It’s the one I feel the most at this time. I keep in mind what I had to do to earn it. All the hard work required.”

Compagnoni’s career has been brilliant, but battle scarred. Both of her knees have required surgery, preventing her from skiing the Alpine speed events.

A day after winning her gold at Albertville, she tore knee ligaments during the giant slalom. Course microphones picked up her moans as she was dragged off the course, writhing in pain.

Unlike Thursday’s slalom, in which she let a .60-second first-run advantage slip away to Germany’s Hilde Gerg, Compagnoni took a .94-second lead into the afternoon run and left the competition in her slush.

She won by 1.81 seconds over silver medalist Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria, and was 2.02 seconds faster than bronze medalist Katja Seizinger of Germany.

“I think she is one of the greatest GS racers that has ever been,” Seizinger said of Compagnoni.

Seizinger made some history of her own. Her bronze was her third medal of these games, to go with gold medals in downhill and combined, and was her fifth medal in three Olympics, tying her with Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider.

Schneider is retired, but she and Seizinger were contemporaries.

“She raced with me,” Seizinger said. “I wouldn’t say she was a hero for me, the way Boris Becker is a hero to a 10-year-old. But we had respect for each other.”

It was a terrific week all around for the German women, who collected six Olympic medals in Alpine.

“When I get a little time at home, perhaps I will realize what happened this week,” Seizinger said.

It wasn’t a shabby finish for Meissnitzer, either, considering what might have been.

A day after she had won the bronze medal in super-G, Meissnitzer went to relax in a Japanese hot bath, called an onsen. The water, though, was too hot for Meissnitzer and she passed out, cracking her head on a step.

“I woke up a few minutes later bleeding,” she said. “A doctor sewed my head with seven stitches.”

Meissnitzer said the injury did not affect her in Friday’s GS.

“I didn’t feel anything,” she said. “Maybe I was faster with it.”

Friday was a disastrous day for the U.S. women.

Julie Parisien was the only one of four Americans to complete two runs, finishing 28th overall, but her time, 3:02.78, isn’t one she’s going tack on the wall.

Parisien finished 12.19 seconds behind Compagnoni.

“I should have taken my skis off and run down,” Parisien said. “I would have been three seconds faster.”

Gee, and that would have put her only 9.19 seconds behind the winner.

At least Parisien got down the hill.

Caroline Lalive, whose seventh-place in combined was the second-highest U.S. women’s result at Nagano behind Picabo Street’s gold in super-giant slalom, skied out in the morning run.

Sarah Schleper and Alexandra Shaffer went off course in the afternoon.

Parisien said course conditions were awful.

“I’m glad I made it down, all things considered,” Parisien said. “I hate that this is the display the world will see. It is not indicative.”

She said it was raining so hard on her morning run that she had to wipe her goggles with her hand.

Parisien, who had to earn a spot back on the U.S. Olympic team after quitting after Lillehammer, ended as the top American in women’s slalom, 13th, and the GS.

“If that’s a fact, that’s a fact,” the 26-year-old Parisien said. “But today’s race was totally embarrassing.”

MEDALISTS

Alpine Skiing

WOMEN’S GIANT SLALOM

Gold: Deborah Compagnoni, Italy

Silver: Alexandra Meissnitzer, Austria

Bronze: Katja Seizinger, Germany