Seizinger Doubles Her Pleasure

HAKUBA, Japan — Katja Seizinger had quite a doubleheader.

Skiing only two hours after winning a gold medal in the downhill, Seizinger posted the fastest time in the downhill portion of the women’s combined event Monday.

Seizinger’s time of 1 minute, 28.52 seconds was 34-hundredths of a second faster than that of Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg, who also finished second to Germany’s Seizinger in the downhill race.

Renate Goetschl of Austria, who crashed out of the morning’s downhill, was third fastest in the combined downhill in 1:29.34.

“I am so happy with this day,” Seizinger said. “Today is such an experience--in only a few hours, everything has happened.”

The slalom portion of the combined event is set for Tuesday. Wiberg, gold medalist in the combined event at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, is a better slalom skier than Seizinger.

Wiberg has won 13 World Cup slaloms. Seizinger has never won a World Cup slalom, but finished third at the World Cup finals at Vail, Colo., last March and proclaimed at that time, “I’m no longer just a downhiller.”

Seizinger’s best slalom results this World Cup season were a pair of seventh-place finishes.

Caroline Lalive of Steamboat Springs, Colo., finished 14th in 1:31.05. Jonna Mendes of South Lake Tahoe was 15th in 1:31.16 and Alexandra Shaffer of Aspen, Colo., was 19th in 1:32.53. Kate Monahan of Aspen, Colo., did not start the combined downhill.